Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)

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G E N E S I S

CHAP. XL.

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In this chapter things are working, though slowly, towards Joseph’s

advancement.

I. Two of Pharaoh’s servants are committed to

prison, and there to Joseph’s care, and so become witnesses of

his extraordinary conduct,

ver. 1-4.

II. They dreamed each of

them a dream, which Joseph interpreted

(ver. 5-19),

and the

event verified the interpretation

(ver. 20-22),

and so they became

witnesses of his extraordinary skill.

III. Joseph recommends

his case to one of them, whose preferment he foresaw

(ver. 14, 15),

but in vain,

ver. 23.

The History of Joseph.	B. C. 1717.

     

1 And it came to pass after these

things, that the butler of the

king of Egypt and his baker had offended

their lord the king of Egypt.

  2 And Pharaoh was wroth against two

of his officers, against the chief of the

butlers, and against the chief of the

bakers.

  3 And he put them in ward

in the house of the captain of the

guard, into the prison, the place where

Joseph was bound.

  4 And the captain

of the guard charged Joseph with

them, and he served them: and they

continued a season in ward.

     

We should not have had this story of

Pharaoh’s butler and baker recorded in scripture

if it had not been serviceable to Joseph’s

preferment. The world stands for the sake

of the church, and is governed for its good.

Observe,

1. Two of the great officers of Pharaoh’s

court, having offended the king, are

committed to prison. Note, High places are

slippery places; nothing more uncertain than

the favour of princes. Those that make

God’s favour their happiness, and his service

their business, will find him a better Master

than Pharaoh was, and not so extreme to

mark what they do amiss. Many conjectures

there are concerning the offence of these servants

of Pharaoh; some make it no less than

an attempt to take away his life, others no

more than the casual lighting of a fly into

his cup and a little sand into his bread.

Whatever it was, Providence by this means

brought them into the prison where Joseph

was.

2. The captain of the guard himself,

who was Potiphar, charged Joseph with them

(v. 4),

which intimates that he began now to

be reconciled to him, and perhaps to be convinced

of his innocence, though he durst not

release him for fear of disobliging his wife.

John Baptist must lose his head, to please

Herodias.

     

5 And they dreamed a dream both

of them, each man his dream in one

night, each man according to the interpretation

of his dream, the butler

and the baker of the king of Egypt,

which were bound in the prison.

  6 And Joseph came in unto them in the

morning, and looked upon them, and,

behold, they were sad.

  7 And he

asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with

him in the ward of his lord’s house,

saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to

day?

  8 And they said unto him, We

have dreamed a dream, and there is

no interpreter of it. And Joseph said

unto them, Do not interpretations belong

to God? tell me them, I pray you.

  9 And the chief butler told his dream

to Joseph, and said to him, In my

dream, behold, a vine was before me;

  10 And in the vine were three branches:

and it was as though it budded, and

her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters

thereof brought forth ripe grapes:

  11 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.

  12 And Joseph said unto him, This is

the interpretation of it: The three

branches are three days:

  13 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.

  14 But

think on me 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:

  15 For indeed I was stolen

away out of the land of the Hebrews:

and here also have I done nothing

that they should put me into the dungeon.

  16 When the chief baker saw

that the interpretation was good,

he said unto Joseph, I also was in my

dream, and, behold, I had three white

baskets on my head:

  17 And in the

uppermost basket there was of all

manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh;

and the birds did eat them out of the

basket upon my head.

  18 And Joseph

answered and said, This is the interpretation

thereof: The three baskets

are three days:

  19 Yet within three

days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head

from off thee, and shall hang thee on

a tree; and the birds shall eat thy

flesh from off thee.

     

Observe,

I. The special providence of God,

which filled the heads of these two prisoners

with unusual dreams, such as made extraordinary

impressions upon them, and carried

with them evidences of a divine origin, both

in one night. Note, God has immediate access

to the spirits of men, which he can make

serviceable to his own purposes whenever he

pleases, quite beyond the intention of those

concerned. To him all hearts are open, and

anciently he spoke not only to his own people,

but to others, in dreams,

Job xxxiii. 15.

Things to come were thus foretold, but very

obscurely.

     

II. The impression which was made upon

these prisoners by their dreams

(v. 6):

They

were sad. It was not the prison that made

them sad (they were pretty well used to that,

and perhaps lived jovially there), but the

dream. Note, God has more ways than one

to sadden the spirits of those that are to be

made sad. Those sinners that are hardy

enough under outward troubles, and will not

yield to them, yet God can find out a way to

punish; he can take off their wheels, by

wounding their spirits, and laying loads upon

them.

     

III. Joseph’s great tenderness and compassion

towards them. He enquired with concern,

Wherefore look you so sadly to-day?
v. 7.

Joseph was their keeper, and in that office he

was mild. Note, It becomes us to take cognizance

of the sorrows even of those that are

under our check. Joseph was their companion

in tribulation, he was now a prisoner

with them, and had been a dreamer too.

Note, Communion in sufferings helps to work

compassion towards those that do suffer. Let

us learn hence,

1. To concern ourselves in

the sorrows and troubles of others, and to

enquire into the reason of the sadness of our

brethren’s countenances; we should be often

considering the tears of the oppressed,

Eccl. iv. 1.

It is some relief to those that are in

trouble to be taken notice of.

2. To enquire

into the causes of our own sorrow, “Wherefore

do I look so sadly? Is there a reason?

Is it a good reason? Is there not a reason

for comfort sufficient to balance it, whatever

it is? Why art thou cast down, O my soul?“

     

IV. The dreams themselves, and the interpretation

of them. That which troubled

these prisoners was that being confined they

could not have recourse to the diviners of

Egypt who pretended to interpret dreams:

There is no interpreter here in the prison,

v. 8.

Note, There are interpreters which those that

are in prison and sorrow should wish to have

with them, to instruct them in the meaning

and design of Providence (Elihu alludes to

such, when he says, If there be an interpreter,

one among a thousand, to show unto man his

uprightness,
Job xxxiii. 23, 24),

interpreters

to guide their consciences, not to satisfy their

curiosity. Joseph hereupon directed them

which way to look: Do not interpretations

belong to God? He means the God whom he

worshipped, to the knowledge of whom he

endeavours hereby to lead them. Note, It is

God’s prerogative to foretel things to come,

Isa. xlvi. 10.

He must therefore have the

praise of all the gifts of foresight which men

have, ordinary or extraordinary. Joseph

premises a caveat against his own praise, and

is careful to transmit the glory to God, as

Daniel,

ch. ii. 30.

Joseph suggests, “If interpretations

belong to God, he is a free agent,

and may communicate the power to whom he

pleases, and therefore tell me your dreams.”

Now,

1. The chief butler’s dream was a happy

presage of his enlargement, and re-advancement,

within three days; and so Joseph explained

it to him,

v. 12, 13.

Probably it had

been usual with him to press the full-ripe

grapes immediately into Pharaoh’s cup, the

simplicity of that age not being acquainted

with the modern arts of making the wine fine.

Observe, Joseph foretold the chief butler’s

deliverance, but he did not foresee his own.

He had long before dreamt of his own honour,

and the obeisance which his brethren should

do to him, with the remembrance of which

he must now support himself, without any

new or fresh discoveries. 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.

2. The chief baker’s dream

portended his ignominious death,

v. 18, 19.

The happy interpretation of the other’s dream

encouraged him to relate his. Thus hypocrites,

when they hear good things promised

to good Christians, would put in for a share,

though they have no part nor lot in the matter.

It was not Joseph’s fault that he brought

him no better tidings. Ministers are but interpreters,

they cannot make the thing otherwise

than it is; if therefore they deal faithfully,

and their message prove unpleasing, it

is not their fault. Bad dreams cannot expect

a good interpretation.

     

V. The improvement Joseph made of this

opportunity to get a friend at court,

v. 14, 15.

He modestly bespoke the favour of the chief

butler, whose preferment he foretold: But

think of me when it shall be well with thee.

Though the respect paid to Joseph made the

prison as easy to him as a prison could be,

yet none can blame him for being desirous of

liberty. See here,

1. What a modest representation

he makes of his own case,

v. 15.

He does not reflect upon his brethren that

sold him; he only says, I was stolen out of

the land of the Hebrews, that is, unjustly sent

thence, no matter where the fault was. Nor

does he reflect on the wrong done him in this

imprisonment by his mistress that was his

prosecutrix, and his master that was his judge;

but mildly avers his own innocence:

Here have I done nothing that they should put

me into the dungeon. Note, When we are

called to vindicate ourselves we should carefully

avoid, as much as may be, speaking ill

of others. Let us be content to prove ourselves

innocent, and not be fond of upbraiding

others with their guilt.

2. What a modest

request he makes to the chief butler:

“Only, think of me. Pray do me a kindness,

if it lie in your way.” And his particular

petition is, Bring me out of this house. He

does not say, “Bring me into Pharaoh’s

house, get me a place at court.” No, he begs

for enlargement, not preferment. Note, Providence

sometimes designs the greatest honours

for those that least covet or expect them.

     

20 And it came to pass the third

day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday,

that he made a feast unto all his servants:

and he lifted up the head of

the chief butler and of the chief baker

among his servants.

  21 And he restored

the chief butler unto his butlership

again; and he gave the cup into

Pharaoh’s hand:

  22 But he hanged

the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted

to them.

  23 Yet did not the

chief butler remember Joseph, but

forgat him.

     

Here is,

1. The verifying of Joseph’s interpretation

of the dreams, on the very day

prefixed. The chief butler and baker were

both advanced, one to his office, the other to

the gallows, and both at the three days’ end.

Note, Very great changes, both for the better

and for the worse, often happen in a very

little time, so sudden are the revolutions of

the wheel of nature. The occasion of giving

judgment severally upon their case was the

solemnizing of Pharaoh’s birth-day, on which,

all his servants being obliged by custom to

attend him, these two came to be enquired

after, and the cause of their commitment

looked into. The solemnizing of the birth-day

of princes has been an ancient piece of

respect done them; and if it be not abused,

as Jeroboam’s was

(Hos. vii. 5),

and Herod’s

(Mark vi. 21),

is a usage innocent enough:

and we may all profitably take notice of our

birth-days, with thankfulness for the mercies

of our birth, sorrow for the sinfulness of it,

and an expectation of the day of our death as

better than the day of our birth. On Pharaoh’s

birth-day he lifted up the head of

these two prisoners, that is, arraigned and

tried them (when Naboth was tried he was

set on high among the people,

1 Kings xxi. 9),

and he restored the chief butler, and hanged

the chief baker. If the butler was innocent

and the baker guilty, we must own the equity

of Providence in clearing up the innocency

of the innocent, and making the sin of the

guilty to find him out. If both were either

equally innocent or equally guilty, it is an

instance of the arbitrariness of such great

princes as pride themselves in that power

which Nebuchadnezzar set up for

(Dan. v. 19,

whom he would he slew, and whom he would he

kept alive), forgetting that there is a higher

than they, to whom they are accountable.

2. The disappointing of Joseph’s expectation

from the chief butler: He remembered

not Joseph, but forgot him,
v. 23.

(1.) See

here an instance of base ingratitude; Joseph

had deserved well at his hands, had ministered

to him, sympathized with him, helped him to

a favourable interpretation of his dream, had

recommended himself to him as an extraordinary

person upon all accounts; and yet he

forgot him. We must not think it strange

if in this world we have hatred shown us for

our love, and slights for our respects.

(2.) See how apt those that are themselves at ease

are to forget others in distress. Perhaps it

is in allusion to this story that the prophet

speaks of those that drink wine in bowls, and

are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph,
Amos vi. 6.

Let us learn hence to cease

from man. Joseph perhaps depended too

much upon his interest in the chief butler,

and promised himself too much from him;

he learned by his disappointment to trust in

God only. We cannot expect too little from

man nor too much from God.

     

Some observe the resemblance between

Joseph and Christ in this story. Joseph’s

fellow-sufferers were like the two thieves that

were crucified with Christ–the one saved,

the other condemned. (It is Dr. Lightfoot’s

remark, from Mr. Broughton.) One of these,

when Joseph said to him, Remember me when

it shall be well with thee, forget him; but one

of those, when he said to Christ, Remember

me when thou comest into thy kingdom, was

not forgotten. We justly blame the chief

butler’s ingratitude to Joseph, yet we conduct

ourselves much more disingenuously towards

the Lord Jesus. Joseph had but foretold the

chief butler’s enlargement, but Christ wrought

out ours, mediated with the King of kings for

us; yet we forget him, though often reminded

of him, though we have promised never to

forget him: thus ill do we requite him, like

foolish people and unwise.

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)

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