Genesis 40:12
in Genesis 40Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days;
KJV
And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days:
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This verse in Genesis 40
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAnd Joseph said unto him, this is the interpretation of it,.... Of the dream: the three branches are three days; signify three days, or, as Jarchi expresses it, are a sign of three days; which Joseph could know only by divine revelation; for there is no more likeness between branches and days, than between them and months or years, and bid as fair to signify one as the other, if the interpretation depended on similarity, or bare conjecture.
This site's exposition
The three branches are three days
on Genesis 40:12-13
Gill points out that three branches would serve as well for three months or three years, and the reading is given to Joseph. He tells the cupbearer that Pharaoh will lift up his head within three days and restore him to his office. The same words about the head return six verses on.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The visions that are for the comfort of God's saints are for a great while to come, and relate to things that are very far off, while the foresights of others, like this recorded there, look but three days before them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The three branches are three days - That is, The three branches signify three days; so, this Is my body, that is, this bread signifies or represents my body; this cup is my blood, Represents my blood; a form of speech frequently used in the sacred writings, for the Hebrew has no proper word by which our terms signifies, represents, etc., are expressed; therefore it says such a thing Is, for represents, points out, etc. And because several of our ancestors would understand such words in their true, genuine, critical, and sole meaning, Queen Mary, Bishops Gardiner, Bonner, and the rest of that demoniacal crew, reduced them to ashes in Smithfield and elsewhere!
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לוֹ֙ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| יוֹסֵ֔ף | yosef | Joseph | H3130 → | 213 times |
| זֶ֖ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| פִּתְרֹנ֑וֹ | pitrono | [is] interpretation its | H6623 → | 5 times |
| שְׁלֹ֙שֶׁת֙ | sheloshet | [the] three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| הַשָּׂ֣רִגִ֔ים | hasarigim | the branches | H8299 → | |
| שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת | sheloshet | [are] three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| יָמִ֖ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הֵֽם׃ | hem | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
לוֹ֙to <the> him
lo
יוֹסֵ֔ףJoseph
yosefH3130 →213 times
זֶ֖הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
פִּתְרֹנ֑וֹ[is] interpretation its
pitronoH6623 →5 times
שְׁלֹ֙שֶׁת֙[the] three
sheloshetH7969 →432 times
הַשָּׂ֣רִגִ֔יםthe branches
hasarigimH8299 →
שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת[are] three
sheloshetH7969 →432 times
יָמִ֖יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
הֵֽם׃they
hemH1992 →553 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
Judges 7:14His friend replied: “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has delivered Midian and the whole camp into his hand.”
it leads to
- Joshua 2:9
and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting…
- 2 Kings 7:6–7
For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the…
- Numbers 23:5
Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”
- Joshua 2:9
Through
Genesis 41:12Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams and he interpreted them for us individually.
it leads to
- Genesis 37:36
Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
- Genesis 40:12–19
Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days.
- Genesis 39:20
So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. While Joseph was there in the prison,
- Genesis 39:1
Meanwhile, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, where an Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
- Genesis 37:36
Through
Genesis 40:18Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 11:24
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
- 1 Corinthians 11:24
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.