Baker

Concise Bible Dictionary:

In Egypt the king had a man-servant who is called his “chief baker” (Gen. 40:1-22¹And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt. ²And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers. ³And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. ⁴And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward. ⁵And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison. ⁶And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad. ⁷And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in the ward of his lord's house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day? ⁸And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you. ⁹And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me; ¹⁰And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes: ¹¹And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. ¹²And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days: ¹³Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler. ¹⁴But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house: ¹⁵For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon. ¹⁶When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head: ¹⁷And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head. ¹⁸And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days: ¹⁹Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee. ²⁰And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand: ²²But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them. (Genesis 40:1‑22); Gen. 41:10¹⁰Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the chief baker: (Genesis 41:10)); but in Israel the baking was done by the women of each house, as Abraham called to Sarah to prepare cakes upon the hearth (Gen. 18:6⁶And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. (Genesis 18:6)); and Samuel said that if the Israelites had a king he would take their daughters to be bakers (1 Sam. 8:13¹³And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. (1 Samuel 8:13)). In Jerusalem there was apparently a part devoted to the bakers, for Jeremiah was to have a piece of bread out of the Bakers’ street (or Bazaar, as it would now be expressed in the East) as long as the bread lasted (Jer. 37:21²¹Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison. (Jeremiah 37:21)). In Hosea 7:4,6⁴They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened. (Hosea 7:4)
⁶For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire. (Hosea 7:6), the heating of the oven by the baker is used figuratively for those who, as it were, prepared their lusts for evil, and then waited till the moment when they could satisfy them more greedily. Alas, that it should be Israel of whom the prophet thus speaks.