Genesis 40 Study Notes

40:16-19 Heartened by Joseph’s positive interpretation of the cupbearer’s dream, the chief baker shared his dream. As with the previous dream, this one contained ambiguous elements—particularly the three baskets of white bread and the birds—that needed a clear interpretation. This time the meaning was a dark one: Pharaoh would decapitate the chief baker and hang him on a tree (or possibly “impale” him “on wood”). The birds eating white bread symbolized the birds that would eat the baker’s body.

The word dream is a translation of a Hebrew verb (chalam), a Hebrew noun (chalom; 65x), and an Aramaic noun (chelem) in Daniel (22x). Dreams are of great importance in the Bible. While six passages can refer to ordinary dreams (e.g., Jb 7:14), the rest pertain to dreams that are or claim to be supernatural in origin. This does not imply that most dreams are supernatural, but dreams are used as an avenue of communication between God and humans. God may appear in the dream (Gn 28:12-15) or may disclose his message through symbols that the dreamer or another person must interpret (Dn 2:4). Occasionally an angel will interpret a dream (Dn 7:16). God regularly used dreams to give revelation to his prophets (Nm 12:6). A dream could consist of several visions, or scenes (Dn 7:1-2,7,13).

40:20-23 Consistent with the dreams’ divinely inspired interpretations, the two officials were released from prison three days later, on the festive occasion of Pharaoh’s birthday. The “birthday” could either refer to Pharaoh’s physical birth or to his accession day, the day he became king and thus was believed to have become a son of the Egyptian god Horus. Just as Joseph had foretold, Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his previous position, but hanged the chief baker.