Lexical Summary chori: white bread Original Word: חרִי Strong's Exhaustive Concordance white breadFrom the same as chuwr; white bread -- white. see HEBREW chuwr NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom chavar Definition white (bread) NASB Translation white bread (1). Brown-Driver-Briggs I. חֹרִי noun [masculine] white bread or cake שְׁלשָׁה סַלֵּי חֹרִי Genesis 40:16 three baskets of white bread. — II. חֹרִי see III. חרר. I. חֹרִי white bread see below I. חור. Topical Lexicon Biblical usage The form appears a single time, in Genesis 40:16, within the dream recounted by Pharaoh’s chief baker: “I too had a dream: There were three white baskets on my head” (Berean Standard Bible). The term qualifies the baskets, describing them as “white”, “of white bread” (NKJV), or “of fine bread” (NASB). The immediate context is Joseph’s prison ministry in which he interprets the baker’s and cupbearer’s dreams. Historical and cultural setting In ancient Egypt, baked goods were a staple and a symbol of daily provision. White or finely-sifted wheat flour was a luxury, usually reserved for the royal court. A slave responsible for Pharaoh’s bread would have access to the best grain available. The narrator’s mention of “white baskets” likely intends to emphasize both quality (fine flour products) and ceremonial cleanness. Baskets of reed or rush were commonly whitened with gypsum or limewash for court presentation, preventing insect infestation and signifying purity before the gods—and, in Israelite thought, before God. Narrative significance in Genesis 40 Joseph’s interpretation reveals that the apparently pristine baskets cannot save the baker from judgment; birds eat the bread, foreshadowing the baker’s execution (Genesis 40:17–19). The vivid whiteness heightens the contrast between outward excellence and inward doom. The detail also accentuates Joseph’s prophetic accuracy: a minor color adjective becomes proof that God is speaking through His servant when the events unfold exactly as predicted. Symbolic themes Whiteness in Scripture often connotes purity, righteousness, and divine glory (Psalm 51:7; Isaiah 1:18; Daniel 7:9; Revelation 3:5). In Genesis 40, pristine baskets ironically frame impending judgment, much as Jesus later exposes the hypocrisy of “whitewashed tombs” (Matthew 23:27). The dream therefore warns that external respectability without true righteousness cannot avert divine justice. Foreshadowing of the Gospel Joseph, the Spirit-filled interpreter, prefigures Christ who reveals hidden things (Colossians 2:3). The chief baker, laden with white baskets, anticipates those who rely on self-made offerings. Ultimately, only the bread that Christ gives—His own body (John 6:51)—satisfies God’s demands. The contrast presses readers toward reliance on the true Bread of Life rather than on human merit dressed in ceremonial whiteness. Ministry applications • Discernment: God’s servants today must interpret life’s circumstances through the lens of His revealed Word, as Joseph did, refusing to soften hard truths. Forms and Transliterations חֹרִ֖י חרי choRi ḥō·rî ḥōrîLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Genesis 40:16 HEB: שְׁלֹשָׁ֛ה סַלֵּ֥י חֹרִ֖י עַל־ רֹאשִֽׁי׃ NAS: baskets of white bread on my head; KJV: and, behold, [I had] three white baskets INT: three baskets of white on my head |
    |