Joseph, in performing his assigned duties. Comforts two other prisoners. This devotional reading looks at who those prisoners were and why they were upset.
Nuggets
- Joseph had been in prison long enough to have risen in the ranks.
- The cupbearer and the baker would have been high-ranking officials.
- Jehovah was working behind the scenes to bring about the offense of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker so that they would be sent to prison.
- The two servants stood suspended between accusation and outcome, unable to determine what came next.
- Joseph remained faithful to Jehovah by being attentive to other prisoners.
- Jehovah was working behind the scenes so that both servants had dreams on the same night
Joseph’s life was about to change. He didn’t know it yet – and it would take a long time.
But the events of one night were going to have a huge impact on the rest of his life.
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in the Joseph the Savior of Israel series
Two Other Prisoners
“Some time later, Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker offended their royal master. Pharaoh became angry with these two officials, and he put them in the prison where Joseph was, in the palace of the captain of the guard. They remained in prison for quite some time, and the captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, who looked after them” (Gen. 40: 1-4 NLT)
Some Time Later
Joseph had been in prison long enough to have risen in the ranks.
Even if this was a prison under Potiphar’s authority, it may have taken some time for Joseph to win the warden’s trust. But then again — since Potiphar didn’t automatically have Joseph killed — he may have known of Joseph’s value and suggested the position..
Either way, Jehovah was working behind the scenes. How can we tell? It wasn’t coincidence that the three main characters of this part of the story were in the same prison.
Jehovah works out His plan — even if we have no clue what that plan is.
But look at this from Joseph’s perspective. He was still smack dab in the middle of a hard situation. It looked like Jehovah is doing nothing to get him out of it.
Or is He?
Chief Cupbearer and Chief Baker
The cupbearer and the baker would have been high-ranking officials.
We would be more familiar with the baker. He oversaw food preparation.
Less familiar to us would be the responsibilities of the cupbearer — unless we have read about it in some other stories. Important people who were afraid of being poisoned had someone taste their drink first.
In this instance, the cupbearer was responsible for the Pharaoh’s drink. That would have made him a well-trusted servant.
Offended Their Royal Master
Jehovah was working behind the scenes to bring about the offense of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker so that they would be sent to prison.
We don’t know the offenses that landed the two servants there because the word translated offended – ḥāṭāʾ (חָטָא) – is intentionally vague.
The offenses could have fallen anywhere on a continuum from negligence to suspected conspiracy. We also need to remember the purpose of this prison. It was not a place for convicted criminals but a detention center for the accused while their guilt or innocence was determined.
What is striking about the Hebrew word is that it doesn’t define the action itself. It defines responsibility. Whatever they had done, they were considered guilty in Pharaoh’s eyes.
That means the specific offense is not the primary focus of the text. However, understanding enough about Ancient Near Eastern customs helps us grasp why these two men would be placed in such a position—while still recognizing that the ultimate reason was that Jehovah was working behind the scenes to bring them there.
If we ignore the cultural context, we risk minimizing the seriousness of their situation. We need a clear enough understanding to recognize why their presence in the prison matters.
To make sense of this, let’s look first at the positions they held when things went wrong for them. Both men were Egyptian elites – high-ranking officials within Pharaoh’s administration. These were positions of significant authority because both controlled the food and drink that entered Pharaoh’s body.
Access to the Pharaoh’s food and drink meant access to his life.
Even negligence could have led to the Pharaoh’s death. It wouldn’t have required a deliberate act of poisoning; even a failure in oversight could have created an opportunity for someone else to act. What might seem minor in a modern context could have been life-threatening in that setting.
Such a failure could easily lead to an accusation of treason. Any breach – whether intentional or accidental – carried the weight of potential assassination.
We also can’t overlook that the offense was severe enough to warrant imprisonment yet not established enough to result in immediate execution. This indicates that the matter was still under investigation.
So, what can we reasonably conclude from the text?
- A breach in protocol occurred.
- There may have been a suspicion – whether real or perceived – of an attempt to poison Pharaoh.
- The possibility of conspiracy can’t be dismissed, given that both men oversaw Pharaoh’s food and drink.
Whatever the exact offense, it must be understood as a serious threat to Pharaoh’s safety.
What we do know is this: both men — whether guilty or innocent — were under suspicion. They, like Joseph, had no control over their own outcome. They existed in a state of suspension, caught between accusation and judgment, waiting for a decision they could neither influence nor predict.
Remained in Prison for Quite Some Time
The two servants stood suspended between accusation and outcome, unable to determine what comes next.
This is another clue that their offense, though not named, was not trivial. Both men remained in prison for an unspecified amount of time. We are only told that it was a long time.
Would we have wanted out of prison like yesterday? Of course. Would we be glad that a thorough investigation was being conducted. Yes – especially if we were innocent.
But again, we have to remember that prisons were not used to house convicted criminals. In terms we would use today, it was a temporary detention center while due process was being conducted.
Assigned Them to Joseph
Joseph remained faithful to Jehovah by being attentive to other prisoners.
We said in the last devotion that one of Joseph’s responsibility was probably managing prisoners. This confirms that.
It also gives us a little insight into how Joseph performed that responsibility. We’ll see in the next passage that he knew those under his care well enough to see when something was wrong.
My mind went back to the passage where Joseph was tattling on his half-brothers. “… He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing” (Gen. 37: 2 NLT).
Joseph was probably tasked with the duty of watching over the prisoners to determine if any were going to cause trouble. The warden would have wanted that information passed on.
Think about it, though. This is the second time Joseph has been betrayed. Neither time had he done anything wrong.
Joseph didn’t turn away from other people. He didn’t harden his heart against life.
Joseph put his faith and trust in Jehovah.
The Servants Are Upset by Their Dreams
While they were in prison, Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker each had a dream one night, and each dream had its own meaning. When Joseph saw them the next morning, he noticed that they both looked upset. ‘Why do you look so worried today?’ he asked them. And they replied, ‘We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean.’ ‘Interpreting dreams is God’s business,’ Joseph replied. ‘Go ahead and tell me your dreams’” (Gen. 40: 5-8 NLT)
Each Had a Dream One Night
Jehovah was working behind the scenes so that both servants had dreams on the same night.
In the Ancient Near East, dreams were seen as messages from one of the gods of the region. In this case, it was — it was a message from Jehovah Himself.
If the dreamer was lucky, they would receive a dream containing a direct message. No interpretation would be needed because the god would speak clearly in the dream.
The people of Egypt, as well as those in Mesopotamia and Canaan, would have believed omen dreams needed interpretation through an established symbol system. These symbols had actually been collected and out into manuals. These written guides showed pattern recognition and cultural symbolism.
Now, some of the people of the time would seek out dreams — called dream incubation. They would do anything from performing rituals to sleeping in the temple.
Joseph Noticed They Both Looked Upset
The two servants didn’t seek out the dreams because they thought there was no one to interpret them.
Think about it. The servants were upset because they dreamed and there was no one to interpret the dreams.
Those who interpreted dreams were usually priests, magicians, and trained diviners. The servants wouldn’t have seen any of those people in the prison.
Their anxiety was cultural, not just emotional.
Interpreting Dreams Is God’s Business
Jehovah worked behind the scenes to have Joseph in that prison that day to point to Him.
Here’s where Joseph’s ability to dream started to be handy. Both men had a dream they could not interpret.
That is a very important theological concept. We can’t determine our own fate. We can’t secure it. We can’t even change it.
When the meaning is hidden from us, we have to wait on revelation from Jehovah to enlighten us.
But Joseph’s statement of “… ‘Interpreting dreams is God’s business,’ …” (Gen. 40: 8 NLT) would have been as foreign to them as Joseph was. Dream interpretation was a skill and a system, not a revelation — and definitely not from a single God.
Joseph knew he couldn’t interpret the dreams, but God could use him to do so. God can use us to do the impossible when we let Him.
That statement that revelation belongs to Jehovah would have been something huge for the servants to accept. Joseph was rejecting the entire Ancient Near Eastern framework. He wouldn’t be using a manual. He wouldn’t perform any rituals first.
Joseph would immediately give them a clear interpretation.
Making the Connections #1
We kept saying that Jehovah was acting behind the scenes to place all the needed elements for the desired conclusion of this story. Since it was behind the scenes, no one saw it.
But I wonder if Joseph sat there on sleepless nights pondering if this was Jehovah working. Did he put events together and ask, “Where is He going with this?”
Yes, that is purely speculation. But isn’t that what we do – when we slow down long enough to evaluate our Sanctification Road.
Making the Connections #2
We kept saying that Jehovah was acting behind the scenes to place all the needed elements for the desired conclusion of this story. Since it was behind the scenes, no one saw it.
But I wonder if Joseph sat there on sleepless nights pondering if this was Jehovah working. Did he put events together and ask, “Where is He going with this?”
Yes, that is purely speculation. But isn’t that what we do – when we slow down long enough to evaluate our Sanctification Road.
Making the Connections #3
“… ‘Interpreting dreams is God’s business,’ …” (Gen. 40: 8 NLT)
Joseph was right when he said that interpreting dreams was God’s business. The interpretation came through revelation. Revelations come from God.
Think about it. There are just some things that we are never going to figure out. No matter how much we research, investigate, or reason, we aren’t going to know.
God only makes Himself known through revelation. He has revealed Himself in His Word, and He continues to do so through the Holy Spirit.
Revelation boils down to what the Hebrew calls gālah (גָּלָה). It means to uncover, expose, or lay bare.
To be uncovered, something must first be covered – hidden. We usually use terminology such as “We can’t see …”
If we can’t see it, we can’t uncover it.
The same thing happens with revelations. If revelation started with. us, then knowledge of God would be built on culture, intellect, and imagination.
That would mean our knowledge would be worldly, limited, and more than likely wrong.
It is only when Jehovah reveals Himself that we truly learn of Him. Truth is anchored in Him, not our faulty perception of Him.
That means we receive not invent. To know – in Hebrew yādaʿ (יָדַע) – means we have to actively accept what Jehovah is telling us about Himself.
Joseph was talking about unraveling what was hidden – pithrōn (פִּתְרוֹן), from pāthar (פתר). He understood that true interpretation depends entirely upon revelation. Symbols do not explain themselves. Even when imagery is present, it is God who assigns its meaning.
Jehovah reveals. We do not discover – we receive.
How Do We Apply This?
- Be attentive to others to determine when they are struggling.
- Recognize when outcomes are beyond your control.
- Wait on Jehovah to reveal what is hidden.
- Be receptive to Jehovah’s revelation when He makes it known.
- Trust that Jehovah is working—even when you cannot see it.
Father God. When we are upset, You send others to comfort us. Open the eyes of our hearts to Your revelations so that we can seek the meaning which You are giving. Amen.
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