The Butler's and Baker's Dreams

In an Egyptian prison, two of Pharaoh's officers dreamed on the same night. Joseph told one he would be restored in three days and the other he would die. Both came true.

While Joseph was in prison in Egypt, Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker were put in the same ward, and each dreamed a dream on the same night. Seeing their sad faces, Joseph asked what troubled them and said, 'Do not interpretations belong to God?' The butler dreamed of a vine with three branches that budded and ripened, and he pressed the grapes into Pharaoh's cup. Joseph told him that within three days Pharaoh would restore him to his place, and asked to be remembered. The baker dreamed of three white baskets on his head with birds eating the baked goods from the top one. Joseph told him that within three days Pharaoh would hang him. On Pharaoh's birthday both interpretations came true, but the butler forgot Joseph for two more years.

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Details

Category: Patriarchs
Dreamer: Pharaoh's butler and baker
Interpretation: Three branches and three baskets meant three days: the butler would be restored to his place and the baker would be hanged.

Key Chapters

Genesis 40 The Cupbearer and the Baker 4 min read Joseph gives God the credit for interpretation and, in his own trouble, still ca...

Key Passages

Do Not Interpretations Belong to God?

Genesis 40:5-15

Joseph gives God the credit for interpretation and, in his own trouble, still cares for the sorrow of others.

A⁵nd 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.

⁶ And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad. ⁷ 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? 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. ⁹ And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me; ¹⁰ 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: ¹¹ 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. ¹² And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days: 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. ¹⁴ 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: ¹⁵ 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.

The Baker's Dream and the Outcome

Genesis 40:16-23

Both dreams come true exactly as Joseph said, though the butler forgets the man who helped him.

W¹⁶hen 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:

¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days: 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. ²⁰ 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. ²¹ And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand: ²² But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.