And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days.
Parallel translations
- WEB Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days.
- KJV And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days:
- BSB Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days.
- NASB Then Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days;
- NLT “This is what the dream means,” Joseph said. “The three branches represent three days.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Joseph interprets the three branches as three days.
Overview
Joseph speaks with confident clarity, decoding the dream's central symbol. His God-given interpretation will be vindicated by its exact fulfillment. The precise timeframe underscores that the message comes from God, not human guesswork.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Judg 7:14His fellow answered, “This is nothing other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has delivered Midian into his hand, with all the army.”
- Gen 41:12There was with us there a young man, a 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 interpreted.
- Gen 41:25–26Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh.
- Gen 40:18Joseph answered, “This is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days.
- Dan 4:19–33Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was stricken mute for a while, and his thoughts troubled him. The king answered, Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream, or the interpretation, trouble you. Belteshazzar answered, My lord, the dream be to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your adversaries.
- Dan 2:36–45This is the dream; and we will tell its interpretation before the king.
- Matt 26:26As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
- 1 Cor 10:4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.
- Gal 4:25For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 40:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.