Genesis 40:9-11 - Exposition

And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me —literally, in my dream (sc. I was), and behold a vine ( gephen, from the unused root gaphan, to be bent, a twig, hence a plant which has twigs, especially a vine; cf. 9:13 ; Isaiah 7:1-25 :43; Isaiah 24:7 ) before me . The introduction of the vine into the narrative, which has been pronounced (Bohlen) an important factor in proof of its recent composition, since, according to Herodotus (ii. 77), the vine was not cultivated in Egypt, and, according to Plutarch ('De Is. et Osir.,' 6), it was not till after Psammetichus, i.e. about the time of Josiah, that the Egyptians began to drink wine, has now by more accurate study been ascertained to be in exact accordance, not only with Biblical statements ( Numbers 20:5 ; Psalms 78:47 ; Psalms 105:33 ), but likewise with the testimony of Herodotus, who affirms (2:37) that wine (οι}noj a)mpe&lenoj;) was a privilege of the priestly order, and with the representations on the monuments of vines and grapes, and of the entire process of wine-making. And in the vine were three branches : —sarigim, tendrils of a vine, from sarag, to intertwine ( Genesis 40:12 ; Joel 1:7 )— and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth;— literally, as it budded (Murphy); or, as though blossoming (Rosenmüller, Keil, Kalisch); it shot forth its blossom (Keil); or, its blossoms shot forth (Rosenmüller, Kalisch, Murphy)— and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes :—more correctly, its stems caused to ripen, or matured, clusters, the אֶשְׁכֹּל being the stalk of a cluster, as distinguished from the עֲגָבִים , or clusters themselves, though interpreters generally (Kalisch, Keil, Murphy) regard the first as the unripe, and the second as the ripe, cluster— and Pharaoh's cup — כּזֹס , a receptacle or vessel, either contracted from כֵּגֶס , like אִישׁ for אֵגֶשׁ (Gesenius), or derived from כּוּא , to conceal, to receive, to keep, connected with the idea of bringing together, collecting into a thing (Furst)— was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them — ἐξέθλιψα ( LXX .), expressi (Vulgate), a translation adopted by the most competent authorities (Gesenius, Furst, Rosenmüller, Keil, Kalisch, et alii ) , though the sense of diluting with water is advocated by Dathe, Havernick ('Introd.,' § 21), and others as the most appropriate signification of שָׁחַט , which occurs only here. That Pharaoh is represented as drinking the expressed juice of grapes is no proof that the Egyptians were not acquainted with fermentation, and did not drink fermented liquors. In numerous frescoes the process of fermentation is distinctly represented, and Herodotus testifies that though the use of grape wine was comparatively limited, the common people drank a wine made from barley: οἵνῳ δ ἐκ κριθέων πεποιημένῳ (2:77)—i nto Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand —literally, I placed the cup upon Pharaoh ' s palm, כַּף , used of Jacob's thigh-socket ( Genesis 32:26 ), meaning something hollowed out.