Genesis 40:11

11 Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, crushed them into Pharaoh's cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh's hand."

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 The chief wine steward described his dream to Joseph: "In my dream there was a vine right in front of me,
10 and on the vine were three branches. When it budded, its blossoms appeared, and its clusters ripened into grapes.
11 Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, crushed them into Pharaoh's cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh's hand."
12 Joseph said to him, "This is the dream's interpretation: The three branches are three days.
13 After three days, Pharaoh will give you an audience and return you to your position. You will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just the way things were before when you were his wine steward.
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