Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.
What does Genesis 40:19 mean?
It was not so much the prison that made the butler and baker sad, as their dreams. God has more ways than one to sadden the spirits.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside Genesis 40:15-19 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Genesis 40:19
Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head from off thee,.... Order thee to be beheaded; so the Targum of Jonathan and Ben Melech interpret it,"Pharaoh shall remove thy head from thy body with a sword:" and shall hang thee on a tree; his body after his head was severed from it, this should be hung upon a gallows or gibbet, and there continue: and the birds shall eat the flesh from off thee; as they usually do when bodies are thus hung up, see 2 Samuel 21:9 ; this was signified by the birds eating the bakemeats out of the uppermost basket when upon his head, as it seemed to him in his dream.
Key words
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Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head from off thee,.
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Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head from off thee,.
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Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head from off thee,.
Context in Genesis 40
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Genesis 40 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as the Joseph narrative and Israel’s descent into Egypt. Genesis opens the whole Bible with creation, fall, flood, Babel, and the long patriarchal story that carries the reader from Eden to Egypt. Read this chapter with the wider themes of creation, fall, and covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
Related topics
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A collection of passages on hope under pressure, future inheritance, resurrection expectation, and confidence in God’s final faithfulness.