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Genesis 40:14

in Genesis 40

But when it goes well for you, please remember me and show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, that he might bring me out of this prison.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But have me in thy remembrance when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house:

KJV

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:

This verse in Genesis 40

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

On Joseph the Patriarch · Written before 397.

Therefore, consider that Hebrew saying to the eunuch, who had incurred the wrath of the king, whom he had restored to his position: Remember yourself, when you are doing well, and show mercy towards me, and remember me. He repeated it a second time, because he knew that he would not recall what had happened once he regained his power.

This site's exposition

please remember me

on Genesis 40:14-15

This is the only thing Joseph asks of anyone. He asks the cupbearer to remember him to Pharaoh and get him out of the prison. The word behind remember is the one Genesis uses when God remembered Noah at 8:1 and remembered Rachel at 30:22. Wesley notes that Joseph says only that he was kidnapped, taken from the land of the Hebrews.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 63.7-9 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

When you hear this, dearly beloved, far from despising the good man's pusillanimity, be amazed rather at the fact that despite the onset of such awful difficulties, he put up with his internment there nobly and thankfully. I mean, even though he had often been given authority by the chief jailer, still he found it harsh to be locked up and live with squalid and filthy people. Notice, in fact, his philosophical attitude even from his bearing it in courageous fashion and giving evidence of great humility in every circumstance. "Have compassion on me, remind Pharaoh of me, and get me out of this dungeon." Consider in this, I ask you, how Joseph says nothing against that disgusting adulteress, does not blame his master or recount his brothers' inhumanity to him. Instead, he suppresses all that in saying, "Remember me, and have me taken out of this dungeon, for I was really abducted from the land of the Hebrews and have done nothing here and yet have been cast into this prison."Instead of passing this idly by, let us consider his philosophical frame of mind in finding such a suitable opportunity and in not maligning the Egyptian woman (I make the same point, note) or drawing attention to his master or his brothers, aware as he was that the chief cupbearer was in the ideal position to acquaint the king of his situation once he had come into his own. Joseph assigned no blame for his being sentenced to a term in prison and was in no hurry to demonstrate the injustice committed against him. Rather, his one concern was not for them to be roundly condemned but only for someone to speak on his behalf. On the one hand, he obscured the role of his brothers when he said, "I was abducted from the land of the Hebrews," and, on the other hand, he drew attention neither to the doings of the wanton Egyptian woman nor to his master's unjust rage against him. Instead, what did he say?

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

But think on me, when it shall be well with thee,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Nothing has hitherto met us in the record indicative of Joseph's feelings; but this earnest appeal reveals a sadness and impatient longing for release, which not all his piety and faith in God could dispel.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Make mention of me unto Pharaoh - One would have supposed that the very circumstance of his restoration, according to the prediction of Joseph, would have almost necessarily prevented him from forgetting so extraordinary a person. But what have mere courtiers to do either with gratitude or kindness?

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

“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.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Genesis 40:14:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976

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

18 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • כִּ֧יthat

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אִם־except

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • זְכַרְתַּ֣נִיyou have remembered me

    zekhartaniH2142 →230 times

  • אִתְּךָ֗with you

    ʾitekhaH854 →929 times

  • כַּאֲשֶׁר֙<just> when

    kaasherH834 →5497 times

  • יִ֣יטַבit will go well

    yitavH3190 →117 times

  • לָ֔ךְfor <the> you

    lakh

  • וְעָשִֽׂיתָ־and you will do

    veasita-H6213 →2628 times

  • נָּ֥אplease

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • עִמָּדִ֖יwith me

    ʾimadiH5978 →42 times

  • חָ֑סֶדloyalty

    chasedH2617 →247 times

  • וְהִזְכַּרְתַּ֙נִי֙and you will bring to remembrance me

    vehizkartaniH2142 →230 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • פַּרְעֹ֔הPharaoh

    parohH6547 →274 times

  • וְהוֹצֵאתַ֖נִיand you will bring out me

    vehotzetaniH3318 →1067 times

  • מִן־from

    min-H4480 →1188 times

  • הַבַּ֥יִתthe house

    habayitH1004 →2046 times

  • הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Luke 23:42

    Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”

    it leads to

    • Romans 10:9–14

      that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

    • Acts 16:31

      They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”

    • 1 John 5:11–13

      And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

    • 1 Corinthians 6:10–11

      nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

    • Luke 12:8

      I tell you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 9:1

    Then David asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 20:42

      And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be a witness between you and me, and between…

    • Mark 9:41

      Indeed, if anyone gives you even a cup of water because you bear the name of Christ, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.

    • Matthew 25:40

      And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’

About Genesis

The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On Joseph the Patriarch; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 63.7-9; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.