Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days.
Two of Pharaoh's officials sit in the same prison as Joseph, each disturbed by a dream nobody can explain. Joseph answers at once and names an exact number of days — so the first question is how he knew.
The Source of the Meaning
Joseph claims nothing for himself. One writer points to the precision of the answer:
William KellyThe remarkable point Joseph was given to grasp is the precision of the three days shown by the three branches. No priestly interpreter in Egypt would have dared to say, as Joseph did at once, "The three branches are three days. In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office." If it were a guess, three months would have been more likely; but no. The secret of Jehovah is with those who fear Him. Even more was given here: God's work in Joseph's spirit, and the divine wisdom that sent the dream to the Egyptian official. Interpretation of what God says or does belongs to God. He gives it as He will, and as a rule to those whom He loves, even in circumstances of the deepest humiliation. In this Joseph aptly pictured what was true of the blessed Lord Himself here below.
The Words of the Promise
Joseph goes on to say that Pharaoh will "lift up your head." One writer explains both halves of the answer:
L. M. GrantJoseph, in communion with the mind of God, had no difficulty in interpreting this dream. "The three branches are three days," he says. Within three days Pharaoh would "lift up his head" — that is, bring him into public view — and restore him to his office of cupbearer.
A Prisoner Who Looks Outward
Joseph is in the dungeon because he refused to sin. Notice what he does with that injustice:
The Bible TreasuryWherever he was found, God was in all his thoughts: when tempted, he said, "How can I... sin against God?" When brought to Pharaoh, his first words are, "God shall give..."... When he is punished for his honourable conduct and thrown into the dungeon, his words to his fellow prisoners are, "Interpretations belong to God." He did not complain under that great calamity. He looks about to see what he can do to help others, even his jailors. He cannot see his companions in misery losing heart without asking, "Why do you look so sad today?"
The Vine and the Cup
Writers also read the two dreams as pictures. Read that way, the cupbearer's vine carries the gospel:
The Bible TreasuryThe butler is brought before a vine, triple branched, living and fruitful. Pharaoh's cup (the symbol of God's judgment, Psalm 75:7-8) is in his hand; he takes the grapes and presses them into the cup, and then gives the cup into Pharaoh's hands. That is, the man takes his place in the presence of Christ, the true Vine. Accepting God's judgment, he offers the blood of Christ, according to the measure of that judgment. God accepts the offering, and the man is forgiven and exalted.
The other prisoner dreams of what his own hands produced. Set side by side, the two dreams divide every religion ever attempted into two:
C. KnappThe chief butler sees in his dream what speaks of the blood — the juice of the grape. And he was delivered. The chief baker dreams of what at once reminds us of human righteousness, the white baskets. He saw only what he had laboured to produce, the baked goods. And he is hanged... The birds of the air devour the baker's offering. Here we have "the only two religions" pictured. One makes everything depend on the blood of Jesus. The other ignores the blood and trusts human righteousness.
Three Days, Two Destinies
From the outside the two men looked the same: same prison, same sentence, same night of dreaming. The same interpreter gives each of them a verdict:
The Bible TreasuryHere were two men in the same place of bondage, both condemned. So far as we know, both were equally guilty — or innocent. They were just alike in all outward appearance. Christ (Joseph) comes among them and pronounces one saved and the other lost.
Both verdicts land on the same day:
The Bible TreasuryThere were "three days" in each case: death and resurrection delivers one and condemns the other.
Summary
- Source. Joseph does not read dreams; God gives meaning, and He gives it to a man in the deepest humiliation.
- Precision. Three branches meant three days, not months. No interpreter in Egypt would have risked such an exact answer.
- Service. Jailed unjustly, Joseph does not complain. He looks around for someone to help, starting with the sad faces of fellow prisoners.
- Cup. The grapes pressed into the king's cup picture the blood of Christ meeting God's judgment, and God accepts it. The baker's baskets picture human work, and the birds eat it.
- Division. Two men alike in every outward way hear opposite verdicts on the same third day. Death and resurrection delivers one and condemns the other.