Genesis 40:19 - Printer Friendly

ESV: In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”

NIV: Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh.'

NASB: within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a wooden post, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.'

CSB: In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head--from off you--and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh from your body."

NLT: Three days from now Pharaoh will lift you up and impale your body on a pole. Then birds will come and peck away at your flesh.'

KJV: 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.

NKJV: Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

With revelation from God, Joseph is interpreting the dreams of his fellow inmates (Genesis 40:4–8). Having completed the cupbearer's positive interpretation (Genesis 40:9–13), Joseph proceeds to interpret the baker's prophetic dream.

The baker had dreamed that birds were eating baked goods from the topmost of three baskets he carried on his head (Genesis 40:16–17). Joseph has told him that the three baskets represent three days. Now he delivers the devastating conclusion: in three days, the baker will be killed by Pharaoh and hung from a tree. The birds will eat his flesh.

Speaking to the cupbearer, Joseph indicated Pharaoh would "lift up [his] head" (Genesis 40:13). This phrase is usually used as a symbol of reassurance or victory. The imagery is of a person with their face turned down in sorrow, only to have it raised up in victory (Psalm 3:3). In the baker's case, Joseph uses the same phrase—only to clarify that the baker's head will be literally removed from his body.

This most likely means the baker will be decapitated, though it might simply be a reference to an execution. What is clear is that the man's corpse will be hung and left to be desecrated by scavenger birds. Under the Egyptian worldview of the time, this may have been done to keep a person's spirit from finding rest in the afterlife.

Genesis 40:1–23 takes place during Joseph's years in a prison, or dungeon, within the house of the captain of the guard. Two men join him there for a time and experience troubling, prophetic dreams. Joseph's interpretation reveals that the former cupbearer to Pharaoh will be restored to his old job. The former baker for Pharaoh will be executed. Both interpretations are fulfilled exactly, but Joseph is soon forgotten again.

Genesis 40 describes Joseph's interpretation of dreams for two of his fellow prisoners. Pharaoh's chief cupbearer and baker are imprisoned and experience troubling, prophetic visions. Joseph reveals the meaning of those dreams and, just as he predicts, the cupbearer is restored to his position while the baker is executed. The redeemed cupbearer, despite Joseph's plea, says nothing to Pharaoh about Joseph's situation.

Joseph remains in prison after being accused of attempted rape by Potiphar's wife (Genesis 39:11–15). The Lord blesses Joseph even in jail (Genesis 39:21–23), but he longs to get out. His chance for release comes through an opportunity to interpret the dreams of two fellow prisoners. The dreams reveal that one will be restored to his old position, while the other will be killed. Joseph pleads with the servant to be restored, asking him to to plead with Pharaoh to get Joseph released, but the man fails to do so. Two years later (Genesis 41:1), another dream requires explanation, and Joseph will finally be freed (Genesis 41:12–14).

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.