Chapter XL
Ver. 1-S. Two State Prisoneks. 1. the butler—not only the cup-bearer, but overseer of the royal vineyards, as well as the cellars; having, probably, some hunjlreds of people under him. baker—or cook, had the superintendence of every thing relating to the providing and preparing of meats for the royal tal)le. Both officers, especially Hie former, were, in ancient Egypt, always persons of great rank anil importance; and from the confidential nature of their employment, as well as their access to the royal presence, they were, generally, the highest nobles or princes of the blood. 3. Pharaoh put tliem in ward, &c.—Whatever vias tlieir crime, they were committed—until theircase could be investigated—to the custody of tlie captain of the guard, i. p., Potiphar, in an outer part of whose house tlie royal prison was situated. 4:. The enptaJn of the guard charged Joseph with them—not tlie keeper, though he was most favourably disposed; but Potiphar himself, who, it would .seem, was by this time satisfied of the perfect innoi-ence of the young Helirew, though, probably, to prevent the exposure of his family, he deemed it prudent to detain him in confinement (see Psalm 37. 51. They eniitiuned a season in ward a/., days, how long, is uncerlnin; hut as they were called to account on the king's birthday, it has lx>en snpposed that their ott'ence had been committed on the preceding anniversary. [(;alvin.1 they dreamed a dream—.losepli, intluenced by the spirit of true religion, could feel for others (Ecdeslastes t. I ; Romans 12. 15; Philippians 2. 4). Observing them one d.ty extremely depressed, he inquired the cause of their melam holy; and being informed it was owing to a dream Ihey had respectively dreamed during the previous nlghl, after pioiisly directing them to (Daniel 2. 30; Isaiah '2(). I0\ he voluuteered to aid Ihem, tluough the Divine help, in discovering the import of tlieir vision. The Influence of Providem^e must be .seen In the remarkable fact of both orHeei-s dreaminit such dreatns in one night. He nioveth thespirltsof men.
— This remonstrance, when all inferior arguments had failed, embodied the true principle of moral purity—
principle always sufficient where it exists, and alone sutliCient. 14. Then she called unto the men of her house —Disappointed and all'ronted, she vowed revenge, and accused .Joseph, first to the servants of the house, and on his return to her lord. See, he hath hron^Iit In an liebrew . . .'to mock ug—an atrected and blind asj)ersii)ii of her husband lor keeping in his house an II('l)r<'\v, the very abomination of Egyptians. tiO. Joseph's iiinKter took him and put him Into the prison—the round house, from the form of its construction, usually attached to the dwelling of such an officer iis Potipliar. It was partly a subterranean dungeon (ch. 41. It), though tlie brick -l)nllt walls rose considerably above tlie surface of the ground, and were surmounted by a vaulted roof somewhat In the form of an Inverted bowl. Into sucli adun-
9-15. TltK Itt'Tl.lCJt's Dkeam. O. In my drenm, behold, n vine was In'fore me—Tli(> visionary scene descritied, seems to repr(>seiit tlie king as abroad, t.akin({ exercise, and attended by his bul ler, who gave him a cooling dranglit. On all occasions, t he kings of ancient Egypt were required to (iractlse tem))erance in the use of wine
I Wi i.kIjNsd.n] ; hut in this scene, it isa prepared beverage he is drinking, prolmbly the sherl)et of the present day,
J';ver,\' thing was done In the king's presence—the cup was waslied, the juh^e of the grapes pressed Into It; and
it was then handed to him—not grasped; but lightly resting on tlie tijis of the fingers, la-l.l. .Toseph said,
(Ceon Potiphar, in the first ebullition of rage, threw Joscjih, and ordered him to be subjected further tons great harshness of treatment (Psalm 105. 18) as he durst; for Mie power of masters over their slaves was very properly restrained by law, and the murder of a slave was a capital crime, a place, wliere the king's prisoners were bound—'I'hongh prisons seem to have been an inseparable api)en(lage of the paliiees, this was not a common lall—It was the recep-
. . . This Is the ititerpretHtlon—Sj)e;tklng as an inspired
lnt(-rpi<'ter, he told (he butler that williln tliree days ho would be restored to all the honours and pi ivileges of hU
office; and while making that joyful announcement, earnestly bespoke the officer's influence for his own liberation. Nolliing has hitherto met us In the record Indie-
Baker's Dream. GENESIS XLI. Pharaoh's Dreem.
had determined that they should all be nonplussed in the exercise of their boasted powers, in order that the inspired wisdom of Joseph might the more remarltably appear. 9-13. tlien spake tlie chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults—This public acknowledgment of the merits of the young Hebrew would, tardy tliough it was, have reflected credit on the butler had it not been obviously made to ingratiate himself with his royal master. It is right to confess our faults against God, and against our fellow-men, when that confession la made in the spirit of godly sorrow and penitence. But this man was not much impressed with a sense of the fault he had committed against Joseph ; he never thought of God, to whose goodness he was indebted for the prophetic announcement of his release, and in acknowledging his fdrmer fault against the king, he was practising the courtly art of pleasing his master. 14. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph—Now that God's set time had come (Psalm 1(15. Ifl), no human power nor policy could detain Josiiih in prison. During his protracted conflnement, he might have often been distressed with perplexing doubts; but t.'ie mystery of Providence was about to be cleared up, and all liis sorrows forgotten in the course of honour and public usefulness in wliich his services were to be employed, shaved himself—The Egyptians were the only (hiental nation that liked a smooth chin. All slaves and loreigners who were reduced to that condition, were oliliged, on their arrival in that country, to conform to the cleanly liabits of the natives, by shaving their beards and heads, the latter of which were covered with a close cap. Tlius prepared, Joseph was conducted to the palace, where the king seemed to have been anxiously waiting his arrival. 15, 16. Pharaoh said, . . . I have dreamed a dream—The king's brief statement of the service required, brought out tlie genuine piety of Joseph; disclaiming all merit, he ascribed whatever gifts or sagacity he possessed to the Divine source of all wisdom—declared his own inability to penetrate futurity; but, at the same time, his confident persuasion that God would reveal what was necessary to be known. 17. Pliaraoh said. In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river—The dreams were purely Egyptian founded on the productions of that country, and the experience of a native. The fertility of Egypt being wholly dependent on the Nile, the scene is laid on the banks of that river; and oxen being in the ancient hieroglyprliica symbolical of the earth and of food, animals of that species were introduced in the first dream. 18. there came up out of the river seven kiiie—Cows now, of the buffalo kind, are seen daily plunging into the Nile; when their huge form is gradually emerging, they seem as if rising "out of the river." and they fed in a meadow Nile grass; the aquatic plants that grow on the marshy banks of that river, particularly the lotus kind, on which cattle were usually fattened. 19. behold, seven other kine . . . poor and Ill-favoured— Tho cow being the emblem of fruitfulness, the different years of plenty and of famine were aptly represented by the dilierent condition of those kine—the plenty, by the cattle feeding on the richest fodder; and the dearth, by the lean and famishing kine, which the pangs of hunger drove to act contrary to their nature. 22. I saw In my dream, and, behold, seven ears—that is, of Egyptian wheat, which, when "full and good," is remarkable in size—a single seed sprouting into seven, ten, or fourteen stalks—and each stalk bearing an ear. 23. blasted with tlie east winddestructive every where to grain, but particularly so in Egypt; where, sweeping over the sandy deserts of Arabia,
atlve of Joseph's feelings ; but this earnest appeal reveals a sadness and impatient longing for release, which not all
his piety and foitU in God could dispel.
16-23. The Dakeb'S DkeAM. 16. I Had tliree white basUets—The circumstances mentioned exactly describe
his duUes, which, notwithstanding numerous assistants,
tie performed with his own hands, white—ii/., full of holes—I. e., wicker baskets. The meats were carried to table upon the head in three baskets, one piled upon the other; and in the uppermost, the bakemeats. And in crossing the open courts, from the kitchen to the diningrooms, the abstraction of the viands by a vulture, eagle.
Ibis, or other rapacious bird, was a frequent occurrence in the palaces of Egypt, as it is an every-day incident in the hot countries of the East still. The risk from these carnivorous birds was the greater In the cities of Egypt,
that being held sacred. It was unlawful to destroy them
and they swarmed in such numbers, as to be a great annoyance to the people. 18, 19. Joseph answered and said, fThls is the Interpretation—The purport was that, in three daj's, his execution should be ordered. The language of Joseph describes minutely one form of capital punishment that prevailed in Egypt—viz., that the criminal was decapitafed, and then his headless body gibbeted on a tree by the highway, till it was gradually devoured by the ravenous birds. 80-23. it came to pass the third day, wliich wag Pharaoh's birthday—Tills was a holiday season, celebrated at court with great magnifioence and honoured by a free pardon to prisoners. Accordingly, the issue happened to the butler and baker, as Josepli had foretold. Doubtless, he felt it painful to communicate such dismal tidings to the baker; but he could not help announcing what God had revealed to him ; and it was for the honour of the true God that he should sppnk plainly. 23. yet did not tlie chief bntler remember .Joseph-This was human nature. How prone are in<-n to forget and neglect iu prosperity, those who Iiavelieen their companions in adversity (Amos 6. 6)! But althongli reflecting no credit on the butler, it was wisely ordered In the providence of God that he should forget
iiim. The Divine purposes required that Josep.< should obtain liis deliverance In another way, and by other means.