Scripture Daily

Context No. 3829 of 4322 · Genesis

Context · Reflection

Genesis 40:1-7: in context

1After these things, the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord, the king of Egypt. 2Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cup bearer and the chief baker. 3He put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. 4The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he took care of them. They stayed in prison many days. 5They both dreamed a dream, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cup bearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison. 6Joseph came in to them in the morning, and saw them, and saw that they were sad. 7He asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?”

Joseph, unjustly imprisoned and far from home, might well have been consumed by his own troubles. Instead, when Pharaoh's two officers are thrown into the prison and put in his charge, Joseph pays attention to them, and one morning he notices that they look downcast. Rather than ignoring them in his own misery, he asks, why are your faces so sad today?

It is a small detail, but a telling one. Joseph, himself a victim of betrayal and injustice, still has room in his heart to notice another person's sadness and to care about it. His own suffering had not turned him inward and bitter; he remained attentive and kind to those around him. There is a quiet challenge here. It is easy, when we are hurting, to become absorbed in our own pain and blind to the struggles of others. Joseph shows a better way: even in the midst of his own unjust suffering, he looks up, notices, and reaches out to two troubled men. Our own hardship need not close our hearts to the pain of others.

Even in the midst of my own troubles, do I keep enough room in my heart to notice and care about the struggles of those around me, as Joseph did in his prison?

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