Joseph Interprets
Pharaoh’s Dream
After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing
by the Nile, and there came up out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and
they grazed in the reed grass. Then 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. The ugly and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh
awoke. Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; seven ears of grain,
plump and good, were growing on one stalk. Then seven ears, thin and blighted
by the east wind, sprouted after them. The thin ears swallowed up the seven
plump and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and it was a dream. In 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.
Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my
faults today. Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the
chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard. We dreamed on
the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning. A 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. As he interpreted to us, so it turned out; I was
restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”
Then 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. And 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.” Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not I; God will
give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I
was standing on the banks of the Nile; and seven cows, fat and sleek, came up
out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. Then 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. The thin and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows, but 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. I fell asleep a second time and I
saw in my dream seven ears of grain, full and good, growing on one stalk, and
seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouting after
them; and 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.”
Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and
the same; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good
cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are
one. The 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. It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to
do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of
Egypt. After 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. The
plenty will no longer be known in the land because of the famine that will
follow, for it will be very grievous. And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means
that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. Now
therefore let Pharaoh select a man who is discerning and wise, and set him over
the land of Egypt. Let 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. Let 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. That 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
The proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. Pharaoh
said to his servants, “Can we find anyone else like this—one in whom is the
spirit of God?” So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this,
there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and
all my people shall order themselves as you command; only with regard to the
throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have
set you over all the land of Egypt.” Removing 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. He had him ride in the chariot of his
second-in-command; and they cried out in front of him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he
set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover 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.” Pharaoh 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.
Joseph 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. During the seven plenteous years the earth
produced abundantly. He gathered up all the food of the seven years when there
was plenty 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. So Joseph stored up grain in
such abundance—like the sand of the sea—that he stopped measuring it; it was
beyond measure.
Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom
Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. Joseph named the
firstborn Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and
all my father’s house.” The second he named Ephraim, “For God has made me
fruitful in the land of my misfortunes.”
The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of
Egypt came to an end; and 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. When 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.” And since the famine had spread over all the land,
Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine
was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the world came to Joseph in
Egypt to buy grain, because the famine became severe throughout the world.
Reflection:
- When Joseph is asked to
interpret pharaoh’s dream, he essentially responds that it is God who
works through him. When has God
worked through you? When have you seen God working through another? How might God work through you today?
- With the birth of his two
sons, Joseph gives thanks to God for all that God has done even in the
midst of Joseph’s difficulties.
Look back at a difficult time in your life, where was God in the
midst of that difficult time. Where
did you see his hand at work? What makes it difficult to see God in the
midst of difficult times?
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