Tyndale Open Study NotesGenesis 40

Joseph did not lose faith in God’s promises, as evidenced by his readiness to interpret the dreams of two prisoners. He was still convinced that God’s revelation in his own two dreams (37:5–11) was true, and he had not abandoned hope that they would be fulfilled. When the fellow prisoners’ dreams were fulfilled exactly as Joseph said, this confirmed that his previous dreams were from God.

Joseph was so faithful and reliable that the captain of the guard trusted him with the care of two of Pharaoh’s officers.

• Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker appeared worried because they sensed their futures were connected to these threatening and troubling dreams they could not understand.

• Joseph still trusted that interpreting dreams was God's work. He knew he could understand them with God's help. He knew he had not misunderstood his own dreams.

Joseph listened to the dreams and gave their interpretations. These dreams were not trivial. They were serious warnings from God about what everyone would soon face. These two dreams also prepare for Pharaoh’s two dreams, which reveal the coming seasons of life and death that the nation would soon experience.

Because he knew that the chief cup-bearer was going back into Pharaoh’s personal service, Joseph saw an opportunity to seek his own release from prison.

The interpretations Joseph gave the prisoners proved true. The death of the chief baker speaks of the harsh realities of life in ancient Egypt, with a king whose word was his land’s highest law.

The chief cupbearer … did not remember Joseph: But God remembered him. Joseph's faith was about to be rewarded (chapter 41).