Genesis 41:12

Gen 41:12 And [there was] there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret.

Ver. 12. And he interpreted to us our dreams.] And well you requited him! But better late than never, {a} though a ready despatch doubleth the benefit. Howbeit God had an overruling hand in it, for Joseph’s greatest good: he turneth the world’s ingratitude to the salvation of his servants.

{a} Praestat sero quam nunquam.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Read Gen. 40:5.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

12. servant to the captain of the guard] It will be remembered that, in the E story, Joseph is the slave of the captain, and not a fellow-prisoner of the chief butler.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there was there with us a young man,.... Who was in the prison with them, had the care of them, and waited upon them; he was then about twenty eight years of age; for it was two years ago he speaks of, and Joseph was thirty when he stood before Pharaoh, Gen 41:46,

an Hebrew servant to the captain of the guard; he first describes him by his age, a young man, then by his descent, an Hebrew, and by his state and condition, a servant; neither of them tended much to recommend him to the king:

and we told him; that is, their dreams:

and he interpreted to us our dream, to each man according to his dream did he interpret; told them what their dreams presignified, what the events would be they portended; the interpretation was different according to their dreams.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Servant. Chap. xxxix. 4. He waited also upon the prisoners of rank, chap. xl. 4. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

General Information:

The chief cupbearer continues to speak to Pharaoh.

There was with us there

"In prison there was with the chief baker and me"

the captain of the guard

The soldier in charge of the royal guards. See how you translated this in Genesis 40:2-3.

We told him and he interpreted for us our dreams

"We told him our dreams and he explained their meanings to us"

He interpreted for each of us according to his dream

Here "his" refers to the cupbearer and baker individually, not to the one interpreting the dream. AT: "He explained what was going to happen to both of us" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

It came about

This phrase is used here to mark an important event in the story. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here.

as he interpreted for us, so it happened

"what he explained about the dreams is what later happened"

Pharaoh restored me to my post

Here the cupbearer uses Pharaoh's title in speaking to him as a way of honoring him. AT: "You allowed me to return to my job" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

the other one

"the chief baker"

he hanged

Here "he" refers to Pharaoh. And, it stands for the soldiers that Pharaoh commanded to hang the chief baker. AT: "you ordered your soldiers to hang" (See: First, Second, or Third Person and Metonymy)

translationWords

Hebrew

servant

dream

Pharaoh

restore

hang

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

נער עברי עבד A LAD, AN HEBREW, A SLAVE — Cursed be the wicked for the favours they do are never really complete! He mentions him in disparaging language.

נער a lad, unwise and unfitted for a high position.

עברי a Hebrew, who does not even know our language;

עבד a slave — and it is written in the laws of Egypt that a slave may neither become a ruler nor dress in princely robes (Genesis Rabbah 89:7).

איש כחלמו EACH MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DREAM — He interpreted in accordance with the dream and approximating to its contents.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

TO EACH MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DREAM. He interpreted it in accordance with the dream and consistent with its contents. Thus the words of Rashi. A more correct interpretation would be for Rashi to say that “he interpreted it in accordance with the truth of the dream as it was destined to befall him, for as he interpreted it, so it befell us.” Similar in thought is the verse, Every man according to his blessing he blessed them, i.e., according to the blessing which was destined to come upon him.But in my opinion there is no need for this. Instead, the verse is stating that “he interpreted his dream for each man, and as he interpreted it to each one, so it came upon us.” The chief of the butlers is thus saying that these were different dreams with different interpretations, as he would explain, so that Pharaoh should not think that the two [the butler and the baker] dreamed one dream having one interpretation. In my opinion, a similar thought is conveyed in the verse, Every man according to his blessing he blessed them, meaning that he did not bless them with one blessing common to all, but with a unique blessing for each one, as he explained to each son and spoke to him.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

נער, seeing that he performed personal valet duties for them in the prison he referred to him as a נער, [describing his function. Ed.] He added that Joseph was also עבד לשר הטבחים, he had been informed about Joseph’s immediate past before he was thrown into jail. He gave this information so that anyone enquiring about him would know the name of the person they were trying to locate.

איש כחלומו, the prefix ל is missing here in front of the word איש. The word איש has to be understood as if the cup-bearer had said: לאיש, meaning that each of the two received an interpretation tailored to his particular dream. One dream had been appropriate for a cup-bearer, the other for a baker. One dream dealt with a drink, the other with food, baked goods.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.