Genesis 40:13

40:13 In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you ¹  and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did before ²  when you were cupbearer.

Genesis 40:19-20

40:19 In three more days Pharaoh will decapitate you ³  and impale you on a pole. Then the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

40:20 On the third day it was Pharaoh’s birthday, so he gave a feast for all his servants. He “lifted up” ⁴  the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker in the midst of his servants.

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¹ tn 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.”

² tn Heb “according to the former custom.”

³ tn 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.

⁴ tn The translation puts the verb in quotation marks because it is used rhetorically here and has a double meaning. With respect to the cup bearer it means “reinstate” (see v. 13), but with respect to the baker it means “decapitate” (see v. 19).