CHAPTER 40

40:1-23 And it came to pass after these things, that the chief cupbearer of the king of Egypt and the chief baker trespassed against their lord the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharao was wroth with his two eunuchs, with his chief cupbearer, and with his chief baker. 3 And he put them in ward, into the prison, into the place whereinto Joseph had been led. 4 And the chief keeper of the prison committed them to Joseph, and he stood by them; and they were some days in the prison. 5 And they both had a dream in one night; and the vision of the dream of the chief cupbearer and chief baker, who belonged to the king of Egypt, who were in the prison, was this. 6 Joseph went in to them in the morning, and saw them, and they had been troubled. 7 And he asked the eunuchs of Pharao who were with him in the prison with his master, saying, Why is it that your countenances are sad to-day? 8 And they said to him, We have seen a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said to them, Is not the interpretation of them through god? tell them than to me. 9 And the chief cupbearer related his dream to Joseph, and said, In my dream a vine was before me. 10 And in the vine were three stems; and it budding shot forth blossoms; the clusters of grapes were ripe. 11 And the cup of Pharao was in my hand; and I took the bunch of grapes, and squeezed it into the cup, and gave the cup into Pharao’s hand. 12 And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it. The three stems are three days. 13 Yet three days and Pharao shall remember thy office, and he shall restore thee to thy place of chief cupbearer, and thou shalt give the cup of Pharao into his hand, according to thy former high place, as thou wast wont to be cupbearer. 14 But remember me of thyself, when it shall be well with thee, and thou shalt deal mercifully with me, and thou shalt make mention of me to Pharao, and thou shalt bring me forth out of this dungeon. 15 For surely I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here I have done nothing, but they have cast me into this pit. 16 And the chief baker saw that he interpreted aright; and he said to Joseph, I also saw a dream, and methought I took up on my head three baskets of mealy food. 17 And in the upper basket there was the work of the baker of every kind which Pharao eats; and the fowls of the air ate them out of the basket that was on my head. 18 And Joseph answered and said to him, This is the interpretation of it; The three baskets are three days. 19 Yet three days, and Pharao shall take away thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree, and the birds of the sky shall eat thy flesh from off thee. 20 And it came to pass on the third day that it was Pharao’s birth-day, and he made a banquet for all his servants, and he remembered the office of the cupbearer and the office of the baker in the midst of his servants. 21 And he restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he gave the cup into Pharao’s hand. 22 And he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph, interpreted to them. 23 Yet did not the chief cupbearer remember Joseph, but forgot him.

AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO. (Gen. 40:16). WHAT WERE THE THREE BASKETS OF THE GRAND BAKER? — Some Latin codices have: Three baskets of grain. The Greek codices have χονδριτων, which translates by "bread of low quality" those who know the Greek language. But we can ask how it is possible that the Pharaoh had for food a bread of low quality. For the text says that in the basket above there was everything that Pharaoh ate in a bakery. But we must know that this basket also contained low quality breads, because the Scripture mentions three baskets of χονδριτων and says that on top was that basket full of all sorts of bakery items in the same basket above. [Question 131]

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM OF CONSTANTINOPLE. After the events which followed the denunciation, after the sentence which had imprisoned Joseph; that is not all: after the Lord had shown that he was with him, after the governor had handed him over to the supreme direction of the prison. He arrived after that (after he had been thrown into prison), that the great butler and the great baker, having committed a fault, were condemned by the king to prison: and the governor of the prison having received them, put them in touch with Joseph. (Gen. 40:1-4) Indeed, Joseph was no longer a prisoner for him, but a confidant, more than that, a man capable of alleviating the suffering of the unfortunate captives. And Joseph helped them. What to say, assisted them? It means that he consoled them, that he strengthened their souls, gave them courage, did not allow them to be consumed in sorrow. They were many days in prison, and they both had a dream in the same night, the great butler and the great baker. But this admirable Joseph, in his solicitude to console them, seeing them anxious and troubled by the dreams that had appeared to them, said to them: Why are your faces dark today?

In fact, their physiognomy betrayed their inner agitation; hence the word of a wise man: When the heart is in joy, the face is in bloom; when the heart is in pain, the face is dark. (Prov 15:13). Therefore, seeing them very sad after these visions, he questioned them, in order to know the cause of their affliction. Notice how, even in prison, he displayed his virtues, and endeavored to alleviate the suffering of others. But what do they answer? We had a dream, and we have no one to explain it to us. (8) They did not know the wisdom of him who spoke to them: they considered him as an ordinary man: this is why, instead of telling what they saw, they merely say that they had a dream , adding: We have no one to explain it to us. But this admirable man said to them: Is it not God's duty to give the interpretation of dreams? Tell me what you saw. Do I offer to explain it to you with my own lights? It is God who is the interpreter. Tell me what you saw. Consider this prudence, this profound humility. He does not say: I'll explain it to you, I'll tell you what these dreams tell you. He says: Tell them to me. God is the only interpreter in such a matter. And the great cupbearer told him what he had seen. And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of your dream. The three provinces of the vineyard mark three days, after which Pharaoh will remember the service you rendered him. He will restore you to your first charge, and you will offer him to drink, as you had been accustomed to do before in the rank you held. But remember me, when this happiness has come to you, take pity on me, talk to Pharaoh about me, and take me out of this dungeon. Because I was taken away by fraud from the land of the Hebrews, and I did not do anything to be hurried into this subterranean. (9-15) After having predicted to him the happy events that were to happen to him, and his return to favor with the king, he adds: Remember me, when you have recovered your prosperity ; plead the cause of the one who made you this prediction, and you will prove to me your compassion.

Do not go on these words, my dear listener, to accuse the just of pusillanimity: on the contrary, it is necessary to astonish you with the courage, the resignation with which it supported a captivity so painful. In fact, whatever authority the governor had conferred upon him, he suffered no less from being shut up, and from living among dirty and ragged men. This is a new mark of his philosophy, that he has endured everything with courage, never ceasing to show profound humility.  Take pity on me, tell me about Pharaoh, and take me out of this dungeon. Please observe how he does not say a word about this abominable woman, how he abstains from accusing his master, from denouncing the cruelty of his brothers towards him, he throws a veil over all this and confines himself to saying: Remember and bring me out of this dungeon: Because I was taken away by fraud from the land of the Hebrews, and I did not do anything to be thrown into this vault. Let us not go too far on this: consider the wisdom of this soul; let us admire how Joseph, finding such an opportunity, and knowing that the great cupbearer, once returned to the days of his prosperity, could reveal to the king all his history, avoid accusing the Egyptian, I repeat, of having to intervene in his narrative neither his master nor his brothers: he does not say why he was sentenced to prison, he does not attaches to show the injustice that was made to him: it applies to one thing, not to sue these people, but to plead his own cause.  First, with regard to his brethren, he uses this vague expression: I was removed from the land of the Hebrews. Nor does he mention the conduct of the immodest Egyptian, any more than the unjust wrath of her master against him; he confines himself to saying: I have done nothing to be precipitated in this subterranean. That this teaches us, in case we should be persecuted by such scoundrels, not to pursue them with our insults, not to spread against them in bitter accusations, to finally be satisfied to establish slowly and quietly our innocence, following the example of that great man, who, even in misfortune, would not divulge in a simple conversation the fornication of the Egyptian. How many do not we see people who, even when faced with just grievances, undertake, in their extreme effrontery, to lend to others their own misdeeds! and Joseph, who was purer than the light of the sun, Joseph, whose accusations were all truths, Joseph, who, in denouncing the fury of the shameless, would only have added to his own glory, Joseph, on all these points, keep silent. Indeed, it was not the human glory he sought; he was satisfied with the favor from on high: he only wanted the ever-open eye to find nothing wrong with his behavior. That is why, in spite of his silence, his efforts to keep everything hidden, the good God covered him with such great glory after he had seen his valor in the fight. Now let us observe in what followed the resignation of this righteous man; how delays could not embitter or discourage him; how, in his patience to endure everything, he did not cease to bless the Lord who allowed all these things. When the great baker had heard the explanation given by Joseph, thinking that his vision, likewise, announced something happy, it was in turn the story. But Joseph, after having listened to him, instructed also by the revelation from on high of the meaning of this new vision, foretells to him the death which awaits him, in these words: Three more days, and Pharaoh will cut off your head, and will tie you to a cross; and the birds of the sky will devour your flesh. (23) This is why I first warned you that the predictions did not come from me, but from a divine revelation: it was so that you did not have the idea of attributing to me either good is the evil that your dreams could announce. It is not my thought that I express: I only manifest to you what the grace of above has made known to me. But on the appointed day, Joseph's words were realized, and both had the fate that he had announced to them: the one found his first happiness, the other was delivered to the torture. But the great cupbearer (the one who had been so well comforted by our righteous man) did not remember Joseph, and forgot about it. (23) See that just rejected, so to speak, in the arena; see him unfold again his accustomed courage, without feeling any weakness, any trouble, no impatience. Another, an ordinary man, would have said to himself without doubt: "What! The great cupbearer, according to the interpretation that I gave of his dream, covers so quickly his first happiness, and he does not remember me, of my prediction! And while he is delivered from all his evils, I, who am innocent, remain shut up here with murderers, sacrilegious thieves, robbers, men charged with crimes. He did not say or think of anything like it; he knew that if the career of trials lay lengthened before him, it was so that, after having provided it completely, he would put on his forehead a brilliant crown.

See indeed: after the reinstatement of the great butler two years pass. It was necessary to wait for the favorable moment, for the deliverance of Joseph to be glorious. If the great butler had remembered Joseph, before the dreams of Pharaoh, if he had then assisted him to bring him out of prison, the virtue of the captive would not have appeared in the eyes of the multitude. [Homilies on Genesis]