Глава 40

Gen.40:1. “After this the chief wine merchant of the king of Egypt committed a crime.” Where we put "chief wine merchant", the Hebrew text says masec (מַשְׁקֵ ֥ה). This is the word that we recently read in the name of the servant Abraham. Using popular usage, we can translate it as “cupbearer.” And this is not an insignificant position: among barbarian kings even in our time it is considered a very honorable privilege to serve the king a cup. And poets often write about Ganymede and Jupiter, how God appointed his beloved to this very position. Gen.40:9–10. “And here is a vine before me; and on the vine there were three stems; and it grows with these three stems." The Hebrew word means three twigs, branches or shoots. Jews pronounce the word sarigim (שָׂרִיגִ ֑ ם). Gen.40:16. “It seemed to me that I was carrying three baskets of flatbread on my head.” Instead of “three baskets of cakes,” the Hebrew text says “three baskets of flour.”