Genesis 40:12

 Genesis 40:12

And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days:

a. NASB 1995: Then Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days;  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days.  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified: And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three tendrils are three days.   [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

e. ESV:  Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days:

a. [And] Joseph [Strong: 3130 Yôwçêph, yo-safe'; future of H3254; let him add (or perhaps simply active participle adding); Joseph, the name of seven Israelites:—Joseph.]

b. said [unto him] [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

c. This [is the] [Strong: 2088 zeh, zeh; a primitive word; the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or that:—he, × hence, × here, it(-self), × now, × of him, the one...the other, × than the other, (× out of) the (self) same, such (a one) that, these, this (hath, man), on this side...on that side, × thus, very, which.]

d. interpretation [of it] [Strong: 6623 pithrôwn, pith-rone'; or פִּתְרֹן pithrôn; from H6622; interpretation (of a dream):—interpretation.]

e. [The] three [Strong: 7969 shâlôwsh, shaw-loshe'; or שָׁלֹשׁ shâlôsh; masculine שְׁלוֹשָׁה shᵉlôwshâh; or שְׁלֹשָׁה shᵉlôshâh; a primitive number; three; occasionally (ordinal) third, or (multiple) thrice:—+ fork, + often(-times), third, thir(-teen, -teenth), three, + thrice.]

f. branches [Strong: 8299 sârîyg, saw-reeg'; from H8276; a tendril (as entwining):—branch.]

g. [are] three [Strong: 7969 shâlôwsh, shaw-loshe'; or שָׁלֹשׁ shâlôsh; masculine שְׁלוֹשָׁה shᵉlôwshâh; or שְׁלֹשָׁה shᵉlôshâh; a primitive number; three; occasionally (ordinal) third, or (multiple) thrice:—+ fork, + often(-times), third, thir(-teen, -teenth), three, + thrice.]

h. days [Strong: 3117 yôwm, yome; from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb):—age, always, chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), elder, × end, evening, (for) ever(-lasting, -more), × full, life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, old, outlived, perpetually, presently, remaineth, × required, season, × since, space, then, (process of) time, as at other times, in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), × whole ( age), (full) year(-ly), younger.]

1). This is an example of the word of wisdom, one of the gifts of the Spirit in operation. Kenneth E. Hagin writes in “Concerning Spiritual Gifts”: “The difference between the two gifts, the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom is that the revelation which the word of knowledge brings is always present tense or something which happened in the past. The word of wisdom always speaks of the future.”

2). Because of a time marker in Genesis 41:1 we know that the dreams of the butler and the baker and Joseph giving them the interpretations, took place two years before Pharoah dreamed his dreams. Since Joseph was promoted to second in command in Egypt shortly after Joseph gave Pharoah the interpretation of his dream, Joseph was 28 at this time.

a). Genesis 41:1 And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.

3). Don Costello: When Joseph was sold into slavery he was 17 (Genesis 37:1-36). 13 years go by before Pharaoh promoted him to second in command of Egypt, when he was 30 (Genesis 41:46). The time in prison because of the false claim of attempted rape of Potiphar’s wife was some where over two years; because the time between Joseph giving the  interpretations of the dreams of the butler and baker was two years previous to Pharoah having his dreams. Because there is no other information given I’m guessing that Joseph was a slave in Potiphar’s house for about ten or eleven years.