Limitless Word
“This is what the dream means,” Joseph told him. “The three baskets also represent three days.
Genesis 40:18 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Joseph answered, “This is its interpretation. The three baskets are three days.
  • KJV And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days:
  • BSB Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days.
  • NKJV So Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days.
  • NASB Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are 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 baker's dream, explaining that the three baskets mean three days.

Overview

As with the cup bearer, Joseph reads the baker's dream as a divinely given sign tied to a three-day span. He speaks plainly, without softening the message, showing his integrity as God's spokesman. True interpretation comes from God, and Joseph faithfully delivers even hard news.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 4

  • Gen 40:12Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days.
  • 1 Cor 11:24When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.”
  • 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.
  • Gen 41:26The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 40:18YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 40:18 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.