Genesis 40:19

lift up thy head from off thee Joseph, by a use of the same phrase as in Genesis 40:13, introduces the sudden unfavourable interpretation: "from off thee" shews that it means here "decapitation," not (see note on Genesis 40:13) "he will release thee from imprisonment, in order to be executed." For the word-play, which uses the same word in two senses, cf. Genesis 27:39.

hang thee on a tree The decapitated corpse of the malefactor would be impaled, and allowed to hang exposed to public view, and to become the prey of wild animals and obscene birds. This picture was terrible to the Egyptian mind, which attached great value to preservation of the body as the ultimate medium of the soul's (ḳa) existence. For "hanging," see Joshua 10:26; 2 Samuel 4:12; 2 Samuel 21:9-10.