Genesis 41:9

9 The head cupbearer then spoke up and said to Pharaoh, "I just now remembered something - I'm sorry, I should have told you this long ago.

Genesis 41:9 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 41:9

Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh
When the magicians and wise men could not interpret his dreams, he was in distress of mind on that account: saying, I do remember my faults this day;
which some interpret of his forgetfulness of Joseph and his afflictions, and of his ingratitude to him, and breach of promise in not making mention of him to Pharaoh before this time; but they seem rather to be faults he had committed against Pharaoh, and were the reason of his being wroth with him, as in ( Genesis 41:10 ) ; and these were either real faults, which the king had pardoned, or however such as he had been charged with, and cleared from; and which he now in a courtly manner takes to himself, and owns them, that the king's goodness and clemency to him might appear, and lest he should seem to charge the king with injustice in casting him into prison; which circumstance he could not avoid relating in the story he was about to tell.

Genesis 41:9 In-Context

7 The thin ears swallowed up the full, healthy ears. Then Pharaoh woke up - another dream.
8 When morning came, he was upset. He sent for all the magicians and sages of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but they couldn't interpret them to him.
9 The head cupbearer then spoke up and said to Pharaoh, "I just now remembered something - I'm sorry, I should have told you this long ago.
10 Once when Pharaoh got angry with his servants, he locked me and the head baker in the house of the captain of the guard.
11 We both had dreams on the same night, each dream with its own meaning.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.