Genesis 40:16

Summary

The chief baker, seeing that Joseph's interpretation of the cupbearer's dream had been favorable, tells his own dream: three baskets of white bread were on his head. The verse marks the transition from the cupbearer's episode to the baker's own account.

Key words

• va-iYar ("and he saw", H7200G) — narrative vav + qal verb, introducing a new narrative beat: the baker's perception triggers his speech.
• ki tov ("that good", H3588A + H2896A) — the conjunction ki introduces the content of what the baker perceived, modified by the adjective tov ("good/favorable").
• patar ("he had interpreted", H6622) — qal perfect, denoting a completed action prior to the baker's seeing; it describes Joseph's prior interpretive act for the cupbearer.
• af-ani ("also I", H0637 + H0589) — the interjection af ("also") combined with the independent pronoun ani ("I") emphasizes the baker's assertion that he too has a dream to relate, distinguishing his case from the cupbearer's.
• sallei chori ("baskets of white bread", H5536 + H2751) — construct chain: sallei ("baskets of") governs chori ("white bread"), specifying the contents of the three baskets.

What the text says

The verse opens with a narrative sequence: va-iYar ("and he saw") followed by the subject sar-ha'ofim ("the chief of the bakers"), a construct phrase where sar ("chief of") governs ha'ofim ("the bakers"). The object of his seeing is expressed through the subordinating particle ki ("that"), introducing the clause tov patar ("he had interpreted [it] well/favorably"). The verb patar is in the qal perfect, marking an action already completed — Joseph's prior interpretation for the cupbearer — which the baker now evaluates positively (tov, "good").

The second half of the verse shifts to direct speech, introduced again by the narrative vav with va-yomer ("and he said"). The baker addresses Joseph directly, using af-ani ("also I"), a construction combining the particle af with the independent pronoun ani, which places emphasis on his own turn to speak, paralleling but distinguishing his situation from the cupbearer's. He then reports his dream using behini ("there!" or "behold"), a presentative particle that vividly introduces the dream's content: shelosha sallei chori al-roshi ("three baskets of white bread on my head"). The construct chain sallei chori ("baskets of white bread") specifies both quantity (shelosha, "three") and content, while al-roshi ("on my head") locates the baskets spatially, using the same construct-plus-suffix pattern (rosh + i, "my") as the earlier chalomi ("my dream").

Differences between versions

The LXX renders chori ("white bread", H2751) as χονδριτῶν ("of coarse groats/grits"), differing from the Hebrew's specification of bread type. The Vulgate similarly diverges, translating chori as farinæ ("of flour"), rather than baskets of bread itself. The Hebrew behini ("there!", H2009), a presentative interjection, is rendered in the LXX with ᾤμην ("I thought/supposed"), shifting the phrasing from vivid presentation to reported perception; the Vulgate uses quod... haberem ("that I had..."), also recasting the exclamatory Hebrew structure into a subordinate clause.