Genesis 40:11

11 Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand."

Genesis 40:11 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 40:11

And Pharaoh's cup [was] in his hand
So it seemed to him in his dream, as it often had been when in his office: and I took the grapes;
from off the vine that was before him: and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup;
which some think was the custom of those times, to take a bunch of grapes and squeeze them into a cup, especially when they would make trial of what sort of wine they would produce; for it can hardly be thought that this was usually done, or that it was customary to drink such new wine; but it is more probable that the grapes were first pressed into another vessel, and so made wine of, and then poured into Pharaoh's cup, or mixed in it, though this circumstance is omitted. Indeed Herodotus ^F1 relates of the Egyptian priests, that wine pressed out of the vine is given them: and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand;
as he had used to do.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 Euterpe sive, l. 2. c. 37.

Genesis 40:11 In-Context

9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "In my dream there was a vine before me,

10 and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and the clusters ripened into grapes.

11 Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand."

12 Then Joseph said to him, "This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days;

13 within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.