41:1–8 Two complete years later (Hb. “after two years of days”),580 Pharaoh has a dream (v. 1). The timing perhaps suggests that the dreams occur exactly two years later, on Pharaoh’s birthday, which would add weight to their importance.581 In his dream Pharaoh finds himself standing beside the Nile (v. 1), whose regular flow provides most of the water for Egyptian agriculture and whose annual floods enrich the soil. This is much more than a mere geographical referent; Pharaoh’s own welfare and happiness, along with that of his people, rests on the health of the Nile and on the favor of the gods believed to control its flow.582

As with the cupbearer’s and baker’s dreams, Pharaoh is himself a participant in his dream, watching as various creatures emerge from the Nile (v. 2). As with Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37, the surprising content of the dream is highlighted by the repeated use of hinneh (“Behold”; vv. 1 [Hb.], 2, 3, 5, 6, 7). Pharaoh’s dreams also occur as a matched pair, with the pairing drawing parallels (as with Joseph’s dreams) rather than contrasts (as with the cupbearer’s and baker’s dreams). The initial portent of the dream is positive, with seven “attractive”583 and fat cows emerging from the Nile and feeding on the grassy margins of the river.584 Seven is the number of completeness, and pictures of seven cows are prominent in Egyptian art.585 It is a happy pastoral scene to warm Pharaoh’s heart (v. 2). It does not take long for the dream to take an ominous turn, however. Seven ugly and thin cows (Hb. “evil of flesh and thin of appearance”) emerge from the Nile shortly after the fat cows, and before long the ugly, thin cows consume the beautiful, fat cows (v. 4). Cannibalistic cows must surely be a negative omen, especially since the thin cows triumph by consuming the fat cows. On that discordant note Pharaoh awakes from sleep (v. 4).

A single bad dream might be dismissed as an aberration, but two similar dreams, especially on Pharaoh’s birthday, cannot be ignored. After Pharaoh falls asleep, he dreams again. The second dream is similar to the first; initially it seems promising, with seven plump ears of grain growing from a single stalk, which would normally produce only a single ear (v. 5). However, these productive ears are followed by seven thin ears; these have been exposed to the hot, dry, east wind from the desert, which has stunted their growth (v. 6). Yet the thin ears swallow up the fat ears of grain, leaving nothing behind (v. 7). The unity of the dreams is underlined by the use of a single Hebrew verb (ʿalah) to describe the cows’ coming up out of the Nile and the stalks of grain’s emergence from the ground, as well as by the reference to both apparitions with the singular noun “dream” (vv. 7, 8). Between the two subdreams both the pastoral and the agricultural sectors of the Egyptian economy are threatened.586

In the morning Pharaoh summons all his professional dream interpreters, his “magicians” and “wise men” (v. 8). “Magicians” (khartumim) were specialists in the manipulation of the spiritual world through the use of occult books and spells to ward off danger and acquire blessing for their clients. Such practices were forbidden in Israel because God did not need to be cajoled and could not be manipulated (Lev. 19:26; Deut. 18:10–11); his blessing rested upon his people freely by grace (Num. 6:22–27), and his judgments could not be thwarted, even by professional diviners (cf. Numbers 22–24). “Wise men” (khakamim) is often a more general term for people with knowledge or experience who can provide guidance and counsel, though here the term likely has in view expert interpreters who claim understanding into the world of dreams and visions.

It is notable that, unlike the cupbearer’s and the butler’s experiences in prison, there is no shortage of potential interpreters at Pharaoh’s beck and call, but none of them is able to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams (Gen. 41:8). This does not necessarily mean that they do not attempt to do so; however, Pharaoh apparently finds their interpretations unconvincing. The fact that the magicians refer to the dreams (plural) while Pharaoh refers to the dream (singular) suggests one possible source of disagreement, with the magicians interpreting the dreams as having different referents while Pharaoh recognizes the one dream’s unity.587 The failure of Pharaoh’s magicians to comprehend and control Israel’s God foreshadows the outcome of a similar contest in Exodus 7–9.588

41:9–13 Finally it is time for the cupbearer to remember Joseph. For those who have read chapter 40, Genesis 41:9–13 is a recap that serves to slow down the narrative and build to the inevitable climax when Joseph interprets the dreams. That does not make these verses irrelevant, however; the manner in which characters choose to remember events is always significant. For example, the cupbearer tells Pharaoh that he “remembered [his] offenses”; Pharaoh likely understands this as a reference to his sins against Pharaoh himself, for which the cupbearer was imprisoned (v. 9). The use of the verb “remember” (Hb. zakar) suggests that the cupbearer realizes he has not shown Joseph khesed by remembering him sooner to Pharaoh (40:14), but he makes no mention of his failure in this regard. Nor does he mention Joseph’s claim that the interpretation of dreams belongs to God (40:8). Instead of explicitly calling Joseph a prisoner, he represents him as the “servant of the captain of the guard” who happened to be there with them (41:12). The cupbearer thus makes it sound as though this young Hebrew is a gifted dream interpreter in his own right, able to give the meaning of any dream he hears (vv. 12–13).589 The cupbearer does not specifically request Pharaoh to summon Joseph—such decisions must come from Pharaoh himself, not least in case Joseph proves unable to deliver an interpretation—but he set events rolling firmly in that direction.

41:14–24 Pharaoh responds as expected and summons Joseph from the (metaphorical) “pit” (Hb. habbor; v. 14), a word that harks back to Joseph’s request to the cupbearer to remember him and deliver him from prison in Genesis 40:14, as well as to the literal pit into which his brothers threw him in Genesis 37. Joseph has waited a long time for this day to arrive, but when it does the change in his circumstances is breathtakingly fast.590 Pharaoh’s officials bring him “quickly” from the prison, and, after a brief pause to “shave”591 and change clothing, he is presented before Pharaoh himself (41:14). Joseph’s clothing has marked his status throughout this narrative: his position as favored son was marked by the gift of the ornamental robe (37:3), which was stripped from him when he was sold into slavery (37:23). His accusation by Potiphar’s wife was accompanied by the supporting evidence of the robe left in her hand (39:12). Now his new clothes mark the beginning of Joseph’s meteoric rise to power over all Egypt.

Pharaoh’s initial words to Joseph highlight his need and the reason for Joseph’s presence: he has had a dream that none can interpret, and he has heard that Joseph has the power to interpret any dream (41:15). This is exactly what the cupbearer told Pharaoh, but Joseph is eager to point attention away from himself to God as the true dream interpreter (v. 16): “It is not in me” is shorter and more of an exclamation in Hebrew (“Not me!”).592 Joseph says this not because of any lack of confidence that he can interpret Pharaoh’s dream. On the contrary, he is sure that God will give Pharaoh an interpretation—but he seeks to make clear that the credit is entirely due to God and not to his own powers. Moreover, even before he hears Pharaoh’s dream, he affirms that the answer will be favorable (Hb. “peace”; shalom; v. 16) to Pharaoh. The shalom that his brothers would not give him when he was still at home (37:4) and that he sought for his brothers when visiting them (37:14) will now come to Pharaoh through the God-given interpretation of the dream. In other words, God has given Pharaoh this dream not merely as a portent of doom, as with the chief baker’s dream, but as a sign to help him prepare for the difficult days ahead, whose events lie in the sovereign hands of God.

Pharaoh then recounts his dream to Joseph (41:17–24). The reader has already heard the dream described in 41:1–7, but its repetition adds a certain intensity, not least by putting it in first-person perspective. The healthy cows are still “plump and attractive,” but there is now an added emphasis on the unhealthy cows, which are described as “poor and very ugly and thin” rather than as simply “ugly and thin” (vv. 3, 19); they are unlike any that Pharaoh has ever seen before (v. 19). Now it is made explicit that, after consuming the fat cows, the thin cows are as emaciated as ever (v. 21). The second dream, which concerns the ears of grain, is reported in similar terms to the original narrative, though with the addition of the word “withered” (Hb. tsenumot) to underline the supremacy of the ruined ears over the healthy ones (v. 23).593 There is one other omission: Pharaoh does not introduce his second dream with the words “I dreamed a second time” (cf. v. 5), since he apparently already recognizes the unity of the dreams.594

41:25–36 The conclusion of Pharaoh’s speech, “There was no one who could explain it to me” (v. 24), prepares the way for Joseph, with God’s help, to fill the void. Without any hesitation Joseph confirms that the two dreams of Pharaoh are one in their meaning, as were his own dreams in Genesis 37. The fact that the dreams were doubled is due to the fact that the events they describe are certain and imminent (“Fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about”; 41:32), a remarkable assertion in the context of Joseph’s own as-yet-unfulfilled dreams. The interpretation is relatively straightforward once it is revealed. The number seven represents seven years; the fat cows/ears of grain are years of plenty, to be followed (and consumed by) the thin cows/ears of grain, which are years of famine. The effects of the famine will be so devastating to the land that the prosperity of the good years will be entirely forgotten (v. 31)—a point underlined by Joseph’s devoting five sentences to the years of famine in comparison to one for the years of plenty.595 These dreams have been given to Pharaoh on behalf of his people.

God’s sovereignty is the necessary prerequisite for such predictive dreams; a God who cannot control the future is in no place to announce it with certainty ahead of time (cf. Isa. 44:6–8). Yet God’s sovereignty is not fatalism; the Lord speaks to people ahead of time in order for them to repent and respond appropriately in a way that may forestall coming judgment, a belief expressed in classic form by the king of Nineveh in Jonah 3:9 (“Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish”). It is not coincidental that Joseph uses the language of divinely inspired visions with reference to the dream; God has made Pharaoh see (Hiphil of raʾah; Gen. 41:28) what is to happen.596 In Egypt’s case there is no call for repentance, since the coming famine is not connected explicitly to sin; Pharaoh is simply being given time to make wise preparation for the coming storm.

Joseph is bold in his prescriptions for what wisdom looks like in such a situation:597 Pharaoh should appoint a discerning and wise man to oversee a period of intense preparation, with regional overseers under him (vv. 33–34). During the seven years of plenty Pharaoh should impose a 20 percent tax in order to create a strategic grain reserve to provide resources to deal with the seven years of famine (vv. 34–36). Such a move will undoubtedly be painful and unpopular, but it will save the land from perishing during the difficult years. All this should be done “under the authority of Pharaoh” (v. 35).

41:37–45 It is unlikely that Joseph is proposing himself as a candidate for the position whose creation he recommends. He has neither the experience nor the court connections that would normally have been a prerequisite for such an exalted office—after all, until that very morning he had been residing in one of Pharaoh’s prisons! Yet, like Potiphar and the prison warden earlier, Pharaoh recognizes the presence of God with Joseph, asking, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” (v. 38).598 Although Pharaoh and all his servants approve of Joseph’s proposal, it is notable that the actual decisions are made by Pharaoh alone. He recognizes that, because of God’s power displayed through Joseph, no one else meets Joseph’s twin criteria of being “discerning and wise” (v. 39; cf. v. 33) as well as Joseph himself does.

Just as Joseph rose to the highest position in Potiphar’s house and then in the house of the prison warden, so also he rises to the highest position in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself (v. 40; cf. 39:6, 23). Everyone in Egypt will be required to pay homage before him (41:40),599 a status underlined by the repetition of the words “[Pharaoh] set him over all the land of Egypt” (vv. 41, 43). There was a history of foreigners’ rising to positions of power and influence in Egypt,600 although few others could have experienced as meteoric a rise as Joseph. It is doubly ironic that the person whose interpretation of his own God-given dreams had been met with flat incredulity by his family is believed and honored by Egyptians, even though he is a convicted felon.

This position of power and authority is marked by the accoutrements of office: Pharaoh’s own ring (Hb. tabaʿat; v. 42),601 symbolizing his power to rule; garments of fine linen (shesh), that is, linen produced in Egypt, the home of the best quality fabric, enabling him to be properly dressed to appear before Pharaoh in court on a regular basis; and a gold chain (or “collar”)602 of authority around his neck (v. 42). Unlike ordinary people, who walked everywhere, Joseph is granted Pharoah’s second chariot, with envoys proceeding ahead of him and crying out, abrek (v. 43), an obscure Egyptian word that means something like “Make way” (CEV) or “Bow the knee” (ESV; KJV).603 The public humiliation that led to Joseph’s imprisonment is now replaced by public adulation on all sides.

The similarity of Pharaoh’s declaration of self-identity, “I am Pharaoh” (v. 44), to the Lord’s declaration, “I am Yahweh” (seven times in Exodus 6–7 alone), is not coincidental. Pharaoh is laying claim to divine status and authority that empower him to make binding decrees on the inhabitants of his land—in this case, the decree that Joseph will have absolute authority of his own under him over all the inhabitants of Egypt (Gen. 41:44). No one can lift up a hand or foot—or, as we might say, no one can lift a finger—without his permission. Joseph gets to work right away, going out over the land of Egypt, presumably to start making preparations (v. 45).

Moreover, Pharaoh gives Joseph a new Egyptian name, Zaphenath-paneah, which means “God speaks and he lives,”604 along with an Egyptian wife, Asenath, the daughter of a noble family of priests from On (v. 45).605 In many ways Joseph’s life has been transformed utterly in the course of a single day. In other ways, though, Joseph is tied more firmly than before to his Egyptian home and identity, and his own dreams from Genesis 37 seem as far away from fulfillment as ever. The Egyptians might prostrate themselves in front of Joseph, but the possibility that his own family will do the same remains unlikely. Nor is Joseph now free to return to the land of Canaan and set things right with his own family; any such plans will have to wait.

41:46–52 Thirteen years have now passed since Joseph’s arrival in Egypt (v. 46; cf. 37:2). He faithfully carries out his task of storing grain during the good years so that there will be a reserve for the coming bad years (41:47–48). As master of the grain of all Egypt, his original dream, in which eleven sheaves bowed down to him, seems to be coming true in ironic fashion (37:7).

Another link to the earlier narrative in Genesis is the description of the abundance of the grain in Egypt as being “like the sand of the sea” (41:49), the same metaphor applied to the promise of patriarchal offspring (22:17; 32:12). It is not coincidental that the text then addresses Joseph’s own fruitfulness during these seven years of plenty in the shape of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim (41:51–52). The names given to them are significant, as was the case for Joseph and his brothers earlier in the story (cf. Genesis 29–30). Joseph calls his firstborn Manasseh because “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house” (41:51), and he names the second Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction” (v. 52). Both names affirm Joseph’s recognition that God has been at work through all his difficult circumstances: God has made him forget, and God has made him fruitful. Joseph’s two children are no more accidental than Pharaoh’s two dreams or Joseph’s additional two years in prison; they are the means by which God is doing something significant in his life.

There is a certain irony in Joseph’s calling Manasseh “forgetful,” since names are inevitably a constant reminder. There is a sense in which Joseph can never forget the injustices he has suffered or his family of origin, of which Manasseh’s name is a permanent witness. Indeed, the subsequent narrative depends on such remembering by Joseph! Yet from now on Joseph will remember those tragic events and losses in the context of God’s larger work for good, which gives them a deeper meaning and a new significance in his thinking. The marks of the wounds remain in his life and can never be forgotten, but those scars have been beautifully incorporated into the intricate pattern of God’s grace in his life, and Joseph is determined not to forget that.

Ephraim’s name also represents a profound reflection on Joseph’s experiences. God has not delivered Joseph out of the land of his affliction, as he has presumably prayed repeatedly. Instead, God has made him fruitful in the land of his affliction (v. 52), making him a blessing to all those around him throughout all he has suffered. Ephraim’s name also serves as a reminder to Joseph that Egypt is not home; despite his elevation to power and his acquisition of an Egyptian wife and two half-Egyptian sons, Egypt is still “the land of his affliction” for Joseph, as it will later prove to be for his descendants (cf. 15:13; Ex. 3:7).606 Canaan is still the location where God has promised long-term blessing for his people, even if he is more than able to provide abundantly for them outside the Land of Promise when necessary.

41:53–57 The seven years of plenty swiftly come to an end, to be replaced by the famine that Pharaoh’s dreams have anticipated (Gen. 41:53–54). Because of Joseph’s careful planning, there is food in Egypt, unlike in the rest of the ancient world. At Pharaoh’s decree Joseph becomes the administrator of the sale of grain, just as he oversaw its collection (v. 55). To hoard away stored grain in a time of famine was regarded as reprehensible (Prov. 11:26). Indeed, not only does all Egypt come to Joseph to receive food, but “all the earth” likewise comes to Joseph to buy grain (Gen. 41:57), for the famine stretches far beyond Egypt’s borders (a detail not included in Joseph’s interpretation of the original dreams). Without Joseph’s wisdom it is not only the Egyptians who will die. The descendant of Abraham is fulfilling his calling to be a blessing to all nations (cf. 12:3) as they come and bow down before him, even if his trajectory to this point has been unexpected. At the same time, the shift in focus to the wider picture of a world outside Egypt prepares the way for the narrative to shift its attention to Joseph’s father and brothers back in Canaan.