Genesis 40:21

Summary

The verse reports the resolution of Pharaoh's action toward the chief cupbearer: he is restored to his former position, and he places the cup back in Pharaoh's hand. Two consecutive narrative verbs move the story forward: restoration followed by the resumed service.

Key words

• va-yYashev ("and he restored", H7725H) — hiphil (causative) narrative verb: someone caused the cupbearer to return, rather than the cupbearer returning on his own.
• sar ha-mmashqim ("chief of the cupbearers", H8269 + H4945A) — construct noun phrase naming the office/title of the man in question.
• mashqehu ("his cup-bearing [role]", H4945A + H9023) — construct noun with a possessive suffix "his," referring to the specific function/post restored to him.
• va-yyitten ("and he put/gave", H5414H) — qal narrative verb, simple (non-causative) action, continuing the narrative chain begun with va-yYashev.
• kaf par'oh ("the palm of Pharaoh", H3709G + H6547H) — construct phrase; kaf denotes the palm/hand as the concrete location where the cup is placed.

What the text says

The verse is built on two narrative verb chains joined by the vav consecutive (va-), which in Biblical Hebrew narrative typically signals sequential action: "and then X happened, and then Y happened." The first verb, va-yYashev ("he restored", H7725H), is in the hiphil stem, marking causation — the subject (understood from context as Pharaoh) causes the cupbearer to return to his post, rather than the cupbearer returning by his own initiative. The object is sar ha-mmashqim ("the chief of the cupbearers"), a construct chain naming his title, followed by the phrase 'al-mashqehu ("to his cup-bearing role"), where mashqeh (H4945A) appears again, this time as a noun with the possessive suffix -hu ("his"), specifying the particular function to which he is restored.

The second clause, va-yyitten ha-kos 'al-kaf par'oh ("and he put the cup on the palm of Pharaoh"), uses a qal (non-causative) verb for the simple act of placing the cup. The subject of this verb is grammatically ambiguous in the Hebrew — it could be Pharaoh (continuing as subject) or the cupbearer (resuming his duty) — since no explicit subject noun is given for va-yyitten; only the verb form's third-person masculine singular ending indicates "he." The phrase kaf par'oh ("the palm of Pharaoh") uses kaf (H3709G) specifically for the palm, a concrete anatomical term for where the cup is placed.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew leaves the subject of "he put the cup" grammatically ambiguous (either Pharaoh or the cupbearer, per the verb ending alone). The SBLIBRE Spanish translation renders this with an impersonal/passive-leaning construction ("volvió a entregarle la copa," "he went back to handing him the cup"), clarifying that the cupbearer is the one placing the cup in Pharaoh's hand, aligning with the BSB's "he once again placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand." The Vulgate's ut porrigeret ei poculum ("so that he might extend the cup to him") also resolves the ambiguity by making the cupbearer the explicit subject of the giving action, using a purpose clause not present as such in the Hebrew's paratactic (sequential and-then) structure.