Genesis 40:13
in Genesis 40Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did when you were his cupbearer.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
within yet three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head, and restore thee unto thine office: and thou shalt give Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 40
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis 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, so the reading is given to Joseph. He tells the cupbearer that Pharaoh will lift up his head within three days and restore his position. The cup goes back into Pharaoh's hand the way it always did. The same phrase about the head returns six verses on.
This site's exposition
Pharaoh will lift up your head
The Hebrew of 2 Kings 25:27 uses the same phrase when the king of Babylon releases Jehoiachin from prison. Numbers 1:2 uses the idiom for taking a census, calling a man up to be counted. Pharaoh will call the cupbearer up by name.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
I do not wish to speak of someone else's dream. You certainly remember my words, that even then I refused to interpret it because I fear its outcome, the death that I dread. Let us first speak of the man who, when he was in charge of wine, seemed to be happy and believed that this was the pinnacle of power because he gave the cup to the king. This was his glory, this was his magnificence in this world, and he grieved being deprived of it; he rejoiced when it was restored to him.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head,....
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
“If you will remember me when it will be well with you, I now pray for the kindness and truth you will do to me by making mention of me to Pharaoh.” And if the word na. V’asitha ‘na’ imadi chesed.
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
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּע֣וֹד׀ | beod | in again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת | sheloshet | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| יָמִ֗ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| יִשָּׂ֤א | yisa' | he will lift up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| פַרְעֹה֙ | faroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| רֹאשֶׁ֔ךָ | roshekha | head your | H7218 → | 599 times |
| וַהֲשִֽׁיבְךָ֖ | vahashivekha | and he will restore you | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כַּנֶּ֑ךָ | kanekha | office your | H3653 → | |
| וְנָתַתָּ֤ | venatata | and you will put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| כוֹס־ | khos- | [the] cup of | H3563 → | 34 times |
| פַּרְעֹה֙ | paroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| בְּיָד֔וֹ | beyado | in hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| כַּמִּשְׁפָּט֙ | kamishpat | according to the custom | H4941 → | 422 times |
| הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹן | harishon | <the> former | H7223 → | 182 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | when | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הָיִ֖יתָ | hayita | you were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מַשְׁקֵֽהוּ׃ | mashkehu | cup bearer his | H4945 → | 19 times |
בְּע֣וֹד׀in again
beodH5750 →490 times
שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁתthree
sheloshetH7969 →432 times
יָמִ֗יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
יִשָּׂ֤אhe will lift up
yisa'H5375 →656 times
פַרְעֹה֙Pharaoh
farohH6547 →274 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
רֹאשֶׁ֔ךָhead your
roshekhaH7218 →599 times
וַהֲשִֽׁיבְךָ֖and he will restore you
vahashivekhaH7725 →1056 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כַּנֶּ֑ךָoffice your
kanekhaH3653 →
וְנָתַתָּ֤and you will put
venatataH5414 →2011 times
כוֹס־[the] cup of
khos-H3563 →34 times
פַּרְעֹה֙Pharaoh
parohH6547 →274 times
בְּיָד֔וֹin hand his
beyadoH3027 →1618 times
כַּמִּשְׁפָּט֙according to the custom
kamishpatH4941 →422 times
הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹן<the> former
harishonH7223 →182 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhen
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הָיִ֖יתָyou were
hayitaH1961 →3559 times
מַשְׁקֵֽהוּ׃cup bearer his
mashkehuH4945 →19 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
Psalms 3:3But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.
it leads to
- Psalms 27:6
Then my head will be held high above my enemies around me. At His tabernacle I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart rejoices, and I give thanks to Him with my song.
- Genesis 15:1
After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
- Psalms 119:114
You are my hiding place and my shield; I put my hope in Your word.
- Isaiah 60:19
No longer will the sun be your light by day, nor the brightness of the moon shine on your night; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your…
- Psalms 27:6
Through
Jeremiah 52:31On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 25:27–30
On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released King Jehoiachin of Judah from…
- Psalms 3:3
But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.
- 2 Kings 25:27–30
Through
2 Kings 25:27On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released King Jehoiachin of Judah from…
it leads to
- Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 21:1
About Genesis
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, On Joseph the Patriarch; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.