Genesis 40:11

11 I was holding the king's cup; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into the cup and gave it to him."

Genesis 40:11 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 40:11

And Pharaoh's cup [was] in his hand
So it seemed to him in his dream, as it often had been when in his office: and I took the grapes;
from off the vine that was before him: and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup;
which some think was the custom of those times, to take a bunch of grapes and squeeze them into a cup, especially when they would make trial of what sort of wine they would produce; for it can hardly be thought that this was usually done, or that it was customary to drink such new wine; but it is more probable that the grapes were first pressed into another vessel, and so made wine of, and then poured into Pharaoh's cup, or mixed in it, though this circumstance is omitted. Indeed Herodotus F1 relates of the Egyptian priests, that wine pressed out of the vine is given them: and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand;
as he had used to do.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 Euterpe sive, l. 2. c. 37.

Genesis 40:11 In-Context

9 So the wine steward said, "In my dream there was a grapevine in front of me
10 with three branches on it. As soon as the leaves came out, the blossoms appeared, and the grapes ripened.
11 I was holding the king's cup; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into the cup and gave it to him."
12 Joseph said, "This is what it means: the three branches are three days.
13 In three days the king will release you, pardon you, and restore you to your position. You will give him his cup as you did before when you were his wine steward.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.