Joseph interpreteth the dreams of two of Pharao’s servants in prison: the event declareth the interpretations to be true, but Joseph is forgotten.
Ioseph interpreteth the dreames of two Eunuches prisoners 12. that the one should be restored to his office, 16. the other be hanged, 20. The third day the euent declareth the interpretations to be true, but Ioseph is forgotten.
1After this, it came to pass, that two eunuchs, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, offended their lord.Dopo di ciò avvenne, che due eunuchi, il coppiere, e il panettiere del re d'Egitto peccarono contro del loro signore.THESE thinges being so done, it chanced that two Eunuches, the cupbearer of the king of Aegypt, and his baker, offended against their lord.His ita gestis, accidit ut peccarent duo eunuchi, pincerna regis Ægypti, et pistor, domino suo. 2And Pharao being angry with them, (now the one was chief butler, the other chief baker,)E Faraone sdegnato contro di costoro (uno dei quali era capo dei coppieri, e l'altro de' panattieri)And Pharao being wrath against them (for the one was chiefe of the cupbearers, the other chiefe baker)Iratusque contra eos Pharao (nam alter pincernis præerat, alter pistoribus), 3He sent them to the prison of the commander of the soldiers, in which Joseph also was prisoner.Li fece mettere nella prigione del capitano delle milizie, dove era rinchiuso anche Giuseppe.he sent them into the prison of the captaine of the souldiers, in the which Ioseph also was prisoner.misit eos in carcerem principis militum, in quo erat vinctus et Joseph. 4But the keeper of the prison delivered them to Joseph, and he served them. Some little time passed, and they were kept in custody.E il custode della prigione li consegnò a Giuseppe, il quale ancor li serviva. Era passato un tratto di tempo, dacché quegli erano rinchiusi:But the keeper of the prison deliuered them to Ioseph, who also ministred to them: some litle time was passed, and they were kept in custodie.At custos carceris tradidit eos Joseph, qui et ministrabat eis: aliquantulum temporis fluxerat, et illi in custodia tenebantur. 5And they both dreamed a dream the same night, according to the interpretation agreeing to themselves:Quando ambedue la stessa notte videro un sogno di significazione adattata al caso loro.And they sawe ech of them both a dreame in one night, according to an interpretation agreing to them selues:Videruntque ambo somnium nocte una, juxta interpretationem congruam sibi: 6And when Joseph was come into them in the morning, and saw them sad,Ed essendo la mattina andato Giuseppe a trovargli, e vedutili malinconici,to whom when Ioseph was entred in the morning, and saw them sad,ad quos cum introisset Joseph mane, et vidisset eos tristes, 7He asked them, saying: Why is your countenance sadder today than usual?Gl'interrogò, dicendo: Per qual motivo oggi avete la faccia più afflitta del solito?he asked them, saying: Why is your countenance sadder to day then it was woont?sciscitatus est eos, dicens: Cur tristior est hodie solito facies vestra ?
8They answered: We have dreamed a dream, and there is nobody to interpret it to us. And Joseph said to them: Doth not interpretation belong to God? Tell me what you have dreamed:Risposer quegli: Abbiam veduto un sogno, e non abbiamo chi a noi lo interpreti. E Giuseppe disse loro: Non appartiene egli a Dio l'interpretarli? ditemi quel che avete veduto.Who answered: We haue seene a dreame, & there is no bodie to interprete it to vs. And Ioseph said to them: Why doth not interpretation belong to God? Tel me what you haue seene.Qui responderunt: Somnium vidimus, et non est qui interpretetur nobis. Dixitque ad eos Joseph: Numquid non Dei est interpretatio ? referte mihi quid videritis. 9The chief butler first told his dream: I saw before me a vine,Il gran coppiere raccontò il primo il suo sogno: Io vedeva davanti a me una vite,The chiefe of the cupbearers first told his dreame: I saw before me a vine,Narravit prior, præpositus pincernarum, somnium suum: Videbam coram me vitem, 10On which were three branches, which by little and little sent out buds, and after the blossoms brought forth ripe grapes:La quale avea tre tralci, che gettavano a poco a poco gli occhi, e poi i fiori, e poi le uve, che maturavano:wherin were three branches, growing by litle and litle into buddes, and after the blossomes the grapes waxed ripe:in qua erant tres propagines, crescere paulatim in gemmas, et post flores uvas maturescere: 11And the cup of Pharao was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into the cup which I held, and I gave the cup to Pharao.E nella mia mano era la coppa di Faraone: e presi le uve, e le spremei nella coppa che avea in mano, e presentai da bere a Faraone.and the cup of Pharao in my hand: and I tooke the grapes, and wrong them into the cup which I held, and I gaue the cup to Pharao.calicemque Pharaonis in manu mea: tuli ergo uvas, et expressi in calicem quem tenebam, et tradidi poculum Pharaoni. 12Joseph answered: This is the interpretation of the dream: The three branches, are yet three days:Rispose Giuseppe: La spiegazione del sogno è questa: Tre tralci, tre giorni vi sono ancora,Ioseph answered: This is the interpretation of the dreame: The three branches, are yet three dayes:Respondit Joseph: Hæc est interpretatio somnii: tres propagines, tres adhuc dies sunt: 13After which Pharao will remember thy service, and will restore thee to thy former place: and thou shalt present him the cup according to thy office, as before thou was wont to do.Dopo de' quali si ricorderà Faraone dei tuoi servigi, e ti renderà il posto di prima: e presenterai a lui la coppa secondo il tuo uffizio, come per l'avanti solevi fare.after the which Pharao wil remember thy seruice, and wil restore thee to thy old degree: and thou shalt geue him the cup according to thyne office, as before thou haddest wont to doe.post quos recordabitur Pharao ministerii tui, et restituet te in gradum pristinum: dabisque ei calicem juxta officium tuum, sicut ante facere consueveras.
14Only remember me when it shall be well with thee, and do me this kindness: to put Pharao in mind to take me out of this prison:Solamente ricordati di me, quando sarai felice, e abbi compassione di me: e sollecita Faraone, che mi tragga da questa prigione:Only remember me, when it shal be wel with thee, and doe me this mercie: to put Pharao in mind that he take me out of this prison:Tantum memento mei, cum bene tibi fuerit, et facias mecum misericordiam: ut suggeras Pharaoni ut educat me de isto carcere: 15For I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here without any fault was cast into the dungeon.Perocché con frode fui condotto via dalla terra degli Ebrei, e innocente fui gettato in questa fossa.because I was taken away by stealth, out of the land of the hebrewes, and here an innocent was I cast into the lake.quia furto sublatus sum de terra Hebræorum, et hic innocens in lacum missus sum. 16The chief baker seeing that he had wisely interpreted the dream, said: I also dreamed a dream, That I had three baskets of meal upon my head:Vedendo il capo dei panattieri, com'egli avea saggiamente diciferato quel sogno, disse: Io pure ho veduto un sogno. Pareami d'avere sopra il mio capo tre canestri di farina:The maister of the bakers seing that he had wisely resolued the dreame, he said: And I also saw a dreame, That I had three baskettes of meale vpon my head:Videns pistorum magister quod prudenter somnium dissolvisset, ait: Et ego vidi somnium: quod tria canistra farinæ haberem super caput meum: 17And that in one basket which was uppermost, I carried all meats that are made by the art of baking, and that the birds ate out of it.E che nel canestro di sopra io portassi d'ogni specie di mangiare, che si fa dall'arte de' panattieri, e che gli uccelli ne mangiavano.and that in one basket that was the higher, I caried al meates that are made by the art of baking, and that the birds did eate out of it.et in uno canistro quod erat excelsius, portare me omnes cibos qui fiunt arte pistoria, avesque comedere ex eo. 18Joseph answered: This is the interpretation of the dream: The three baskets, are yet three days:Rispose Giuseppe: La sposizione del sogno è questa: tre canestri, cioè tre giorni vi sono ancora,Ioseph answered: This is the interpretation of the dreame: The three basketts, are yet three dayes:Respondit Joseph: Hæc est interpretatio somnii: tria canistra, tres adhuc dies sunt: 19After which Pharao will take thy head from thee, and hang thee on a cross, and the birds shall tear thy flesh.Dopo i quali Faraone ti farà tagliare il capo, e ti farà crocifiggere, e gli uccelli dell'aria beccheranno le tue carni.after the which Pharao wil take thy head from thee, and hang thee on the crosse, and the foules shal teare thy flesh.post quos auferet Pharao caput tuum, ac suspendet te in cruce, et lacerabunt volucres carnes tuas.
20The third day after this was the birthday of Pharao: and he made a great feast for his servants, and at the banquet remembered the chief butler, and the chief baker.Il terzo giorno di poi era il dì della nascita di Faraone; il quale facendo un gran convito a' suoi servi si ricordò a mensa del capo dei coppieri, e del capo dei panattieri,The third day after this was the birth day of Pharao: who making a great feast to his seruantes, at the banket he remembred the maister of the cupbearers, and the chiefe of the bakers.Exinde dies tertius natalitius Pharaonis erat: qui faciens grande convivium pueris suis, recordatus est inter epulas magistri pincernarum, et pistorum principis. 21And he restored the one to his place, to present him the cup:E rendé all'uno il suo uffizio di presentargli la coppa:And he restored the one into his place, to reach him the cuppe;Restituitque alterum in locum suum, ut porrigeret ei poculum: 22The other he hanged on a gibbet, that the truth of the interpreter might be shewn.E l'altro fece appiccare a una croce, onde fu dimostrata la veracità dell'interprete.the other he hanged on a gibbet, that the truth of the interpreter might be approued.alterum suspendit in patibulo, ut conjectoris veritas probaretur. 23But the chief butler, when things prospered with him, forgot his interpreter.Ma tornato in prosperità il capo dei coppieri si scordò del suo interprete.And yet notwithstanding the chiefe of the cupbearers, prosperous thinges succeeding, forgat his interpreter.Et tamen succedentibus prosperis, præpositus pincernarum oblitus est interpretis sui.
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Year of the world 2287, Year before Christ 1717.
Haydock
Two eunuchs; chief officers, and high in dignity, as the Hebrew expresses it, ver. 2. (Haydock)
Menochius
Offended, perhaps, by stealing, or by some treasonable conspiracy. (Menochius)
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Menochius
Prisoner, though his chains were struck off. (Menochius)
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Challoner
Doth not interpretation belong to God? When dreams are from God, as these were, the interpretation of them is a gift of God. But the generality of dreams are not of this sort; but either proceed from the natural complexions and dispositions of persons, or the roving of their imaginations in the day on such objects as they are much affected with, or from their mind being disturbed with cares and troubles, and oppressed with bodily infirmities: or they are suggested by evil spirits, to flatter, or to terrify weak minds; in order to gain belief, and so draw them into error or superstition; or at least to trouble them in their sleep, whom they cannot move while they are awake: so that the general rule, with regard to dreams, is not to observe them, nor to give any credit to them. (Challoner)
Tirinus
Physicians indeed, sometimes form some judgment of the nature of a distemper from dreams; on which subject, Hippocrates and Galen have written. But to pretend to discover by them the future actions of free agents, would be superstitious, Deuteronomy 18:10. (Tirinus)
Justin (xxxvi. 2,) says, "Joseph was the first interpreter of dreams, and often gave proofs of his knowledge," etc.
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Prison, after examining into the justice of my cause.
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Haydock
Hebrews. Chanaan, a foreign land with respect to Egypt, as was also Mesopotamia, where he was born. (Haydock)
Menochius
Joseph only maintains his own innocence, without accusing any one. (Menochius)
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Of meal. Hebrew may also mean "white, full of holes," etc.
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From thee, by decapitation. This was customary, when a person's body was to be hung on the cross or gibbet. (Deuteronomy 21:22; Josue 10:26; Lamentations 5:12; 1 Kings 31:10.)
Birds. So Horace says, pasces in cruce corvos.
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Calmet
Birth-day. This was a common practice among the pagans. (St. Matthew 14:6; 2 Machabees 6:7.) (Calmet)
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Menochius
That, etc. Thus was verified the prediction of Joseph. (Menochius)
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Haydock
Forgot. A thing too common among those who enjoy prosperity! (Haydock)
Du Hamel
God would not have his servants to trust in men. (Du Hamel)
Calmet
The butler was a figure of the good thief, as the baker represented the impenitent one, between whom our Saviour hung on the cross. (Calmet)
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Doth not interpretation belong to God?.... When dreams are from God, as these were, the interpretation of them is a gift of God. But the generality of dreams are not of this sort; but either proceed from the natural complexions and dispositions of persons, or the roving of their imaginations in the day on such objects as they are much affected with, or from their mind being disturbed with cares and troubles, and oppressed with bodily infirmities: or they are suggested by evil spirits, to flatter, or to terrify weak minds, in order to gain belief, and so draw them into error or superstition; or at least to trouble them in their sleep, whom they cannot move when they are awake: so that the general rule, with regard to dreams, is not to observe them, nor to give any credit to them.
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8. Doth not interpretation belong to God?] Dreames do come of diuers Some dreames are natural. causes. Some of natural complexion, or disposition, wherby Philosophers or Phisitions may probably iudge of the state of mans bodie. Some are rather effects of things past, then signes of anie thing to come. Of which sorte the wise man saith: Dreames do folovv manie cares. (Eccle 5.) Some are suggested Some are illusions of euil spirites. by euil spirites, either to flatter worldlings with great pretenses, or to terrifie weake mindes with dangers and afflictions, or to vexe and truble those in sleepe, whom they can not easely moue waking. as. S. Gregorie discourseth (li. 8. Moral in cap 7. Iob) Some dreames are of God, as in Iacob, Ioseph, Some are from God. these Eunuches, Pharao, Nabuchodonosor, and others both good and euil men. But to discerne, and assuredly to iudge of some dreames, whether they Dan. 4 be from God, by holie Angels, or illusions of euil spirites, is a special gift of Holie Scripture and the Church are iudges of doubtful dreames. God, as also the interpretation therof belongeth to God, as Ioseph here testifieth. VVhosoeuer therfore wil be secure must relie either vpon expresse Scripture, or iudgement of the Church, as in ominous speaches was noted before (chap. 24.) Otherwise the general rule is, not to obserue dreames. Deut. 18.
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Death on the crosse was most cruel, & most ignominious. Cicero. 7. Ver: yet suffered by Christ, and by him madeglorious. Sap. 2. Philip 2.
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 2 Timothy 10
… For he who makes what is his own his master’s, does not really give up his own to his master, but makes his interest his own; he commands even as himself in his affairs,
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Titus 4
For that he did show this care and concern we learn from the story. He saw, it is said, two eunuchs who had been cast into prison by Pharaoh, his chief butler and chief baker, and he said, “Wherefore look ye so sadly today?” (
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 17.4
Then the venerable Joseph saw that we were in rather low spirits, and, guessing that this was not the case without reason, addressed us in these words of the patriarch Joseph: “Why are your faces sad today?”
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 2.28.7
… But when we investigate points which are above us, and with respect to which we cannot reach satisfaction, [it is absurd ] that we should display such an extreme of presumption as to lay open God, and things which are not yet discovered,
St Basil the Great † AD 379 De Spiritu Sancto 5
… As, for instance, Adam says, “I have gotten a man through God,” meaning to say the same as from God; and in another passage “Moses commanded…Israel through the word of the Lord,” and, again, “Is not the interpretation through God?”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 56
… For not as though another were bringing in it by him, doth He say this, but viewing him as himself causing the whole. For the Scripture is wont to say, “by whom,” for “of whom;” as when it saith, “I have gotten a man by God,” putting not the second cause, but the first; and again, “Is not the interpretation of them by God,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Philippians 5
… what then, when he came before Pharaoh? Was it “Yea, I know”? But what? When no one urged it on him, he said from his own excellent spirit, “Do not interpretations belong to God?”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Instructions to Catechumens 1.1
… And this also I myself now do. For ye are not about to be led to an empty dignity, but to an actual kingdom: and not simply to a kingdom, but to the kingdom of the Heavens itself. Wherefore I beseech and entreat you that you remember me when you come into that kingdom, and as Joseph said to the chief butler “Remember me when it shall be well with thee,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Titus 6
… Joseph too, when he was urgent to escape from prison, was left to remain there. For hear him saying, “Indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews; but do thou make mention of me to the king.” (
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 5
… and springing from a womanish littleness of soul. And yet Joseph, though he had been sold and made a slave, and had tenanted a prison, uttered not even then a bitter word against the authors of his sorrows. But what saith he? “Indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews;” (
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Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 10.22
… and we, taking this suggestion from him, find in no Scripture that a birthday was kept by a righteous man. For Herod was more unjust than that famous Pharaoh; for by the latter on his birthday feast a chief baker is killed;
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 49
… When he was in honor, then was he in danger; when he was in dishonor, then was he in safety. The eunuchs did not remember him, and right well it was that they did not, that the occasion of his deliverance might be more glorious: that the whole might be ascribed, not to man’s favor, but to God’s Providence (
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1. Two eunuchs, — two royal ministers and prefects, even if in fact they were not eunuchs. See the words at chapter 39, verse 4.
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2. For the other, — as if to say, Pharaoh was angry with them: because their offense, as prefects, could be a scandal and bad example to their subjects. The Hebrew does not have the word for.
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3. Of the captain of the guard, — Potiphar, who had been Joseph's master, chapter 39, verse 20. Bound, — captive: for he was already free from bonds, as is clear from the preceding chapter, verse 22.
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4. A little time, — namely one year, for this is what the Hebrew signifies by in jamim, that is days in the plural, as Francis Ribera well proves in Amos IV, number 8. After this year of dreams Joseph was still in prison for two years more, as is clear from the following chapter, verse 1; he therefore suffered a three-year imprisonment. In this too Joseph was a type of Christ; for just as Joseph, after three years of prison, was raised to principality: so Christ, after three days of passion and death, rose gloriously. The same triduum of Christ rising is signified by the three days of the restoration of Pharaoh's butler, verse 13. Thus from Isidore Lipomanus.
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8. Is not the interpretation God's? — that is to say, God through me will interpret your dream for you; therefore tell it to me: and when you shall see it come to pass in reality just as I shall have interpreted it, then know that I am not a vain guesser, but a true interpreter of dreams by the gift of God, and consequently that I am a true worshipper and friend of the true God: for God does not reveal these secrets of His to others.
Whether It Is Lawful to Divine from Dreams You may ask whether it is lawful to divine from dreams concerning future things? Note: There are three kinds of dreams: for some come from God; some from the demon; some from nature. Again, this third kind which arises from nature is divided into two parts: for some arise from daily thought, or from a burning affection toward some matter. Hence just as the sailor speaks of winds, the ploughman of oxen: so also he dreams of the same things. For these are dreams from daily thought; as it were certain motions in the strings when at rest, resulting from an impulse, and which persist for some time even after the impulse ceases, as Gregory of Nyssa says in his tract On the Making of Man, chapter 40. But some natural dreams arise from temperament and a predominating humour. For thus the bilious dream of slaughter, beatings and fires: the phlegmatic dream of waters, chasms, suffocations, and slow flight from harmful things; for sluggish phlegm produces these: the sanguine dream of music, of feasts, of meadows, of birds, of flight: the melancholic dream of dark and sad things, of death, of tombs, of Ethiopians and demons. I say first, from natural dreams it is lawful to divine naturally, that is, to conjecture concerning a man's temperament, health, affection and impending illnesses. Thus Hippocrates and Galen wrote books on the signs to be taken from dreams. And the reason is, because effects naturally indicate their cause: but these dreams are effects of a certain temperament and a certain humour predominating in the body. I say secondly, from dreams sent by God or an angel it is lawful to divine; but only for him who has received their meaning from God or an angel. Thus Joseph here and Daniel in chapters 4 and 5 divine from dreams. I say thirdly, the remaining dreams, and divinations from them, are either diabolical, or superstitious, or vain, deceptive and futile: hence divination from these dreams is forbidden, Deuteronomy 18:10. Note: Because divine dreams are rare, and can scarcely be distinguished from those of the possessed or the vain: hence it is safest to despise any dreams whatever, unless God reveal otherwise; but He is accustomed to reveal this partly by illuminating the dreamers themselves, so that they know the dream has been sent to them by God, and by stirring them up to seek out and inquire into the interpretation of the dream, as He did with these eunuchs, likewise with Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 5, and with Pharaoh here chapter 41; partly by suggesting the interpretation of dreams to His friends and holy men, as He suggested it here to Joseph, and to Daniel in chapters 4 and 5. See the Conimbricenses on Aristotle's book On Divination through Dreams.
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12. Joseph answered: This is the interpretation of the dream. — The cupbearer saw here in a dream symbolically his own state restored to him, namely the office of cupbearer, so that by this God might signify that states, dignities, indeed even life itself, and all human things are but a dream, and all the hopes of men are but the dreams of the waking, as Plato used to say: this the interpreter Joseph teaches, that is, a man wise and prudent, as Philo says: and therefore he directs his actions and all things according to the precept of virtue. Three branches, — three shoots of the vine. Three yet days are. — "Are," that is, signify. For just as the being of an image is to represent, so the being of a dream, symbol or prophetic vision is to foreshadow and signify things absent or future. Thus St. Augustine.
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15. Concerning the land of the Hebrews, — the land of Chanaan, in which Jacob and his sons the Hebrews dwelt.
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16. That he had prudently (that is, aptly, fittingly, plausibly) interpreted the dream; — for the truth of the interpretation was not yet established, which was afterwards confirmed by the event itself verse 21.
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17. All foods which are made by the art of baking, — and consequently cakes, pastries, and meat pies, to which carnivorous birds flew, and tore them and devoured them. Thus Josephus. For these meats and birds signified that the meats of the dreamer in like manner were to be torn and devoured by birds on the cross.
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19. After whom — begun: for on the third day itself the baker was hanged, and the birds tearing and eating the flesh from the third basket portended this. Thus Josephus. Shall take away thy head, — not by the sword by beheading thee, as Philo wishes; but by the noose by hanging thee, and thus killing thee and thy head. Whence it follows: "And shall hang thee;" for he who takes away life from a man, takes away also his head: because man lives and is vigorous especially in the head, which life and vigor, as much to the head as to the man, by the noose and death, equally as by the sword is taken away. And the birds shall tear thy flesh. — Hence it is clear that the bodies of the hanged even then, as also now, were left on the gallows, so that there they might either rot, or be dried and wasted by the sun and winds, or be torn by birds. Whence that saying: I have not committed theft; thou shalt not feed the ravens on the cross. But the Jews were commanded in Deuteronomy xxi, verse 23, to take down the hanged on the same day and bury them. Tropologically, Prosper and Rupertus: these two eunuchs, they say, of whom one was restored to his station, the other hanged, signify two orders of men, namely the elect by grace, and the reprobate or damned by justice. Again Joseph between the two eunuchs is Christ crucified between two thieves, promising heaven to one, leaving hell to the other. For Christ opened dreams and visions: both because he fulfilled the prophecies; and because he revealed to men the secret counsels, judgments and promises of God; and because he gave understanding to the Apostles that they might understand the prophecies and the whole sacred Scripture.
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22. That the truth of the interpreter might be proved. — The word that here does not signify the end intended by Pharaoh, as is clear, but the event, or consequence, as if to say: And so it came to pass that Joseph's divination and interpretation of dreams was found to be true, and was proved by the event itself. Similar was the divination of St. Athanasius, who entering Alexandria, when a raven flying in the air croaked, being asked by the Gentiles in mockery what the raven said, answered: "Tomorrow it thunders; it signifies, however, that tomorrow, on which you celebrate the feast, will be mournful for you." Thus it came to pass, as Nicephorus testifies, lib. IX, cap. xxxv. So also that Christian asked by Julian the Apostate in sarcasm: "What does your Galilean carpenter do?" answered: "He is preparing a coffin for thee," namely a bier, and truly: for shortly after Julian was killed by a weapon not of man, but of Christ. In like manner Isaac the hermit predicted to the Emperor Valens, an Arian, going against the Goths, disaster and death, as Nicephorus testifies, lib. XI, cap. l.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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v. 4 « His ita gestis accidit, ut peccarent duo eunuchi, pincerna regis Aegypti et. pistor, domino suo ».
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v. 2 « Iratusque contra eos Pharao, .nam alter pincernis praeerat, alter pistoribus »,
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v. 3 « mist eos in carcerem principis militum, in quo erat vinctus et Ioseph ». Duos priores versus ita Hebr. habet : Post verba haec accidit, ut peccarent pincerna (vox carens articulo) regis Aegypti et pistor (vox articulo ornata) , domno suo reg? Aegypti. Iratusque est Pharao contra duos eunuchos, principem pincernarum et principem pistorum. Cum porro etiam n5x Chald. expresserit sine articulo, dubitare licebit, uirum peccantes fuerint ipsi duo principes, an ii pro peccato duorum $uorum inferiorum vapulaverint. Illud censuere LXX Vulg. Syr. e melius congruit textui hebr. recepto. Peccatum Ps. Ion. et Targ. Hier. coniiciunt illud fuisse, ut coniuraverint veneno Pharaonem e medio tollere : aulicos Aegyptios quandoque contra regem coniurasse, et patet per se et confirmatur actis causae (Erman Y. 205 sqq.) habitae contra eos, qui cum uxoribus regiis coniuraverant de rege Pepy 6"* dynastiae expellendo. Fuisse in aula Pharaonis principem pincernarum et principem pistorum, et patet per se, et textibus confirmatur : Ebers p. 320 sq., Vigourouz Vl. 65, Erman Y. 269 sq. Vineae autem in Aegypto erant plurimae et varia vinorum generosorum genera : Erman 1 9'16 sqq.
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v. l « At custos carceris tradidit eos loseph, qui et ministrabat eis. Aliquantulum temporis fluxerat, et vllt tn. custodia tenebantur », v. $ « videruntque ambo somnium nocte una iuxta interpretationem congruam sibi ». Yabn qnz2 vu, vel Sam. v25n 333nD2. VN, unusquisque sicut interpretatio (eus) somnium eius. Expressionis obscurae videtur sensum assecutus esse Mar., « somnia non fuisse vana et fortuita, quae interpretationem non habent, sed significasse quae illis ventura erant ». Persensere illico tam pincerna quam pistor, ea somnia esse divinitus immissa , ideoque habere significationem ipsi somnio accurate corres- -pondentem : at eam significationem interpretatione assequi non poterant. Uti reliquos, ita Aegyptios plurimi fecisse somnia, cf. Ebers p. 321 sq., Vigourouz p. 58 sqq. —
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v. 6 « Ad quos cum introisset Ioseph mane et vidisset eos tristes », v. "I « sciscitatus est eos dicens : Cur tristior est hodie [solito| facies vestra? »
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v. 8 « Qui responderunt : Somnium vidimus et non est, qui interpretetur nobis ». « Quia carcere conclusi sumus, interpretis copiam non habemus » (Menoch.). « Ignorabant sapientiam eius, quocum loquebantur, sed vulgarem aliquem esse existimabant, et propterea somnium ei non narrant, sed tantum se vidisse dicunt, et addunt : Nullus est, quiinterpretetur illud » (Chrys.). « Dizitque ad eos Ioseph : Numquid non Dei est interpretatio? » Donum est a Deo descendens, non ars ad certos aliquos homines restricta. « Referte mihi, quid videritis »; « nam puto, me favente Deo non vanum fore coniectorem » (Malv.) ).
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v. 9 « Narravit. prior, praepositus pincernarum, somnium suum : Videbam coram me vitem »,
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v. 10 « in qua erant tres propagines, crescere [paulatim] ?n gemmas, et post fores wvas malturescere »;
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v. 11 « calicemque Pharaonis in manu mea : tuli ergo uvas, et ezpressi in calicem, quem tenebam, et tradidi poculum Pharaoni ». Hebr. distinctius exprimit, in somnio visam esse vitem brevissimo temporeatenerrimo germinead perfectam maturitatem esse perductam : In somnio meo, ecce vitis coram me , et in viti propagines tres : et ipsa, ubi primum germinavit, (iam etiam) ascendit flos etus , maturaverunt racemi etus uvas. Sicut non consuevere in Aegypto uvae tam cito evolvi, ita neque moris erat, ut uvae in calicem exprimerentur atque illico succus expressus pro vino hauriretur : uti v. 10 uvae evolutionem , ita v. 11 vini praeparationem brevissimo compendio exhibet.
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v. 12 « Respondit Ioseph : Haec est interpretatio somnii : Tres propagines tres adhuc dies sunt ».
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v. 18 « Post quos recordabitur Pharao ministerii tui » , Hebr. elevabit Pharao caput tuum (cf. & Reg. 25,9'7), ex ignominia ad honorem revocabit, « e£ restituet te àn. gradum pristinum, dabisque ei calicem tuzta officium tuum sicut ante facere consueveras ».
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v. 14. « Tantum memento mei, cum bene tibi fuerit, et facias mecum misericordiam, ut suggeras Pharaoni, ut educat me de 1sto carcere »,
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v. 15 « quia furto sublatus sum de terra Hebraeorum, et hic innocens in lacum missus sum ». Non accusat Putipharem neque eius uxorem, non refert fratrum inhumanitatem (CArys.) : unum effert, se per nefas in servitutem esse adductum , servumque nihil mali admisisse. Dicit autem terram Hebraeorum Ioseph, non Chanaan, quia non tam regionem indicare vult, quam tribum; erantque aliae forlasse in Chanaanitide tribus Aegyptiis hostiles, a quibus iure belli captivi in Aegyptum abducebantur. Porro, si Abraham Hebraeus (14, 13) numeravit servos trecentos decem et octo viros, Iacob sane, cui duodecim filii et infiniti paene erant greges, servos habebat plurimos et tractus, quem late diffusis gregibus obtinebat, facile potuit nomine terrae Hebraeorum Aegyptiis innotescere, imprimis regibus Pastoribus, qui et ipsi ad orientem primum Aegypti sedes habuissent. Adverte etiam illud, etsi ipse Ioseph non usus sit expressione terra Hebraeorum, at potuisse ea certe uti auctorem Genesis Iosepho longe recentiorem. Cf. G. Smith : The book of Moses p. 397 sqq.
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v. 16 « Videns pistorum magister, quod prudenter somntum dissolvissel, ait : Et ego vidi somnium, quod tria canistra farinae », seu potius panificii, « haberem super caput meum » , — vide apud Ebers p. 332, Vigourouz p. 16 depictum pistorem Aegyptium panem in capite circumferentem. Ib. et Erman I. 269 vide varias panificii formas. Inter oblationes funebres recensentur panis et placentae genera sexdecim; nera decem, placentae quinque ( Erman I. 265 sq.) —
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v. 17 « et in uno canistro, quod erat excelsius, portare me omnes cibos, qui fiunt arte pistoria, avesque comedere ex eo ».
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v. 18 « Hespondit Ioseph : Haec est interpretatio somnii : Tria canistra tres adhuc dies sunt » ;
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v. 19 « post quos auferet Pharao caput tuum », — lepide hic eadem atque v. 13 expressio adhibetur, sed sensu plane diverso, uti eadem etiam v. 20 utrique eunucho applicatur : et elevavit caput principis pincernarum et caput principis pistorum, in. medio servorum suorum (Mar.) — « ac suspendet te 1n cruce, et lacerabunt volucres carnes tuas ». Emortui cadaver suspendendum est in gno i. e. in patibulo. Monumenta exhibent homines capite plexos et in patibulo suspensos. In « Fabula duorum fratrum » uxoris infidelis cadaver canibus permittitur (V?- gouroux p. 79). Id sane in gente cadaverum praeservandorum tam studiosa supplicium omnino extremum. Regum Aegypti anniversarium natalem diem habitum esse festum monumenta testantur, cf. Végourouz p. i1 sqq. —
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v. 20 « Exinde dies tertius natalitius Pharaonis erat. Qui faciens grande convivium pueris suis, recordatus est inter epulas magistri pincernarum. et. pistorum principis »,
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v. 94 « restituitque alterum in locum suum, ut porrigeret ei poculum »,
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v. 99 « alterum suspendit [n patibulo], ut contectoris veritas probaretur »; simplicius Hebr. : sicut interpretatus ei fuerat Ioseph.
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v. 93 « Et tamen [succedentibus prosperis] praepositus pincernarum oblitus est interpretis sut ». Cap. XLI. Narratio non universim tantum, sed vel expressionibus prodit narratorem rerum Aegyptiarum oppido gnarum, ut vere scribat Ebers p. XII, « acta loseph, etiam quoad singula, res describere quales in veteri Aegypto agi debuere ».
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I. GENESIS OF DREAMS. - The problem of dreams has interested man since antiquity; the dreams of Pharaoh are well known, and they found in Joseph a famous interpreter (Gen. 40:5 ff.; 41:1-37). Nevertheless the Bible (Deut. 13:2 ff. and 18:10-12) warns the chosen people not to give credence to soothsayers, diviners and interpreters of dreams. …
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… The Christian dogma is already foreshadowed in the Old Testament, where it speaks of the just who descend into fē'ōl with the hope of Redemption in awaiting "He who will be sent" (Gen. 40, 10).
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.