Ever pictured the story of the chief baker and the chief butler, and their encounter with Joseph, in your mind?

Perhaps children’s storybooks have given you an idea of these two men who offended the king of Egypt and were put in prison as a result. Perhaps the king reacted very badly to the food and/or drink he was served on that occasion.

One thing worthy of note is that these two men were not mere servants of Pharaoh or common laborers; they were high-ranking officials, just like Potiphar was (ch. 39:1). We see that Potiphar, the captain of the guard, appointed Joseph to attend to the needs of these men.

Genesis 40:1–4(NKJV)

1 - It came to pass after these things that the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.

2 - And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker.

3 - So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined.

4 - And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.

There were bakers and there was a chief baker. Chief baker simply means chief/head of the bakers. He was one of the ministers for food in the greatest kingdom in the world at the time, and he served directly under Pharaoh.

The chief butler or chief cupbearer was in charge of the drinks (especially wines) of Pharaoh.

So these were prominent men in Egypt.

They met Joseph in prison, who, on a fateful day, interpreted their respective dreams to them (ch. 40:5–22). And it happened just as he told them—on the king’s birthday, the chief baker was hanged while the chief butler was restored to his position.

The latter may have worked directly under Joseph when the Hebrew man rose to prominence as the second-in-command in Egypt. There were many ministers and Joseph was prime minister.

Victor Ibosiola © 2025