Genesis 40:21
in Genesis 40Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:
KJV
And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:
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This verse in Genesis 40
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAnd he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again,.... Put him into the same office he was in before: and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand; ministered to him in his office the same day, according to his dream and the interpretation of it: the Targum of Jonathan adds this as a reason of his being restored,"because he found that he was not in that counsel,''in which it was consulted to poison Pharaoh; see Gill on Gen 40:1.
This site's exposition
which was Pharaoh’s birthday
on Genesis 40:20-22
Both readings come true on the third day. Clarke notes the first birthday feast in Scripture, and the only other the Bible reports is Herod's. Gill passes on a Jewish tradition that the cupbearer was cleared of a plot to poison Pharaoh and the baker held guilty.
This site's exposition
Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position
The cupbearer takes up the office he held before, and the dream is fulfilled to the letter. At Genesis 41:9 to 13 he tells Pharaoh this very outcome, his own restoration and the baker's hanging. The fulfilled dream becomes Joseph's reference.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday--This was a holiday season, celebrated at court with great magnificence and honored by a free pardon to prisoners.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּ֛שֶׁב | vaiyashev | and he restored | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שַׂ֥ר | sar | [the] chief of | H8269 → | 421 times |
| הַמַּשְׁקִ֖ים | hamashkim | the cup bearers | H4945 → | 19 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מַשְׁקֵ֑הוּ | mashkehu | cup bearing his | H4945 → | 19 times |
| וַיִּתֵּ֥ן | vaiyiten | and he put | H5414 → | 2011 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 |
וַיָּ֛שֶׁבand he restored
vaiyashevH7725 →1056 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שַׂ֥ר[the] chief of
sarH8269 →421 times
הַמַּשְׁקִ֖יםthe cup bearers
hamashkimH4945 →19 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מַשְׁקֵ֑הוּcup bearing his
mashkehuH4945 →19 times
וַיִּתֵּ֥ןand he put
vaiyitenH5414 →2011 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 2:1Now 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…
it leads to
- Ezra 7:1
Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
- Nehemiah 1:11
O 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…
- Nehemiah 1:1
These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,
- Ezra 7:1
Through
Genesis 40:13Within 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.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 25:27
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…
- Jeremiah 52:31
On 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…
- Psalms 3:3
But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.
- Genesis 40:19–22
Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”
- Genesis 7:4
For seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.”
- 2 Kings 25:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
