Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 40:16-17

"When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head: and in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of baked food for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head." — Genesis 40:16-17 (ASV)

Three white baskets. —Rashi explains the phrase as baskets of wicker-work, but most commentators agree in rendering it as “baskets of white bread.” The “bakemeats” were all preparations of pastry and confectionery, as throughout the Bible meat does not mean flesh, but food (John 21:5).

On my head. —The Egyptian men carried burdens on their heads; the women on their shoulders (Herodotus 2.35).

Bakemeats. —Hebrew: All sorts of work for Pharaoh, the work of a baker.