9So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, 10and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and the clusters ripened into grapes. 11Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” 12Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days; 13within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. 14But remember me when it is well with you; please do me the kindness to make mention of me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this place. 15For in fact I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews; and here also I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”
16When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, 17and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” 18And Joseph answered, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; 19within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a pole; and the birds will eat the flesh from you.”
20On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. 21He restored the chief cupbearer to his cupbearing, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand; 22but the chief baker he hanged, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
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40.1–23 While in prison Joseph shows another kind of wisdom by interpreting dreams. This is God-given wisdom, since interpretations belong to God (v. 8). The two dreams in this chapter are the second in a series of double dreams; they are preceded by Joseph’s in 37.5–9 and followed by Pharaoh’s in 41.1–7. In this chapter Joseph turns from a dreamer to a dream interpreter, a gift that will occasion his final ascent in the next chapter. Chs. 40–41 are from the E source.
40.5 Each dream with its own meaning. The two dreams, although they seem similar, will have quite different interpretations.
40.8 The officers, unaware of Joseph’s ability, say there is no one to interpret the dreams. Joseph shows that one doesn’t need to be an Egyptian magician or wise man (see 41.8) to interpret dreams, since interpretations belong to God. This is both a critique of professional and foreign seers and a pious statement of trust in God. Like his forebear Abraham (20.7), Joseph is a kind of prophet, discerning and mediating God’s will through dream interpretation.
40.9–13 The cupbearer’s dream is favorable: he sees himself placing the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. Pharaoh will lift up your head means restoration for the cupbearer, but will have a different meaning for the next dream.
40.14–15 Joseph’s plea to the cupbearer to remember him will be forgotten (v. 23) until the cupbearer finally remembers two years later (41.1, 9). Joseph’s description of his past (stolen, v. 15) refers to the version of events in (see note on) 37.28. Dungeon also recalls his past, when his brothers threw him into a pit (see note on 37.24–25).
40.16–19 Against the baker’s expectation, his dream is not favorable: birds are eating the Pharaoh’s food. Pharaoh will lift your head (cf. v. 13) now has a literal rather than metaphorical meaning. Joseph’s interpretive speech is itself allusive and dramatic.
40.23 The cupbearer did not remember Joseph, a fault he will remedy when Pharaoh dreams his dreams (41.9). Themes of remembering and forgetting circulate throughout the Joseph story (see 37.11; 41.51; 42.9).
GENESIS 41
Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream
1After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, 2and there came up out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and they grazed in the reed grass. 3Then seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. 4The ugly and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke. 5Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. 6Then seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them. 7The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and it was a dream. 8In the morning his spirit was troubled; so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
9Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my faults today. 10Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard. 11We dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning. 12A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each according to his dream. 13As he interpreted to us, so it turned out; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”
14Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was hurriedly brought out of the dungeon. When he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. 15And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not I; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” 17Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile; 18and seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. 19Then seven other cows came up after them, poor, very ugly, and thin. Never had I seen such ugly ones in all the land of Egypt. 20The thin and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows, 21but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had done so, for they were still as ugly as before. Then I awoke. 22I fell asleep a second timea and I saw in my dream seven ears of grain, full and good, growing on one stalk, 23and seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouting after them; 24and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. But when I told it to the magicians, there was no one who could explain it to me.”
25Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. 27The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, as are the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind. They are seven years of famine. 28It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. 30After them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land. 31The plenty will no longer be known in the land because of the famine that will follow, for it will be very grievous. 32And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. 33Now therefore let Pharaoh select a man who is discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land, and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plenteous years. 35Let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. 36That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to befall the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”
Joseph’s Rise to Power
37The proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. 38Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find anyone else like this—one in whom is the spirit of God?” 39So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order th
emselves as you command; only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” 41And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” 42Removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph’s hand; he arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain around his neck. 43He had him ride in the chariot of his second-in-command; and they cried out in front of him, “Bow the knee!”b Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. 44Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” 45Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife. Thus Joseph gained authority over the land of Egypt.
46Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went through all the land of Egypt. 47During the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. 48He gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plentyc in the land of Egypt, and stored up food in the cities; he stored up in every city the food from the fields around it. 49So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance—like the sand of the sea—that he stopped measuring it; it was beyond measure.
50Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. 51Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh,d “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” 52The second he named Ephraim,e “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my misfortunes.”
53The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of Egypt came to an end; 54and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every country, but throughout the land of Egypt there was bread. 55When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do.” 56And since the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses,f and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57Moreover, all the world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine became severe throughout the world.
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a Gk Syr Vg: Heb lacks I fell asleep a second time
b Abrek, apparently an Egyptian word similar in sound to the Hebrew word meaning to kneel
c Sam Gk: MT the seven years that were
d That is Making to forget
e From a Hebrew word meaning to be fruitful
f Gk Vg Compare Syr: Heb opened all that was in (or, among) them
41.1–57 Because of his wisdom in dream interpretation and his practical wisdom, Joseph ascends to become governor of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. His rise in this domain echoes his previous ascents in Potiphar’s house and in prison. The twin dreams of Pharaoh are the third in a sequence of double dreams, after Joseph’s twin dreams and the two dreams of the prisoners. Like Joseph’s the two dreams have the same meaning, and like the prisoners’ they encompass good fortune and bad. Joseph’s change of identity is accompanied by changes of clothes (vv. 14, 42), recalling his earlier transitions, and he also gains a new name, a wife, and sons. Joseph’s piety and wisdom are amply rewarded, and his misfortune turns to good, with the result that he can preserve life in Egypt. This chapter, a sequel to ch. 40, is an E text, with some J and P expansions in the second half.
41.1–4 After being forgotten for two years, Joseph gets his main chance, because Pharaoh has two dreams. Seven sleek and fat cows emerging from the Nile, the source of Egyptian fertility, is a rich symbol of fertility. Seven ugly and thin cows eating the fat cows is a vivid and paradoxical image of famine, since, as Pharaoh later explains, the thin cows that ate the fat cows remained unchanged, as ugly as before (v. 21). Seven years of famine is a traditional motif, as in the Canaanite Epic of Aqhat.
41.8 Troubled echoes the condition of the cupbearer and baker (40.6) and brings to mind Joseph’s role in interpreting their dreams. The inability of all the magicians and wise men to interpret the dreams also recalls Joseph’s remark to the prisoners about interpretations belonging to God (40.8), which he will reiterate to Pharaoh in v. 16. This scene forms the background for the dream story in Dan 2.
41.9 I remember my faults. The cupbearer’s act of remembering Joseph, piously expressed, is a turning point in the story.
41.14 Brought out of the dungeon, lit. “pit” (bor; see note on 37.24–25). This is Joseph’s symbolic ascent from death, in his case a kind of social death, recalling the language of the psalms of lament and thanksgiving (see, e.g., Ps 30.1–3). He will now be restored to the status of free person and will rise, as he has previously, to the status of second in command. His symbolic passage to a new status is accompanied by shaving and a change of clothes, recalling the symbolism of clothing that accompanied his downward passages (37.23; 39.12) and anticipating his ultimate finery in v. 42.
41.16 Joseph’s protestation shows his wisdom, piety, and humility, which make him the apt instrument for God’s interpretation.
41.25–36 Joseph’s speech to Pharaoh is twofold. In the first part, the interpretation (vv. 25–32), Joseph discerns God’s plan through the coded symbolism of the dream. The doubling of Pharaoh’s dream is part of the code, meaning that the plan is fixed by God and imminent (v. 32). The second part of the speech (vv. 33–36) shows Joseph’s own practical wisdom. On the basis of his knowledge of God’s plan he formulates a human plan, showing great insight and organizational planning. His advice to Pharaoh to select a man who is discerning and wise (v. 33) is followed by a plan that is discerning and wise, making Pharaoh’s choice an easy one.
41.37–44 Pharaoh shows his own wisdom by appointing Joseph governor of the land. The mention of God in his praise of Joseph shows Pharaoh’s own piety. God may be an ecumenical term here (and perhaps in vv. 14–32; 39.9; 40.8, all spoken by Joseph) that does not make a distinction between Joseph’s and Pharaoh’s god, or it may imply Pharaoh’s recognition of Joseph’s God. Only with regard…greater than you. Pharaoh’s statement to Joseph is breathtaking for a former slave and prisoner. Joseph’s sumptuous new garb as Pharaoh’s favored one recalls and transcends the fine robe he wore as Israel’s favorite son (37.3). This is Joseph’s last change of clothes in the story.
41.45 Joseph’s new name also signals his new ascent in status; its meaning is obscure, but has to do with “life” (Egyptian ankh). His new father-in-law, Potiphera, curiously echoes his former master Potiphar of 37.36; 39.1. Joseph’s marriage to an Egyptian woman, Asenath, seems to carry no sense of impropriety.
41.49 The simile for the abundance of grain that Joseph stored up, like the sand of the sea, recalls the patriarchal promise of many descendants (22.17; 32.12) and anticipates that this act will save the lives of the children of Israel.
41.51–52 The naming speeches for Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, are the only glimpse of Joseph’s inner dispositions (cf. Leah and Rachel in chs. 29–30). My father’s house and fruitful in the land anticipate the turn of focus to his family coming to Egypt for grain.
41.57 All the world, a broad frame that will narrow to a single family for the rest of the story.
GENESIS 42
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
1When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you keep looking at one another? 2I have heard,” he said, “that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” 3So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he feared that harm might come to him. 5Thus the sons of Israel were among the other people who came to buy grain, for the famine had reached the land of Canaan.
6Now Joseph was governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. 7When Joseph saw his bro
thers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” 8Although Joseph had recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 9Joseph also remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them. He said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land!” 10They said to him, “No, my lord; your servants have come to buy food. 11We are all sons of one man; we are honest men; your servants have never been spies.” 12But he said to them, “No, you have come to see the nakedness of the land!” 13They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of a certain man in the land of Canaan; the youngest, however, is now with our father, and one is no more.” 14But Joseph said to them, “It is just as I have said to you; you are spies! 15Here is how you shall be tested: as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here! 16Let one of you go and bring your brother, while the rest of you remain in prison, in order that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you; or else, as Pharaoh lives, surely you are spies.” 17And he put them all together in prison for three days.
18On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19if you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here where you are imprisoned. The rest of you shall go and carry grain for the famine of your households, 20and bring your youngest brother to me. Thus your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they agreed to do so. 21They said to one another, “Alas, we are paying the penalty for what we did to our brother; we saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this anguish has come upon us.” 22Then Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to wrong the boy? But you would not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” 23They did not know that Joseph understood them, since he spoke with them through an interpreter. 24He turned away from them and wept; then he returned and spoke to them. And he picked out Simeon and had him bound before their eyes. 25Joseph then gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This was done for them.
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