Bible Chapter Summary
Genesis 40 Summary
Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners' Dreams
Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker offend their lord and are imprisoned in the same facility where Joseph is held, with Joseph assigned to serve them. Both men dream troubling dreams in a single night, and Joseph, crediting God as the source of interpretation, explains each dream: the butler's dream of a three-branched vine foretells his restoration to Pharaoh's service within three days, while the baker's dream of three baskets of food eaten by birds foretells his execution by hanging within the same period. On Pharaoh's birthday, both prophecies are fulfilled exactly as Joseph had interpreted — the butler is restored and the baker is hanged — yet the chief butler fails to remember Joseph and forgets him.
Key themes
Key verses
Genesis 40:8
“And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.”
Genesis 40:13
“Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.”
Genesis 40:19
“Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.”
Genesis 40:23
“Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.”
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