^40:12“This is its meaning,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches represent¹⁷ three days. ^40:13In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you¹⁸ and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did before¹⁹ when you were cupbearer. ^40:14But remember me²⁰ when it goes well for you, and show²¹ me kindness.²² Make mention²³ of me to Pharaoh and bring me out of this prison,²⁴^40:15for I really was kidnapped²⁵ from the land of the Hebrews and I have done nothing wrong here for which they should put me in a dungeon.”

^40:16When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the first dream was favorable,²⁶ he said to Joseph, “I also appeared in my dream and there were three baskets of white bread²⁷ on my head. ^40:17In the top basket there were baked goods of every kind for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them from the basket that was on my head.”

^40:18Joseph replied, “This is its meaning: The three baskets represent²⁸ three days. ^40:19In three more days Pharaoh will decapitate you²⁹ and impale you on a pole. Then the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

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Footnotes

17 Heb “the three branches [are].”
18 Heb “Pharaoh will lift up your head.” This Hebrew idiom usually refers to restoring dignity, office, or power. It is comparable to the modern saying “someone can hold his head up high.”
19 Heb “according to the former custom.”
20 Heb “but you have remembered me with you.” The perfect verbal form may be used rhetorically here to emphasize Joseph’s desire to be remembered. He speaks of the action as already being accomplished in order to make it clear that he expects it to be done. The form can be translated as volitional, expressing a plea or a request.
21 This perfect verbal form with the prefixed conjunction (and the two that immediately follow) carry the same force as the preceding perfect.
22 Heb “deal with me [in] kindness.”
23 The verb זָכַר (zakhar) in the Hiphil stem means “to cause to remember, to make mention, to boast.” The implication is that Joseph would be pleased for them to tell his story and give him the credit due him so that Pharaoh would release him. Since Pharaoh had never met Joseph, the simple translation of “cause him to remember me” would mean little.
24 Heb “house.” The word “prison” has been substituted in the translation for clarity.
25 The verb גָּנַב (ganav) means “to steal,” but in the Piel/Pual stem “to steal away.” The idea of “kidnap” would be closer to the sense, meaning he was stolen and carried off. The preceding infinitive absolute underscores the point Joseph is making.
26 Heb “that [the] interpretation [was] good.” The words “the first dream” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
27 Or “three wicker baskets.” The meaning of the Hebrew noun חֹרִי (khori, “white bread, cake”) is uncertain; some have suggested the meaning “wicker” instead. Comparison with texts from Ebla suggests the meaning “pastries made with white flour” (M. Dahood, “Eblaite h̬a-rí and Genesis 40, 16 ḥōrî,” 13 [1980]: 14–16).
28 Heb “the three baskets [are].”
29 Heb “Pharaoh will lift up your head from upon you.” Joseph repeats the same expression from the first interpretation (see v. 13), but with the added words “from upon you,” which allow the statement to have a more literal and ominous meaning—the baker will be decapitated.