Genesis 40:11
in Genesis 40Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and placed the cup in his hand.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 40
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAnd I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup - From this we find that wine anciently was the mere expressed juice of the grape, without fermentation. The saky, or cup-bearer, took the bunch, pressed the juice into the cup, and instantly delivered it into the hands of his master. This was anciently the יין yain of the Hebrews, the οινος of the Greeks, and the mustum of the ancient Latins.
This site's exposition
there was a vine before me
on Genesis 40:9-11
The cupbearer dreams his own day's work: a vine with three branches, clusters ripened into grapes, and he places the cup in Pharaoh's hand. Clarke notes that the juice is pressed straight from the grape into the cup with no fermenting, which is how the office was done. He lacks only the count of days.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Pharaoh's cup was in his hand,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Everything was done in the king's presence--the cup was washed, the juice of the grapes pressed into it; and it was then handed to him--not grasped; but lightly resting on the tips of the fingers.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
“It seemed as though it budded. And it was as though it budded, i.e., it seemed to me in my dream as though it budded, and after the bud its blossom shot up, and after that it brought forth the clusters and then the ripe grapes.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
שלשת ימים, when reflecting on the meaning of the dream Joseph realised that whatever it presaged would occur very soon. He surmised this from the speed with which the blossom on the vine in the dream had turned into fully ripened grapes and wine.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכ֥וֹס | vekhos | and [the] cup of | H3563 → | 34 times |
| פַּרְעֹ֖ה | paroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| בְּיָדִ֑י | beyadi | [was] in hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וָאֶקַּ֣ח | vaekach | and I took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָֽעֲנָבִ֗ים | haanavim | the grapes | H6025 → | 19 times |
| וָֽאֶשְׂחַ֤ט | vaeschat | and I squeezed | H7818 → | |
| אֹתָם֙ | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כּ֣וֹס | kos | [the] cup of | H3563 → | 34 times |
| פַּרְעֹ֔ה | paroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| וָאֶתֵּ֥ן | vaeten | and I put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַכּ֖וֹס | hakos | the cup | H3563 → | 34 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כַּ֥ף | kaf | [the] palm of | H3709 → | 192 times |
| פַּרְעֹֽה׃ | paroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
וְכ֥וֹסand [the] cup of
vekhosH3563 →34 times
פַּרְעֹ֖הPharaoh
parohH6547 →274 times
בְּיָדִ֑י[was] in hand my
beyadiH3027 →1618 times
וָאֶקַּ֣חand I took
vaekachH3947 →966 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָֽעֲנָבִ֗יםthe grapes
haanavimH6025 →19 times
וָֽאֶשְׂחַ֤טand I squeezed
vaeschatH7818 →
אֹתָם֙<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
כּ֣וֹס[the] cup of
kosH3563 →34 times
פַּרְעֹ֔הPharaoh
parohH6547 →274 times
וָאֶתֵּ֥ןand I put
vaetenH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַכּ֖וֹסthe cup
hakosH3563 →34 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כַּ֥ף[the] palm of
kafH3709 →192 times
פַּרְעֹֽה׃Pharaoh
parohH6547 →274 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Nehemiah 1:11O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him…
it leads to
- Nehemiah 1:6
let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that…
- Nehemiah 2:8
And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel to the temple, for the…
- Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.
- Nehemiah 2:1
Now in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad…
- Hebrews 13:18
Pray for us; we are convinced that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.
- Nehemiah 1:6
Through
Proverbs 3:10then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:17
Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.
- Deuteronomy 28:8
The LORD will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand; the LORD your God will bless you in the land He is giving you.
- Proverbs 11:24–25
One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.
- Proverbs 19:17
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).