In brief
The cupbearer and the baker are two high officers of the king of Egypt in Joseph’s time. After offending Pharaoh, they are thrown into the prison where Joseph is held. The same night, each has a dream that Joseph interprets. Three days later, the cupbearer is restored to his post and the baker is hanged. The cupbearer forgets Joseph for two years, then remembers him when Pharaoh needs an interpreter. We remember that God works even through human forgetfulness.
What does the name The Cupbearer and the Baker mean?
These two men are not named: the Bible refers to them by their office, “the chief cup bearer and the chief baker” (Genesis 40:2). The cupbearer served the king’s drink, and the baker was in charge of his bread and food.
The story of The Cupbearer and the Baker
Two Officers in Prison
Genesis 40:1-4The cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offend their master. Pharaoh is angry with these two chiefs and puts them in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph is held. The captain of the guard assigns them to Joseph, who looks after them for some time.
Two Dreams in One Night
Genesis 40:5-8In one night, each of the two officers has a dream. In the morning, Joseph notices that they are sad and asks them why. They answer that no one can interpret their dreams. Joseph tells them: “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Please tell it to me.”
The Cupbearer’s Dream
Genesis 40:9-15The cupbearer saw a vine with three branches, whose grapes he pressed into Pharaoh’s cup. Joseph explains that the three branches are three days: Pharaoh will restore him to his office. Joseph then asks him: “But remember me when it is well with you.” He points out that he has done nothing to deserve prison.
The Baker’s Dream
Genesis 40:16-19Encouraged by this favorable interpretation, the baker tells his dream: three baskets of white bread on his head, and birds eating the food meant for Pharaoh from the uppermost one. Joseph announces that the three baskets are three days, and that Pharaoh will hang him on a tree.
Fulfillment and Forgetting
Genesis 40:20-23On the third day, Pharaoh’s birthday, the king gives a feast. He restores the cupbearer to his post and hangs the baker, as Joseph had interpreted. But the account ends on a bitter note: “Yet the chief cup bearer didn’t remember Joseph, but forgot him.”
The Cupbearer Remembers
Genesis 41:9-14Two years later, no wise man can explain Pharaoh’s dreams. The cupbearer then speaks up: “I remember my faults today.” He tells how a young Hebrew had interpreted his dream and the baker’s. Pharaoh immediately has Joseph brought out of prison.
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What The Cupbearer and the Baker teaches us
- God alone gives true understanding of what he reveals; Joseph points to him before interpreting the dreams.
- Caring for those who suffer, even when we suffer ourselves, opens doors that God is preparing.
- People may forget, but God never forgets his own and acts at the time he has chosen.
- Admitting a fault, as the cupbearer did before Pharaoh, can become the occasion to do someone justice.
- The word God gives is fulfilled, whether it announces grace or judgment.
Key verses
Before listening to the dreams, Joseph reminds them that interpretations belong to God. Even in prison, he remains a witness to the Lord before two pagan officers.
This one-sentence verse opens two years of waiting for Joseph. The cupbearer’s forgetfulness does not stop God from preparing the right moment to bring his servant out.
The cupbearer admits his fault before Pharaoh. His belated memory becomes the instrument God uses to bring Joseph before the king.
Sermons about The Cupbearer and the Baker
- Jesus, Prince of Peace: Light in the DarknessThe message recalls that the freed cupbearer completely forgets Joseph, who had asked him to remember him: human beings forget, but Jesus never forgets you.
- Genesis 1:28: Reaping the Rewards of a Go SeasonThe pastor shows Joseph kindly noticing the sad faces of the cupbearer and the baker, putting his gift at their service, then staying good to the cupbearer who had forgotten him.
- Psalm 105: God Hasn't Forgotten You in the WaitingThe message rereads Joseph’s story with Psalm 105: in prison, he interprets the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker, but the cupbearer forgets him, while God does not forget him.
- Filled with the Holy Spirit: 5 Visible Changes in YouThe message stresses Joseph’s two long years of waiting after the cupbearer’s dream, until the day God brings the cupbearer to mind and moves Joseph from prison to the head of the land.
Frequently asked questions
What did a cupbearer and a baker do?
The cupbearer served the king’s drink: in his dream, he presses grapes into Pharaoh’s cup and puts it in his hand (Genesis 40:11). The baker was in charge of bread and baked food. Both were chiefs, heading their department at court.
Why did the cupbearer forget Joseph?
The Bible simply states that the chief cup bearer did not remember Joseph but forgot him (Genesis 40:23). It gives no reason. The account does show, however, that this two-year oversight did not stop God’s plan: it was when Pharaoh needed an interpreter that the cupbearer remembered Joseph.
Where can I find the story of the cupbearer and the baker?
Their story is in Genesis 40, from their imprisonment to the fulfillment of the dreams. The cupbearer reappears in Genesis 41:9-13, when he tells Pharaoh about Joseph. The chief baker, for his part, is hanged on the third day, as Joseph had announced.