CONTEXT:
Dreams, in Biblical narratives, are understood as messages from God,
revelations about the future. Objects and events in the dreams were thought to
be mysterious symbols, requiring interpretation. That was the job of
professionals, wizards, thought to be gifted with insight. Yosef piously links
interpretations to God, and immediately sees and tells the point of the dreams.
GLOSSARY: Eunuch, (v.1) saris, ִיססָר, is the Hebrew cognate, or
translation, of the Akkadian title of office: ša rēši, “the one of the (king’s) head.” The position was some sort of
courtier and the usage points to eunuch. Tanach translators tend to render
“officer,” unless there is clear reference to emasculation as in Isaiah 56:3,
or in connection with harem keepers as in Book of Esther. Assyriologist and
Biblical Scholar Hayim Tadmor argues convincingly that the title referred to
eunuchs in early Akkadian writings and biblical usage likely means the same.
(“Was the Biblical sārîs a Eunuch?”
in Solving Riddles and Untying Knots,
Eisenbrauns, 1995, pp.317-325.)
1It happened, after these
things, that the cupbearer of the king of Mitsrayim and the baker, messed up
with their lord, the king of Mitsrayim. 2Paroh grew furious over his
two eunuchs, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. 3He put them
under guard of the house of the chief slaughterer, the round house, where Yosef
was imprisoned. 4The chief slaughterer appointed Yosef for them and
he served them. For days they were under guard. 5In the same night they
both dreamed a dream, each his own dream, each with his dream solution. (The cupbearer
and the baker of the king of Mitsrayim who were imprisoned in the round house.)
6Yosef came to them in
the morning and saw them: they looked peaked. 7He asked the eunuchs
of Paroh (there with him under guard in his lord’s house,) “Why are your faces
bad today?”
8They said to him, “We have dreamed a dream and there
is none to interpret it.”
9So the chief cupbearer
told Yosef his dream: “In my dream there was a vine before me. 10The
vine had three canes. Its bud seemed to rise and bloom. Its bunches of grapes
ripened. 11Paroh’s cup was in my hand. I took the grapes and
squeezed them into the cup and I set the cup on Paroh’s palm.”
12“This is its interpretation,”
said Yosef to him. “The three canes are three days. 13In another
three days Paroh will lift your head and return you to your pedestal. You will
set Paroh’s cup into his hand as in the earlier job description when you were
his cupbearer. 14If you would but mention me along with yourself
when it is good for you. You could do me a favor if you mention me to Paroh and
get me out of this house. 15Stolen! For I was stolen from the land
of the Ivrim. And here, too, I have not done a thing that they should put me
into the pit.”
16The chief baker saw
that he had interpreted for good. So he said to Yosef, “Me, too. In my dream
there were three baskets of bread on my head. 17In the top basket some
of all Paroh’s food done by a baker. And the fowl was eating it from the basket
right off my head.”
18Yosef replied, “This
is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. 19In
another three days Paroh will lift your head right off you and hang you on a
tree. The fowl will eat your flesh right off you.”
20It happened. On the
third day was Paroh’s birthday and he made a drinking party for all his
servants. He lifted the head of
the cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. 21He
restored the chief cupbearer to his cupbearing so that he placed the cup on
Paroh’s palm. 22The chief butler he hanged, as Yosef had interpreted
for them.
23The chief cupbearer
did not remember Yosef. He forgot about him.
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