Genesis 40:23

Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
chief	שַֽׂר sar-	H8269	a head person (of any rank or class) · noun, common masculine singular construct
butler	שָׁקָה shâqâh	H8248	to quaff
remember	זָכַ֧ר za.Khar	H2142	properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Joseph	יוֹסֵ֖ף yo.Sef	H3130	Joseph · proper noun, a man's name
forgat	וַיִּשְׁכָּחֵֽהוּ vai.yish.ka.Che.hu	H7911	to mislay · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Job 19:14 My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.
Psalms 31:12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
Psalms 105:19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
Amos 6:6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
Ecclesiastes 9:15-16 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 40:20–end

Here is, 1. The verifying of Joseph's interpretation of the dreams, on the very day prefixed. The chief butler and baker were both advanced, one to his office, the other to the gallows, and both at the three days' end. Note, Very great changes, both for the better and for the worse, often happen in a very little time, so sudden are the revolutions of the wheel of nature. The occasion of giving judgement severally upon their case was the solemnizing of Pharaoh's birthday, on which, all his servants being obliged by custom to attend him, these two came to be enquired after, and the cause of their commitment looked into. The solemnizing of the birthday of princes has been an ancient piece of re…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 40:23

yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph--This was human nature. How prone are men to forget and neglect in prosperity, those who have been their companions in adversity (Amo 6:6)! But although reflecting no credit on the butler, it was wisely ordered in the providence of God that he should forget him. The divine purposes required that Joseph should obtain his deliverance in another way, and by other means. Next: Genesis Chapter 41

Adam Clarke on Genesis 40:23

Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph - Had he mentioned the circumstance to Pharaoh, there is no doubt that Joseph's case would have been examined into, and he would in consequence have been restored to his liberty; but, owing to the ingratitude of the chief butler, he was left two years longer in prison. Many commentators have seen in every circumstance in the history of Joseph a parallel between him and our blessed Lord. So, "Joseph in prison represents Christ in the custody of the Jews; the chief butler and the chief baker represent the two thieves which were crucified with our Lord; and as one thief was pardoned, and the other left to perish, so the chief butler was restored to h…

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John Gill

The Church Fathers

See once again the good man, as though competing in some gymnasium or wrestling ring, giving a demonstration of his characteristic virtue by not showing signs of alarm, panic or disappointment. I mean, had it been somebody else, any one of a thousand, he might have said, What's this? The chief cupbearer was all too ready to regain his former prosperity by my interpreting what he saw in his dream but now has no thought for me despite my predicting it. He is enjoying great relief, whereas I, who committed no crime, am locked up here with murderers, grave robbers, thieves and perpetrators of countless crimes. Joseph said nothing of the sort; he entertained no such thoughts. He realized that the race was longer for him, so that by striving consistently he might win a glorious crown.…Joseph, you see, had to await the right moment for release from there to come his way along with renown. After all, if before Pharaoh's dreams the chief cupbearer had by his own intervention freed him from prison, perhaps his virtue would not have become known to many people. As it was, however, the wise and creative Lord, who like a fine craftsman knew how long the gold should be kept in the fire and when it ought be taken out, allowed forgetfulness to affect the chief cupbearer for a period of two years so that the moment of Pharaoh's dreams should arrive and that by force of circumstances the good man should become known to the whole of Pharaoh's kingdom.
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 63.11-12

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Friends · Pharaoh’s butler was false to Joseph — Pharaoh’s butler was false to Joseph
Ingratitude · .Pharaoh’s butler to Joseph — .Pharaoh’s butler to Joseph
Joseph · .Of the two pri — .Of the two pri

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 40:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 40:20–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 40:23

Adam Clarke on Genesis 40:23

John Gill

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 40:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 40:20–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 40:23

Adam Clarke on Genesis 40:23

John Gill

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 40:23–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 40:23–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 40:23

Rashi on Genesis 40:23