Monday, September 28, 2026 · Week of Pentecost 18
Genesis 41:1–13
41 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, 2 and there came up out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and they grazed in the reed grass. 3 Then seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. 4 The ugly and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke. 5 Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. 6 Then seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them. 7 The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and it was a dream. 8 In the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my faults today. 10 Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard. 11 We dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning. 12 A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each according to his dream. 13 As he interpreted to us, so it turned out; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”
Notes
The lectionary skips Genesis 40, so a quick catch-up. Sunday's chapter left Joseph in prison. Two of Pharaoh's officials land there with him, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. Each has a dream, Joseph interprets both, and it all goes the way he said: the cupbearer gets his job back and the baker gets hanged. Joseph asks the cupbearer for one thing. "Remember me when it is well with you; please do me the kindness to make mention of me to Pharaoh" (40:14). Chapter 40 ends with one line: "Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph but forgot him."
Verse 1. Two whole years. The Hebrew is מִקֵּץ שְׁנָתַיִם יָמִים (miqqets shenatayim yamim), "at the end of two years of days." Joseph spends every one of those days in a cell because somebody forgot.
I don't have a ton to say about this one. I do think it's funny that a hinge of the whole Joseph story is that a guy said he'd do something and then forgot. Just like every kid, boss, employee, and friend in the world. Me included.
Verse 9. "I remember my faults today." When the cupbearer speaks up, the verb is מַזְכִּיר (mazkir), "bring to mind" or "make mention." It's the same verb Joseph used two years earlier: "make mention of me (וְהִזְכַּרְתַּנִי, vehizkartani) to Pharaoh." So the cupbearer does make mention, eventually, and he leads with his own record. He never uses Joseph's name, either. It's "a young Hebrew... a servant of the captain of the guard" (verse 12), which tells you about how much he'd been thinking about him.
The story will have more to say tomorrow, when Pharaoh sends for the young Hebrew.
Questions for reflection
Joseph's release hangs on the memory of a man who forgot him for two years. What do you make of a story where God's purposes run through people this unreliable?
Who is waiting on you to remember something you said you'd do, and what would it take to make good on it this week?
