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Fig. 11. Gathering grapes.
Then the chief baker, seeing that Joseph had so wisely interpreted the dream, said: “I, also, dreamed a dream that I had three baskets of meal upon my head; and that in one basket which was uppermost I carried all kinds of pastry, and that the birds ate out of it.”
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Fig. 12. Treading the grapes.
Joseph said to him: “This is the interpretation of the dream: The three baskets are yet three days, after which Pharao will take thy head from thee and hang thee[1] on a cross, and the birds shall tear thy flesh.” The third day after this was the birthday of Pharao.
At the banquet[2] he remembered the chief butler and chief baker. The former he restored to his place; the latter[3] he caused to be hanged on a gibbet. The chief butler rejoiced in his good fortune, but he thought no more of Joseph.
COMMENTARY.
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Fig. 13. Wine-press.
Fig. 11–13. Wine-making in Egypt. Ancient Egyptian wall-paintings.
The object of suffering. Joseph really had a great deal to endure. At home, after being derided by his brethren, he was sold to be a slave in a strange land. Then, though innocent, he was thrown into prison and bound with chains, as if he were the worst of criminals.
- ↑ Hang thee. In olden times a criminal was first beheaded, and then his body was hung on a gibbet, as a warning to others.
- ↑ Banquet. At the feast, given by Pharao on this occasion.
- ↑ The latter. Apparently, the chief butler’s offence was not so great as that of the chief baker, and therefore the king pardoned him on his birthday.
