_Joseph proves his Gift of interpreting Dreams_
(Elohist).
Joseph is appointed to wait on two officers of the court who have
been put under arrest in his master’s house (¹⁻⁴), and finds them
one morning troubled by dreams for which they have no interpreter
(⁵⁻⁸). He interprets the dreams (⁹⁻¹⁹), which are speedily verified by
the event (²⁰⁻²²). But his eager request that the chief butler would
intercede for him with Pharaoh (¹⁴ ᶠᐧ) remains unheeded (²³).
_Source._――The main narrative, as summarised above, obviously
belongs to Elohist (see page 456 f.). Joseph is not a prisoner
(as in Yahwist 39²⁰ ᶠᶠᐧ), but the servant of the captain of
the guard (compare 37³⁶ 41¹²); the officers are not strictly
imprisoned, but merely placed ‘in ward’ (במשמר) in Potiphar’s
house (³ᐧ ⁴ᐧ ⁷); and Joseph was ‘stolen’ from his native land
(¹⁵ᵃ; compare 37²⁸ᵃ), not sold by his brethren as 37²⁸ᵇ
(Yahwist).――Fragments of a parallel narrative in Yahwist can
be detected in ¹ᵃ{β}ᵇ (a duplicate of ²), ³ᵃ{β} (from אל־בית ה׳) ᵇ
(Joseph a prisoner), ⁵ᵇ (the officers imprisoned), and ¹⁵ᵇ.――In
the phraseology note Yahwist’s המשקה, האפה, ¹ᐧ ⁵ᵇ ∥ Elohist’s
שר המשקים, ש׳ האפים, ²ᐧ ⁹ᐧ ¹⁶ᐧ ²⁰ᐧ ²¹ᐧ ²²ᐧ ²³; Yahwist בית הסהר, ³ᵃ{β}ᐧ
⁵ᵇ ∥ Elohist משמר, ³ᵃ{α}ᐧ ⁴ᐧ ⁷; while שר הטבחים, ³ᐧ ⁴, and סריס,
²ᐧ ⁷, connect the main narrative with 37³⁶ (Elohist).――That in
Yahwist the turn of Joseph’s fortune depended on the successful
interpretation of dreams does not explicitly appear, but may be
presumed from the fact that he was afterwards brought from the
dungeon to interpret them (41¹⁴ᵃ{β} Yahwist).
=1‒8. Pharaoh’s officers in disgrace: their dreams.=――=1.= _the
butler ... the baker_] Yahwist writes as if the king had only one
servant of each class: his notions of a royal establishment are
perhaps simpler than Elohist’s. In Babylonia the highest and oldest
court offices are said to have been those of the baker and the butler
(_Das Alte Testament im Lichte des alten Orients_², 54; compare
Zimmern, _Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft_,
liii. 119 f.).――=2.= _chief of the butlers ... bakers_ (Elohist)]
The rise of household slaves to high civil dignity seems to have
been characteristic of the Egyptian government under the 19th dynasty
(Erman, _Life in Ancient Egypt_, 105). Titles corresponding to
those here used are ‘scribe of the sideboard,’ ‘superintendent
of the bakehouse,’ etc. (Erman, 187).――=3a.= The officers are not
incarcerated, but merely detained in custody pending investigation
(Gunkel).――=3b = (Yahwist). _bound_] _i.e._ ‘confined’; compare
39²² ᶠᐧ.――=4.= Joseph is charged with the duty of waiting on them (שֵׁרֵת
as 39⁴, 2 Samuel 13¹⁷). =5‒8= is a skilful piece of narration: the
effect of the dreams is vividly depicted before their character is
disclosed.――=5.= _each according to the interpretation of his dream_]
a sort of _idem per idem_ construction, meaning that the dreams
had each a peculiar significance.――=5b= (Yahwist).――=8.= _no one
to interpret it_] No professional interpreter, such as they would
certainly have consulted had they been at liberty.――_interpretations
belong to God_] The maxim is quite in accord with Egyptian sentiment
(Herodotus, ii. 83), but in the mouth of Joseph it expresses the
Hebrew idea that inspiration comes directly from God and is not a
מִצְוַת אֲנָשִׁים מְלֻמָּדָה (Isaiah 29¹³).
On the Egyptian belief in divinely inspired dreams, see
Ebers, 321 f.; Wiedemann, _Religion of the ancient Egyptians_
266 ff.; Heyes, 174 ff.: on the belief in classical antiquity,
Homer _Iliad_ ii. 5‒34, _Odyssey_ iv. 795 ff.; Cicero, _De
Divinatione_ i. § 39 ff. etc.; in modern Egypt, Lane, _An
Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians_⁵,
i. 330. While this idea was fully shared by the Israelites, the
_interpretation_ of dreams, as a distinct art or gift, is rarely
referred to in Old Testament (only in the case of Joseph, and
that of Daniel, which is largely modelled on it). Elsewhere
the dream either _contains_ the revelation (20³ ᶠᶠᐧ etc.), or
carries its significance on its face (28¹² ᶠᶠᐧ 37¹⁰). See Stade
_Biblische Theologie des Alten Testaments_ § 63. 1.
* * * * *
=1.= משׁקֵה――והאפה] On the syntax, see Gesenius-Kautzsch §§ 128 _a_,
129 _h_; Davidson § 27 (_b_): compare verse ⁵.――=2.= ויקצף is the
regular continuation of the time-clause in ¹ᵃ (Elohist).――סָֽריסיו]
with so-called _qamez impurum_; so always except in construct
state (40⁷ etc.).――=3.= במשמַר] Better perhaps במשמָר (compare
verse ⁴), with בית as accusative of place. So verse ⁷.――=4.= ימים
= ‘for some time’; Gesenius-Kautzsch § 139 _h_.――=6.= זעף] ‘be
fretful’; elsewhere late (Daniel 1¹⁰, Proverbs 19³, 2 Chronicles
26¹⁹†).――=8.= פתר אין] On the order, Gesenius-Kautzsch § 152
_o_.――פתרנים] LXX פתרנָם.
* * * * *
=9‒19. The dreams interpreted.=――=9‒11.= The butler had seen a vine
pass rapidly through the stages of its growth; had seemed to squeeze
the ripe grapes into a cup and present it to Pharaoh,――a mixture of
the ‘realistic’ and the ‘fantastic’ which belongs to the psychology of
the dream (Gunkel). It is disputed whether the drinking of the fresh
juice is realism or phantasy. “The ordinary interpretation is that
the king drank the fresh grape-juice; but as the butler sees the
natural process of the growth of the grapes take place with dream-like
swiftness, so probably it is taken for granted that the juice became
wine in similar fashion” (Bennett; so Gunkel). On the other hand,
Ebers (_Durch Gosen zum Sinai_², 492) cites two texts in which a
beverage prepared by squeezing grapes into water is mentioned.――=12,
13.= The interpretation: the butler will be restored to his office
within three days.――_lift up thy head_] Commonly understood of
restoration to honour. But in view of the fact that the phrase is
used of the baker also, it may be doubted if it be not a technical
phrase for release from prison (as it is in 2 Kings 25²⁷, Jeremiah
52³¹).――=14, 15.= Joseph’s petition.――_remember me_] On the difficult
construction, _v.i._――_from this house_] Not the prison (as version,
below), but Potiphar’s house, where he was kept as a slave.――=15a.= _I
was stolen_] compare 37²⁸ᵃ{α} (Elohist).――_the land of the Hebrews_]
The expression is an anachronism in the patriarchal history. It
is barely possible that both here and in 39¹⁴ᐧ ¹⁷ (41¹²) there is a
faint reminiscence of the historical background of the legends, the
early occupation of Palestine by Hebrew tribes.――=15b= (Yahwist) was
probably followed in the original document by an explanation of the
circumstances which led to his imprisonment.――=16‒19.= The baker’s
dream contains sinister features which were absent from the first,
the decisive difference being that while the butler dreamed that he
actually performed the duties of his office, the baker only sought
to do so, and was prevented (Gunkel).――=16.= _three baskets of white
bread_] The meaning of חֹרִי, however, is doubtful (_v.i._).――_upon my
head_] See the picture of the court-bakery of Rameses III. in Ebers,
_Ägypten und die Bücher Moses_ 332; Erman, _Life in Ancient Egypt_,
191. According to Ebers, the custom of carrying on the head (Herodotus
ii. 35) was not usual in ancient Egypt _except_ for bakers.――=17.= _in
the uppermost basket_] Were the other two empty (Holzinger, Bennett)?
or were they filled with inferior bread for the court (Gunkel)?――_all
manner of bakemeats_] The court-baker of Rameses III. “is not content
with the usual shapes used for bread, but makes his cakes in all
manner of forms. Some are of a spiral shape like the ‘snails’ of our
confectioners; others are coloured dark-brown or red,” etc. (Erman,
192).――_while the birds kept eating_] In real life he would have
driven off the birds (compare 15¹¹); in the dream――and this is the
ominous circumstance――he cannot.――=19.= _lift thy head from off thee_]
In view of the fulfilment, it is perhaps better (with Ball) to remove
מעליך as a mistaken repetition of the last word of the verse, and to
understand the phrase of the baker’s release from prison (see on verse
¹³). The verb _hang_ may then refer to the mode of execution, and
not merely (as generally supposed) to the exposure of the decapitated
corpse. Decapitation is said to have been a commoner punishment in
Egypt than hanging, but the latter was not unknown (Ebers, 334). The
destruction of the corpse by birds must have been specially abhorrent
to Egyptians, from the importance they attached to the preservation
of the body after death. For Old Testament examples, see Deuteronomy
21²² ᶠᐧ, Joshua 10²⁶, 2 Samuel 4¹², and especially 2 Samuel 21 ⁹ᐧ ¹⁰.
* * * * *
=10.= והוא כפרחת] Not ‘when it budded’ (Peshiṭtå, Targumᴼⁿᵏᵉˡᵒˢ),
for such a use of כְּ with a participle (Gesenius-Kautzsch §
164 _g_) is dubious even in the Mishnah (_The Jewish Quarterly
Review_, 1908, 697 f.). If the text be retained we must render
‘as if budding’ (Driver, _A Treatise on the use of the Tenses
in Hebrew_ page 172²). Ball emends (after LXX καὶ αὐτὴ θάλλουσα)
והיא מַפְרַחַת (compare Job 14⁹, Psalms 92¹⁴); Kittel כְּפָרְחָהּ.――נִצָּהּ] The
masculine נֵץ does not occur (in this sense) in biblical Hebrew,
and a contraction of ־ָתָהּ to ־ָהּ is doubtful (Gesenius-Kautzsch §
91 _e_); hence it is better to read נִצָּה as accusative: ‘it (the
vine) went up in blossom.’ It is possible that here and Isaiah
18⁵ נִצָּה means ‘berry-cluster’; see Derenbourg, _Zeitschrift für
die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft_, v. 301 f.――הבשילו] literally
‘cooked’; Hiphil only here.――Note the asyndetous construction,
expressing the rapidity of the process.――=13.= יִשָּׂא――אָת־ראשך] LXX
μνησθήσεται ... τῆς ἀρχῆς σου; similarly Vulgate, Peshiṭtå,
Targumᴼⁿᵏᵉˡᵒˢ.――כֵּן] literally ‘pedestal,’ used metaphorically as
here in 41¹³, Daniel 11⁷ᐧ ²⁰ᐧ ²¹ᐧ ³⁸†.――=14.= כי אם־זכרתני] LXX ἀλλὰ
μνήσθητί μου, Vulgate _tantum memento mei_; similarly Peshiṭtå
and Targumᴼⁿᵏᵉˡᵒˢ⁻ᴶᵒⁿᵃᵗʰᵃⁿ. Something like this must be the
meaning; the difficulty is (since a precative perfect is
generally disallowed in Hebrew) to fit the sense to any known
use of the bare perfect. (a) If it be perfect of certitude,
the nearest analogy seems to me to be Judges 15⁷, where כי אם has
strong affirmative force, perhaps with a suppressed adjuration,
as 2 Kings 5²⁰ (חי יהוה כי אם רצתי): ‘thou wilt surely remember me.’
To supply a negative sentence like ‘I desire nothing [except
that thou remember me]’ (Gesenius-Kautzsch § 163 _d_; Delitzsch,
Strack), destroys the idea of perfect of certainty, and is a
doubtful expedient for the additional reason that כי אם may mean
‘except,’ but hardly ‘except that.’ (b) It may be future perfect,
in which case the אם must have its separate conditional sense;
and then it is better (with Wellhausen) to change כי to אַךְ: ‘only,
if thou remember me.’ The objection (Delitzsch, Dillmann) that
the remembrance is too essential an element of the request to
be made a mere condition, has no great weight; and might be
met by giving אִם interrogative force (Holzinger). See, further,
Driver _A Treatise on the use of the Tenses in Hebrew_ § 119
(δ).――ועשית־נא] The only case of consecutive perfect followed
by נא (Gesenius-Kautzsch § 105 _b_).――מן־הבית הזה] LXX, Vulgate,
Peshiṭtå, Targumᴼⁿᵏᵉˡᵒˢ⁻ᴶᵒⁿᵃᵗʰᵃⁿ seem to have read מן־הַבּוֹר הזה, or
מִבֵּית הַסֹּהַר הזה.――=16.= חֹרִי] ἅπαξ λεγόμενον, commonly derived from
√ חָוַר ‘be white’; so virtually LXX, Aquila, Vulgate, Peshiṭtå,
Targumᴶᵒⁿᵃᵗʰᵃⁿ; but Targumᴼⁿᵏᵉˡᵒˢ ‘of nobility’ (דְּחֵרוּ). Others
(Rashi, al.) understand it as a characteristic of the baskets:
‘perforated’ (from חוֹר, ‘hole’). The βαϊνά (of palm-leaves)
of Symmachus seems to rest on Aramaic (Field).――=19.= מעליך¹]
Omitted by two MSS and Vulgate (Ball, Kittel).
* * * * *
=20‒23. The dreams fulfilled.=――=20.= That it was customary for the
Pharaoh to celebrate his birthday by court assemblies and granting of
amnesties, is proved for the Ptolemaic period by the tables of Rosetta
and Canopus.――_lifted the head_] see on verse ¹⁹.――=23.= The notice of
the butler’s ingratitude forms an effective close, leaving the reader
expectant of further developments.
* * * * *
=20.= הלדת את־] as Ezekiel 16⁵; compare Gesenius-Kautzsch § 69 _w_,
121 _b_.――=21.= מַשְׁקֶה] is never elsewhere used of the office of
butler: perhaps ‘over his [Pharaoh’s] drink’ (as we should say,
‘his cellar’), as Leviticus 11³⁴, 1 Kings 10²¹, Isaiah 32⁶ (so
Gesenius, _Thesaurus philologicus criticus Linguæ Hebrææ et
Chaldææ Veteris Testamenti_, Dillmann).――=23.= וַיּשכחהו] Expressing
“a logical or necessary consequence of that which immediately
precedes” (Gesenius-Kautzsch § 111 _l_); compare Davidson § 47.
* * * * *