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dream that he once more waited upon his royal master; while the guilty conscience of
the chief baker saw only birds of prey eating out of the basket from which he had
hitherto supplied his master's table?
Here, then, it may be said, we have all the elements of Joseph's interpretation to hand,
just as we shall see they were equally obvious in the dreams which afterwards
troubled Pharaoh. Yet as then none of the magicians and wise men of Egypt could
read what, when once stated, seems so plainly written, so here all seems involved in
perplexity till God gives light.
As already stated, the two dreams were substantially the same. In each case the
number three, whether of clusters in the vine from which the chief butler pressed the
rich juice into Pharaoh's cup, or of baskets in which the chief baker carried the king's
bakemeat, pointed to the three days intervening before Pharaoh's birthday. In each
case also their dreams transported them back to their original position before any
charge had been brought against them, the difference lying in this: that, in the one
dream, Pharaoh accepted the functions of his officer; while, in the other, birds which
hover about carcasses ate out of the basket. It is also quite natural that, if the chief
butler had a good conscience towards his master, he should have been quite ready at
the first to tell his dream; while the chief baker, conscious of guilt, only related his
when encouraged by the apparently favorable interpretation of his colleague's.
Perhaps we ought also to notice, in evidence of the truthfulness of the narrative, how
thoroughly Egyptian in all minute details is the imagery of these dreams.
From the monuments the growth and use of the vine in Egypt, which had been denied
by former opponents of the Bible, have been abundantly proved. From the same
source we also learn that bakery and confectionery were carried to great perfection in
Egypt, so that we can understand such an office as a royal chief baker. Even the
bearing of the baskets furnishes a characteristic trait: as in Egypt men carried loads
on their heads, and women on their shoulders.^60
The event proved the correctness of Joseph's interpretation. On Pharaoh's birthday-
feast, three days after their dreams, the chief butler was restored to his office, but the
chief baker was executed. When interpreting his dream, Joseph had requested that, on
the chief butler's restoration, he, who had himself suffered from a wrongful charge,
should think on him, who, at first "stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews," had
so long been unjustly kept in apparently hopeless confinement. This wording of
Joseph's petition seems to indicate that, at most, he only hoped to obtain liberty; and
that probably he intended to return to his father's house. So ignorant was he as yet of
God's further designs with him! But what was a poor Hebrew slave in prison to a
proud Egyptian court official? It is only like human nature that, in the day of his
prosperity, "the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him!"
(^)