Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
40:1 VA YEHI ACHAR HA DEVARIM HA ELEH CHAT'U MASHKEH MELECH MITSRAYIM VE HA OPHEH LA ADONEYHEM LE MELECH MITSRAYIM
וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה חָטְאוּ מַשְׁקֵה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם וְהָאֹפֶה לַאֲדֹנֵיהֶם לְמֶלֶךְ מִצְרָיִם
KJ (King James translation): And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.
BN (BibleNet translation): And it came to pass after these things that the butler of the king of Mitsrayim and his baker offended their lord the King of Mitsrayim.
How many times does the phrase "and it came to pass" occur in this and the previous chapter? But this echoes verse 7, which was questioned; this time it makes sense.
Just as BEIT HA SOHAR (בית הסהר) almost certainly is not prison but some idea of the underworld, so neither the butler nor the baker should be treated literally; we are in the realm of wine and bread, eucharistic symbols of the resurrected god of the underworld, which of course is about to be Yoseph but who was really Osher or Osiris. And just as when Jesus was crucified one of the convicts was saved and the other given grace, so here too one will be returned to Pharaoh's side, but the other will remain in the underworld (Luke 23:32-43).
And one other little irony. These tales were gathered in the Torah under the authority of Ezra the Scribe, and read in the marketplace in Yeru-Shala'im for all the people to hear, this latter under the authority of the secular leader of Yehudah, Nechem-Yah (Nehemiah), the governor of Yehudah. And Nechem-Yah's job before he came to Yehudah in that capacity? He was the cup-bearer, Sar ha Mashkim, to King Artaxerxes of the Medes.
And one other little irony. These tales were gathered in the Torah under the authority of Ezra the Scribe, and read in the marketplace in Yeru-Shala'im for all the people to hear, this latter under the authority of the secular leader of Yehudah, Nechem-Yah (Nehemiah), the governor of Yehudah. And Nechem-Yah's job before he came to Yehudah in that capacity? He was the cup-bearer, Sar ha Mashkim, to King Artaxerxes of the Medes.
Why is he called "king" of Mitsrayim (Egypt) and not Pharaoh - though he will be called Pharoah in the very next verse. Perhaps a further clue to whether the rulers were Hyksos (and therefore "king") or Egyptian (and therefore "Pharaoh").
Ehrman has pointed out that the Egyptian court had a "scribe of the sideboard" (I think that might more accurately translate into English as "Cabinet Minister") and a "superintendent of the bakehouse", which could also be these two men; their role was to taste the food and wine respectively. This is surely not unconnected to the two occasions when the eating of food with Beney Yisra-El occurs. Food taboos are obviously important, though it is never made clear why.
MASHKEH (משקה): The word for butler could be translated as "cup-bearer", which has divine associations worth further exploration, as well as the obvious link with Bin-Yamin's "stealing" of the Kiddush Becher later on (Genesis 44). Av-Raham's servant Eli-Ezer is described as BEN MESHEK BEITI (בן-משק ביתי) in Genesis 15:2; there it is translated as "the possessor of my house", meaning Chamberlain or Chief Steward, but context is everything: see my notes to that verse.
OPHEH (אפה): "Baker"; except that, surely, OPH is "fowl" and therefore OPHEH should be his "poulterer". See verse 17.
40:2 VA YIKTSOPH PAR'OH AL SHNEY SARISAV AL SAR HA MASHKIM VE AL SAR HA OPHIM
וַיִּקְצֹף פַּרְעֹה עַל שְׁנֵי סָרִיסָיו עַל שַׂר הַמַּשְׁקִים וְעַל שַׂר הָאוֹפִים
KJ: And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.
BN: And Pharaoh was angry with these two officers, with his Head Butler and with his Head Baker.
PAR'OH: Always rendered as "Pharaoh" in English; but I am remaining consistent with my transliteration, in order to render the Yehudit as it is written, and Pharaoh is always Par'oh, or occasionally Phar'oh, when there is a prefix that grammatically softens the Pey (פ).
Note that both the butler and baker are SARIS (סריס) = "eunuchs", but that both forms of SAR are used here. SAR (שר) with a Seen (ש) suggests a Minister of State rather than a mere servant - it is used for "prince" throughout the Tanach, and of course it is SARAH in the feminine, "princess". SAR HA MASHKIM (שר המשקים) here reads very differently from MASHKEH (משקה) previously; likewise SAR HA OPHIM (שר האופים). See my previous note to this (Genesis 37:36). But also note that we are told the same thing twice, in verse 1 and again in verse 2, though their titles are slightly different on each occasion. The merging of two versions yet again?
40:3 VA YITEN OTAM BE MISHMAR BEIT SAR HA TABACHIM EL BEIT HA SOHAR MAKOM ASHER YOSEPH ASUR SHAM
וַיִּתֵּן אֹתָם בְּמִשְׁמַר בֵּית שַׂר הַטַבָּחִים אֶל בֵּית הַסֹּהַר מְקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יוֹסֵף אָסוּר שָׁם
KJ: And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.
BN: And he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Yoseph was bound.
ASUR (אסור): an interesting word, since it also means "forbidden".
SAR HA TABACHIM: "Captain of the Guard"? But t was the very job held by Poti-Phar, according to the Genesis 39:1. The text constantly uses the same term, but seemingly to describe very different jobs, from Chief Executioner to High Priest to Household Steward to Prison Governor.
But if they are in the house of the Sar ha-Tabachim, then they too must be awaiting execution (as indeed they are, though one gets killed and the other reprieved, like Jesus' fellow crucifees); in which case they must have committed a pretty serious offense - what might it be? Pharaoh is described as being "wroth", which suggests a mild offense, or a powerful despotism.
In truth, they have done nothing. This is a part of the process of reducing the myth to the human; the Redactor needed them to be in "prison" rather than the underworld, or the "temple" where these liturgical rites are being enacted; so an unnamed offense was required.
40:4 VA YIPHKOD SAR HA TABACHIM ET YOSEPH ITAM VA YESHARET OTAM VA YEHIYU YAMIM BE MISHMAR
וַיִּפְקֹד שַׂר הַטַּבָּחִים אֶת יוֹסֵף אִתָּם וַיְשָׁרֶת אֹתָם וַיִּהְיוּ יָמִים בְּמִשְׁמָר
KJ: And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.
BN: And the captain of the guard put them on Yoseph's watch, and he was responsible for them; and they remained for some time in custody.
So that Yoseph is now formally Osher (Osiris), the guardian and protector of the dead; the word "YESHARET"" is crucial here, with its spiritual-pastoral connotations of "ministering" which are rather different from a political minister of state. How long is a season in "ward"? Probably a month, but it could be a year – depending on whether these rites were lunar or solar. Or possibly the space between two major festivals. As the death and resurrection of Osher is an "Easter" festival, and we are in the period before the death, it was probably the three month period between mid-winter and spring. This is significant, because the Yoseph story is a prelude to the Passover story, which is precisely the "Easter", the spring fertility festival of the mother-goddess (Ishtar in Babylonia, whence the name; Eshet (Isis) in Mitsrayim).
40:5 VA YACHALMU CHALOM SHNEYHEM ISH CHALOMO BE LAILAH ECHAD ISH KE PHITRON CHALOMO HA MASHKEH VE HA OPHEH ASHER LE MELECH MITSRAYIM ASHER ASURIM BE VEIT HA SOHAR
וַיַּחַלְמוּ חֲלוֹם שְׁנֵיהֶם אִישׁ חֲלֹמוֹ בְּלַיְלָה אֶחָד אִישׁ כְּפִתְרוֹן חֲלֹמוֹ הַמַּשְׁקֶה וְהָאֹפֶה אֲשֶׁר לְמֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם אֲשֶׁר אֲסוּרִים בְּבֵית הַסֹּהַר
KJ: And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.
BN: And they both dreamed a dream, each his own dream, but on the same night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Mitsrayim, who were bound in the prison.
PITARON (פתרון): "Interpretation" - the equivalent to the Roman soothsayer or augurer or wise man. Merlin would have been of the same order, and the later Jewish Prophets are a development of the same tradition. The oracular priests are the earlier form of it, and the origins of all are shamanism. The notion of dreams requiring interpretations (for which see Freud), presents them as riddles or puzzles, irrational manifestations of the mind and the imagination. There is a sense that people actually treat their dreams as literal events, even as literal prophecies of future events; this is much better.
The Midrashic commentators did not like Yoseph's interpretations and offered improvements! see Graves p259.
40:6 VA YAVO ALEYHEM YOSEPH BA BOKER VA YAR OTAM VE HINAM ZO'APHIM
וַיָּבֹא אֲלֵיהֶם יוֹסֵף בַּבֹּקֶר וַיַּרְא אֹתָם וְהִנָּם זֹעֲפִים
KJ: And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad.
BN: And Yoseph came into them in the morning, and saw them, and he found them looking sad.
This phrase places the two men in the same cell - which is surprising? And Yoseph coming in of a morning sounds more like a breakfast-waiter or a slop-bucket emptier than the prison governor, who doesn't usually get reveille duties. Or perhaps he's back in his coat of many colours, and he is "ministering" to them as a priest; it would go with the dream-interpreting.
ZO'APHIM (זעפים): Translated as "sad" but the root ZA'APH (זעף) actually means "angry". C.f. Proverbs 19:3; 2 Chronicles 16:10, 26:19 and 28:9, and Jonah 1:15, all of which translate it as "wroth" or even "rage", though it is not the word translated as "wroth" in verse 2 above. 1 Kings 20:43 and 21:4 do however get translated as "sad", or at least "displeased", as does Daniel 1:10, where the Prophet's countenance becomes morose from fasting. I wonder if the intention here is more "depressed"?
40:7 VA YISH'AL ET SERISEY PHAR'OH ASHER ITO VE MISHMAR BEIT ADONAV LEMOR MADU'A PENEYCHEM RA'IM HA YOM
וַיִּשְׁאַל אֶת סְרִיסֵי פַרְעֹה אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ בְמִשְׁמַר בֵּית אֲדֹנָיו לֵאמֹר מַדּוּעַ פְּנֵיכֶם רָעִים הַיּוֹם
KJ: And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in the ward of his lord's house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?
BN: And he asked Pharaoh's officers, who like him were in custody in their master's house, saying, "Why do you look so sad today?"
RA'IM (רעים): means "wicked" but is also used to mean "loud" or "noisy". Like ZO'APHIM, above, this is the only instance where it appears to mean "sad", and if it is correct, then surely it should be rendered as "troubled" or "anxious", thereby explaining their "depression". Or should we read ZO'APHIM as "angry", and RA'IM as "noisy", and understand that Yoseph has been summoned because the two have been shouting and banging and raising a commotion?
Note the use of ADONAV again.
VA YISH'AL (וישאל): is it deliberate punning that SHE'OL = "the underworld" finally finds its way into the text in the form of a question?
40:8 VA YOMRU ELAV CHALOM CHALAMNU U PHOTER EYN OTO VA YOMER ALEYHEM YOSEPH HA LO LE ELOHIM PITRONIM SAPRU NA LI
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו חֲלוֹם חָלַמְנוּ וּפֹתֵר אֵין אֹתוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם יוֹסֵף הֲלוֹא לֵאלֹהִים פִּתְרֹנִים סַפְּרוּ נָא לִי
KJ: 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.
BN: And they said to him, "We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can explain it." And Yoseph said to them, "Do not explanations belong to Elohim? Please, tell it to me."
CHALOM CHALAMNU: makes it sound as though they both dreamed the same dream, which is not a common human occurrence.
PHOTER EYN: This too is not a normal human occurrence; tell anyone your dream and ask their opinion and it can be safely guaranteed that they will offer one, or even two. Given that dreams, by their nature, are not capable of accurate solution, but only of general interpretation... the point being, they are bringing their question to the oracle, the trained and ordained priest, as Macbeth does with Hecate, deep in the darkness of the underworld.
The clear inference of Yoseph's reply is that he is himself the oracle, the mouthpiece of Elohim, whether a priestly or a prophetic one. But this confirms that he has priestly status. What is odd about the tale is that these particular dreams, like Pharaoh's afterwards, are highly literary affairs, the sort you make up for the convenience of an allegory, and not the confused mess of overlapping unrealities which are the dreams we actually have at night; and as such they are staggeringly obvious of interpretation, especially to somebody trained in the liturgy.
40:9 VA YESAPER SAR HA MASHKIM ET CHALOMO LE YOSEPH VA YOMER LO BA CHALOMI VE HINEH GEPHEN LEPHANAY
וַיְסַפֵּר שַׂר הַמַּשְׁקִים אֶת חֲלֹמוֹ לְיוֹסֵף וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ בַּחֲלוֹמִי וְהִנֵּה גֶפֶן לְפָנָי
KJ: And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me;
BN: And the Head Butler told his dream to Yoseph, and said to him, "In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me...
40:10 U VA GEPHEN SHELOSHA SARIYGIM VE HI CHE PHORACHAT ALTA NITSA HIVSHIYLU ASHKELOTEYHA ANAVIM
וּבַגֶּפֶן שְׁלֹשָׁה שָׂרִיגִם וְהִיא כְפֹרַחַת עָלְתָה נִצָּהּ הִבְשִׁילוּ אַשְׁכְּלֹתֶיהָ עֲנָבִים
KJ: And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes:
BN: "And on this vine there were three branches; and all of a sudden it started budding, and its blossom burst open, and it produced clusters of ripe grapes...
CHE PHORACHAT (כפרחת) The same word that is used for the veil in the Temple (Exodus 26:31).
SHELOSHAH (שלשה): the significance of the number three? Three days of course, as Yoseph will explain: because the dead always rise from the underworld after three days, because the moon after waning spends three days in darkness before rising again, resurrected, as the new and waxing moon. So the butler is the new moon, the baker the old moon - a simple case of Tanism in the midst of a ceremony of Eucharist. All the other items have symbolic value too.
40:11 VE CHOS PAR'OH BE YADI VA EKACH ET HA ANAVIM VA ES'CHAT OTAM EL KOS PAR'OH VA ETEN ET HA KOS AL KAPH PAR'OH
וְכוֹס פַּרְעֹה בְּיָדִי וָאֶקַּח אֶת הָעֲנָבִים וָאֶשְׂחַט אֹתָם אֶל כּוֹס פַּרְעֹה וָאֶתֵּן אֶת הַכּוֹס עַל כַּף פַּרְעֹה
KJ: And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
BN: "And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand."
Hardly difficult to interpret this dream.
The same cup, of course, that Bin-Yamin will later "steal" (Genesis 44).
40:12 VA YOMER LO YOSEPH ZEH PITRONO SHELOSHET HA SARIGIM SHELOSHET YAMIM HEM
וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ יוֹסֵף זֶה פִּתְרֹנוֹ שְׁלֹשֶׁת הַשָּׂרִגִים שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים הֵם
KJ: And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days:
BN: And Yoseph said to him, "This is the explanation; the three branches are three days...
SARIGIM - why the variant spellings in verses 10 and 12? The Yud moved from the middle to the end - a matter of pronunciation only, added in the Masoretic text, but, not for the first time, without careful proofreading.
For those of a literary bent, a lighthearted question. Were the butler and baker named Estragon and Vladimir? And if so, which was which?
40:13 BE OD SHELOSHET YAMIM YISA PHAR'OH ET ROSHECHA VA HASHIVCHA AL KANECHA VE NATATA CHOS PHAROH BE YADO KA MISHPAT HA RISHON ASHER HA'ITA MASHKEYHU
בְּעוֹד שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים יִשָּׂא פַרְעֹה אֶת רֹאשֶׁךָ וַהֲשִׁיבְךָ עַל כַּנֶּךָ וְנָתַתָּ כוֹס פַּרְעֹה בְּיָדוֹ כַּמִּשְׁפָּט הָרִאשׁוֹן אֲשֶׁר הָיִיתָ מַשְׁקֵהוּ
KJ: 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.
BN: "Within three days Pharaoh shall lift up your head, and restore you to your office; and you will place Pharaoh's cup in his hand, exactly as you did when you were his butler previously...
ROSHECHA: another error by the Masoretes? Surely it should be ROSHCHA, with a Sheva under the Sheen (שְׁ ), not a Segol (שֶׁ) - click here?
MISHPAT (משפט): "the former manner" does not convey the full double-meaning, but there is no obvious English equivalent. A MISHPAT means a judicial sentence, or what is right and proper (natural justice); in other words Yoseph is saying that an error will be corrected, but he is also infering that the previous job was itself a judicial sentence - presumably the man was a slave who had been given this position, and not a freeman who trained and then applied for the job.
We are never told what his or the cook's crimes were, nor why one is reprieved and the other not.
40:14 KI IM ZECHARTANI IT'CHA KA ASHER YIYTAV LACH VA ASIYTA NA IMADI CHASED VE HIZKARTANI EL PAROH VE HOTSE'TANI MIN HA BAYIT HA ZEH
כִּי אִם זְכַרְתַּנִי אִתְּךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר יִיטַב לָךְ וְעָשִׂיתָ נָּא עִמָּדִי חָסֶד וְהִזְכַּרְתַּנִי אֶל פַּרְעֹה וְהוֹצֵאתַנִי מִן הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה
KJ: But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house:
BN: "But remember me when it goes well with you, and show kindness, I pray you, to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.
The give-away error here is that it wasn't Pharaoh who put him in, or needs to remember him, but Poti-Phar! The translation knows this, and hides behind "make mention of me", which is not what it says in the Yehudit. It says "remember me to Pharaoh", something he is unlikely to do if Yoseph is simply a Beney Yisra-El slave arrested for trying to seduce or rape the wife of someone as important as Poti-Phar.
Three days and three nights; two "thieves", one on either side of him; of whom one will be resurrected, and asked to remember him when he comes into his kingdom; of whom the other will be killed - ah, the comparisons!
Of course there is no reason why the butler should do anything for Yoseph; the interpreting of the dream requires no gratitude; if he is going to be reprieved, this will happen whether Yoseph interprets the dream or not. This allows us to understand the dream and its interpretation as being, in reality, the delivering of a prophetic oracle.
40:15 KI GUNOV GUNAVTI ME ERETS HA IVRIM VE GAM POH LO ASIYTI ME'UMAH KI SAMU OTI BA BOR
כִּי גֻנֹּב גֻּנַּבְתִּי מֵאֶרֶץ הָעִבְרִים וְגַם פֹּה לֹא עָשִׂיתִי מְאוּמָה כִּי שָׂמוּ אֹתִי בַּבּוֹר
KJ: For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.
BN: "I was abducted and trafficked out of the land of the Ivrim; and here too I have done nothing to merit being placed in a dungeon."
BOR: Extraordinary - but revealing - this use of the word BOR, rather thN HA SOHAR (verse 1); i.e. the prison is indeed just another version of the same pit.
The word "Ivrim - Hebrews" here is identified by scholars as the Habiri or Habiru or Hapiru who invaded Kena'an pre-14th century BCE and who are mentioned in the Tel El Amarna letters. It is an important use of the word, because most likely it was an Egyptian word, and not originally a Yehudit one, precisely as the invading Anglo-Saxons threw out the indigenous Celts and ever afterwards referred to them as "foreigners", for which the Anglo-Saxon word is "Walès". If these Ivrim were the Chitite or Hyksos invaders, they may well have come by sea across the Mediterranean, and also by land through Kena'an, conquering by slow colonisation rather than brief war - or possibly both - and therefore merging and marrying as they went. The arrival of Ya'akov and before him Eli-Ezer's journey to Padan Aram may well reflect this; and if so, it reflects a different wave of immigration than the Aramaean one connected with Av-Ram and Av-Raham, or the Midyanite-Edomite-Yishma-Elite links, which are all north-westwards from the Hejaz.
Is the inference of this verse that Yoseph does not regard himself as an Ivri? No - see Genesis 41:12.
Is the inference of this verse that Yoseph does not regard himself as an Ivri? No - see Genesis 41:12.
40:16 VA YAR SAR HA OPHIM KI TOV PATAR VA YOMER EL YOSEPH APH ANI BA CHALOMI VE HINEH SHELOSHAH SALEY CHORI AL ROSHI
וַיַּרְא שַׂר הָאֹפִים כִּי טוֹב פָּתָר וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל יוֹסֵף אַף אֲנִי בַּחֲלוֹמִי וְהִנֵּה שְׁלֹשָׁה סַלֵּי חֹרִי עַל רֹאשִׁי
KJ: When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head:
BN: When the Head Baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Yoseph, "I also had a dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head...
TOV: Yes, it is a very good interpretation; though the baker has no way of knowing if "good" also means "correct".
CHORI (חרי): note the word, which is the same as the Chorites. It simply means "white", but is presumably connected because the Chorites inhabited the hills, and the hills were chalky: CHORI thus becomes translated as "chalk-landers" or "white-landers" in the same way that the Dutch are divided into Hoch-landers (Holland), and Vlat [flat]-landers (Flanders) and Neder [low]-landers (Netherlands), and Zee [sea]-landers (Zealand).
CHORI (חרי): note the word, which is the same as the Chorites. It simply means "white", but is presumably connected because the Chorites inhabited the hills, and the hills were chalky: CHORI thus becomes translated as "chalk-landers" or "white-landers" in the same way that the Dutch are divided into Hoch-landers (Holland), and Vlat [flat]-landers (Flanders) and Neder [low]-landers (Netherlands), and Zee [sea]-landers (Zealand).
40:17 U VA SAL HA ELYON MI KOL MA'ACHAL PAR'OH MA'ASEH OPHEH VE HA OPH OCHEL OTAM MIN HA SAL ME AL ROSHI
וּבַסַּל הָעֶלְיוֹן מִכֹּל מַאֲכַל פַּרְעֹה מַעֲשֵׂה אֹפֶה וְהָעוֹף אֹכֵל אֹתָם מִן הַסַּל מֵעַל רֹאשִׁי
KJ: And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.
BN: And in the uppermost basket there was every manner of baked food for Pharaoh; but the birds ate them, out of the basket that was on my head."
The love of punning throughout the Bible becomes predictable after a while. OPHEH (אפה) = "bread" and OPH (עוף) = "fowl" both appear here, one with an Aleph (א) the other with an Ayin (ע).
The non-return of the baker is of course significant, because it is precisely his position, that of the corn god dispensing bread, that Yoseph will assume when he comes out of jail. So in a sense the baker is restored, but by substitution; as Havel (Abel) is replaced by Shet (Seth). But also significant is the mythological status of the baker, as opposed to the butler, because bread is Osher's territory. Strangely there is no equivalent of Bacchus or Dionysus, the god of wine, in Beney Yisra-El myth, though probably there was originally, as evidenced in the planting of vineyards and the getting drunk of No'ach; and the vineyard will become one of the central metaphors used by all of the major Prophets later on (cf Isaiah 5, Jeremiah 12:10, Ezekiel 15) .
40:18 VA YA'AN YOSEPH VA YOMER ZEH PITRONO SHELOSHET HA SALIM SHELOSHET YOMIM HEM
וַיַּעַן יוֹסֵף וַיֹּאמֶר זֶה פִּתְרֹנוֹ שְׁלֹשֶׁת הַסַּלִּים שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים הֵם
KJ: And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days:
BN: And Yoseph answered and said, "This is the explanation: the three baskets are three days...
40:19 BE OD SHELOSHET YAMIM YISA PHAR'OH ET ROSHCHA ME ALEYCHA VE TALAH OT'CHA AL ETS VE ACHAL HA OPH ET BESARCHA ME ALEYCHA
בְּעוֹד שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים יִשָּׂא פַרְעֹה אֶת רֹאשְׁךָ מֵעָלֶיךָ וְתָלָה אוֹתְךָ עַל עֵץ וְאָכַל הָעוֹף אֶת בְּשָׂרְךָ מֵעָלֶיךָ
KJ: 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.
BN: "Within three days Pharaoh shall lift up your head from off your shoulders, and hang you on a tree; and the birds shall eat your flesh."
He could surely have put it more gently! Or not put it at all – "sorry, I can't read this dream, it's too confusing". Psychologically this works as a play or a fictional story, but not as it is claimed to be, an account by a god of actual historical events.
ROSH (ראש): and now the pun that was set up earlier is realised. The one has his head lifted up – i.e. restored; the other has his head lifted up – i.e. hanged.
The birds in this story further emphasise the confusion between fowl and baking above.
Deuteronomy 21:23 has specific laws relating to hanging.
40:20 VA YEHI BA YOM HA SHELIYSHI YOM HULEDET ET PAR'OH VA YA'AS MISHTEH LE CHOL AVADAV VA YISA ET ROSH SAR HA MASHKIM VE ET ROSH SAR HA OPHIM BETOCH AVADAV
וַיְהִי בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי יוֹם הֻלֶּדֶת אֶת פַּרְעֹה וַיַּעַשׂ מִשְׁתֶּה לְכָל עֲבָדָיו וַיִּשָּׂא אֶת רֹאשׁ שַׂר הַמַּשְׁקִים וְאֶת רֹאשׁ שַׂר הָאֹפִים בְּתוֹךְ עֲבָדָיו
KJ: And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
BN (interpretative translation): And it came to pass on the third day, which was the day of the new moon and therefore regarded as Pharaoh's birthday, that a feast was held by all his worshippers, and the new moon rose proudly into the sky... [skip to verse 22]... but the old moon waned into oblivion, just as Yoseph had predicted.
BN: And it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the Head Butler, and the head of the Head Baker among his servants.
BN: And it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the Head Butler, and the head of the Head Baker among his servants.
This is even more reminiscent of the Bar Abbas legend connected with the Crucifixion (Matthew 27:11-26). Why on Pharaoh's birthday does he give a party for his servants (unless servants as ever means worshippers and the birthday is his god-birthday, which would make this a new year ritual; and of course the new year was in the spring, at Passover to be absolutely precise, so please refer back to the note to verse 4 above that attempted to explain what "a season in ward" might have been); why does he choose this occasion to raise up one and put down another - Jesus or Bar Abbas?
The fact of the birthday does rather undermine Yoseph's genius for dream-reading though. He would have known it was the Pharaoh's birthday in 3 days time; he would have known the tradition of freeing prisoners.
BETOCH AVADAV: This seems to suggest that both were restored.
Another dimension of the tale opens up here, and this may be an original thought. Go to the account of the preparation of the Kohen ha-Gadol for Yom Kippur in Leviticus 16 ff. He too is incarcerated, both to be trained and prepared by the priests for his role on the day, and to ensure he is not unclean. We are told that Yoseph is in the BEIT HA SO'AR - perhaps it is not a prison, but simply a sequestration room where the twin high priests of the Egyptian eucharist are being made ready for the Holy Day. We are told that Yoseph's role is to look after all those sequestered here, and he comes in specifically to minister to them. And then the name Poti-Phar, with its priestly implications. And his brother Bin-Yamin's alternate name, Ben-Oni = son of On. It suggests that Yoseph may have come to Egypt as an obedientiary priest, an intern or trainee, apprenticed to that part of the Temple where the priests are sent to prepare them for their duties and to check their cleanlineness for performing them. Later, having finished his apprenticeship, Yoseph will himself rise to the status of high priest and perform the self-same duties. Interesting, though, that when he does so he will both hand out the corn (SAR HA OPHIM) and be the keeper of the Kiddush Becher (SAR HA MASHKIM), the "wine cup" that he plants in Bin-Yamin's luggage (Genesis 44).
Hertz comments that the butler dreamed he was performing the task, where the baker only hopes he will be; I am unable to see where he finds this in the text); if he is correct, then this would be significant, because it would show the willingness or otherwise of the priest to perform his duties, and Mosaic law requires all sacrifices to e made willingly, by all participants. A better interpretation of the dream then would be: the wine-priest is shown to be both clean, able and willing, and goes up; the bread-priest is uncertain, and you cannot have bad faith in religious ritual; he is also unclean (the image of the birds) and therefore ineligible. He will be replaced by the substitute priest who is being prepared in a separate quarter of the sequestration block; Yoseph himself. This may also help us to understand Caiaphas' role at the end of the Jesus story; he is described as being the High Priest, but he cannot be, at that time, because it is Passover and he must be in the Temple conducting the rites; however, his "substitute" would have been prepared to take over from him in case of need, and would therefore have been available to deal with the Jesus matter. For more on this, see my commentaries in "The Ghetto of the Christians".
40:21 VA YASHEV ET SAR HA MASHKIM AL MASHKEHU VA YITEN HA KOS AL KAPH PAR'OH
וַיָּשֶׁב אֶת שַׂר הַמַּשְׁקִים עַל מַשְׁקֵהוּ וַיִּתֵּן הַכּוֹס עַל כַּף פַּרְעֹה
KJ: And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand:
BN: And he restored the Head Butler to his butlership; and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.
Is that all he did? It suggests that Pharaoh himself performs the rites, which is logical as he is Ra Incarnate, but also surprising as it is normally the priests who perform the rituals.
I wonder if this will be the very same man who sets the table and "plants" the Kiddush Becher, when Yoseph's brothers come for their last supper in Genesis 43:16 ff?
I wonder if this will be the very same man who sets the table and "plants" the Kiddush Becher, when Yoseph's brothers come for their last supper in Genesis 43:16 ff?
40:22 VE ET SAR HA OPHIM TALAH KA ASHER PATAR LAHEM YOSEPH
וְאֵת שַׂר הָאֹפִים תָּלָה כַּאֲשֶׁר פָּתַר לָהֶם יוֹסֵף
KJ: But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.
BN: But he hanged the Head Baker, just as Yoseph had explained it to them.
One other option to consider. It may well have been that human sacrifice was a part of all this ritual, and that the baker was indeed hung. Go back to the earlier note, where SAR HA TABACHIM was translated as "captain of the guard" and it was demonstrated that actually his rank was "executioner". Odd that the executioner should be executed? This needs more thought.
40:23 VE LO ZACHAR SAR HA MASHKIM ET YOSEPH VA YISHKACHEHU
וְלֹא זָכַר שַׂר הַמַּשְׁקִים אֶת יוֹסֵף וַיִּשְׁכָּחֵהוּ
KJ: Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.
BN: But the Head Butler did not remember Yoseph,; on the contrary, he quite forgot him.
Pey break; end of scroll; end of chapter 40.
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