Genesis 41

Ge 41:1-24.

PHARAOH'S

DREAM.

1. at the end of two full years--It is not certain whether these

years are reckoned from the beginning of Joseph's imprisonment, or from

the events described in the preceding chapter--most likely the latter.

What a long time for Joseph to experience the sickness of hope

deferred! But the time of his enlargement came when he had sufficiently

learned the lessons of God designed for him; and the plans of

Providence were matured.

Pharaoh dreamed--"Pharaoh," from an Egyptian word Phre,

signifying the "sun," was the official title of the kings of that

country. The prince, who occupied the throne of Egypt, was Aphophis,

one of the Memphite kings, whose capital was On or Heliopolis, and who

is universally acknowledged to have been a patriot king. Between the

arrival of Abraham and the appearance of Joseph in that country,

somewhat more than two centuries had elapsed. Kings sleep and dream, as

well as their subjects. And this Pharaoh had two dreams in one night so

singular and so similar, so distinct and so apparently significant, so

coherent and vividly impressed on his memory, that his spirit was

troubled.

8. he called for all the magicians of Egypt--It is not possible

to define the exact distinction between "magicians" and "wise men"; but

they formed different branches of a numerous body, who laid claim to

supernatural skill in occult arts and sciences, in revealing mysteries,

explaining portents, and, above all, interpreting dreams. Long practice

had rendered them expert in devising a plausible way of getting out of

every difficulty and framing an answer suitable to the occasion. But

the dreams of Pharaoh baffled their united skill. Unlike their Assyrian

brethren

(Da 2:4),

they did not pretend to know the meaning of the symbols contained in

them, and the providence of God had determined that they should all be

nonplussed in the exercise of their boasted powers, in order that the

inspired wisdom of Joseph might appear the more remarkable.

9-13. then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do

remember my faults--This public acknowledgment of the merits of the

young Hebrew would, tardy though it was, have reflected credit on the

butler had it not been obviously made to ingratiate himself with his

royal master. It is right to confess our faults against God, and

against our fellow men when that confession is made in the spirit of

godly sorrow and penitence. But this man was not much impressed with a

sense of the fault he had committed against Joseph; he never thought of

God, to whose goodness he was indebted for the prophetic announcement

of his release, and in acknowledging his former fault against the king,

he was practising the courtly art of pleasing his master.

14. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph--Now that God's set time

had come

(Ps 105:19),

no human power nor policy could detain Joseph in prison. During his

protracted confinement, he might have often been distressed with

perplexing doubts; but the mystery of Providence was about to be

cleared up, and all his sorrows forgotten in the course of honor and

public usefulness in which his services were to be employed.

shaved himself--The Egyptians were the only Oriental nation that

liked a smooth chin. All slaves and foreigners who were reduced to that

condition, were obliged, on their arrival in that country, to conform

to the cleanly habits of the natives, by shaving their beards and

heads, the latter of which were covered with a close cap. Thus

prepared, Joseph was conducted to the palace, where the king seemed to

have been anxiously waiting his arrival.

15, 16. Pharaoh said, . . . I have dreamed a

dream--The king's brief statement of the service required brought

out the genuine piety of Joseph; disclaiming all merit, he ascribed

whatever gifts or sagacity he possessed to the divine source of all

wisdom, and he declared his own inability to penetrate futurity; but,

at the same time, he expressed his confident persuasion that God would

reveal what was necessary to be known.

17. Pharaoh said, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the

river--The dreams were purely Egyptian, founded on the productions

of that country and the experience of a native. The fertility of Egypt

being wholly dependent on the Nile, the scene is laid on the banks of

that river; and oxen being in the ancient hieroglyphics symbolical of

the earth and of food, animals of that species were introduced in the

first dream.

18. there came up out of the river seven kine--Cows now, of the

buffalo kind, are seen daily plunging into the Nile; when their huge

form is gradually emerging, they seem as if rising "out of the river."

and they fed in a meadow--Nile grass, the aquatic plants that

grow on the marshy banks of that river, particularly the lotus kind, on

which cattle were usually fattened.

19. behold, seven other kine . . . poor and

ill-favoured--The cow being the emblem of fruitfulness, the

different years of plenty and of famine were aptly represented by the

different condition of those kine--the plenty, by the cattle feeding on

the richest fodder; and the dearth, by the lean and famishing kine,

which the pangs of hunger drove to act contrary to their nature.

22. I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears--that is, of

Egyptian wheat, which, when "full and good," is remarkable in size (a

single seed sprouting into seven, ten, or fourteen stalks) and each

stalk bearing an ear.

23. blasted with the east wind--destructive everywhere to grain,

but particularly so in Egypt; where, sweeping over the sandy deserts of

Arabia, it comes in the character of a hot, blighting wind, that

quickly withers all vegetation (compare

Eze 19:12;

Ho 13:15).

24. the thin ears devoured the seven good ears--devoured

is a different word from that used in

Ge 41:4

and conveys the idea of destroying, by absorbing to themselves all the

nutritious virtue of the soil around them.

Ge 41:25-36.

JOSEPH

INTERPRETS

PHARAOH'S

DREAMS.

25. Joseph said, . . . The dream . . . is

one--They both pointed to the same event--a remarkable dispensation

of seven years of unexampled abundance, to be followed by a similar

period of unparalleled dearth. The repetition of the dream in two

different forms was designed to show the absolute certainty and speedy

arrival of this public crisis; the interpretation was accompanied by

several suggestions of practical wisdom for meeting so great an

emergency as was impending.

33. Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man--The explanation

given, when the key to the dreams was supplied, appears to have been

satisfactory to the king and his courtiers; and we may suppose that

much and anxious conversation arose, in the course of which Joseph

might have been asked whether he had anything further to say. No doubt

the providence of God provided the opportunity of his suggesting what

was necessary.

34. and let him appoint officers over the land--overseers,

equivalent to the beys of modern Egypt.

take up the fifth part of the land--that is, of the land's

produce, to be purchased and stored by the government, instead of being

sold to foreign corn merchants.

Ge 41:37-57.

JOSEPH

MADE

RULER OF

EGYPT.

38. Pharaoh said unto his servants--The kings of ancient Egypt

were assisted in the management of state affairs by the advice of the

most distinguished members of the priestly order; and, accordingly,

before admitting Joseph to the new and extraordinary office that was to

be created, those ministers were consulted as to the expediency and

propriety of the appointment.

a man in whom the Spirit of God is--An acknowledgment of the

being and power of the true God, though faint and feeble, continued to

linger amongst the higher classes long after idolatry had come to

prevail.

40. Thou shalt be over my house--This sudden change in the

condition of a man who had just been taken out of prison could take

place nowhere, except in Egypt. In ancient as well as modern times,

slaves have often risen to be its rulers. But the special providence of

God had determined to make Joseph governor of Egypt; and the way was

paved for it by the deep and universal conviction produced in the minds

both of the king and his councillors, that a divine spirit animated his

mind and had given him such extraordinary knowledge.

according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled--literally,

"kiss." This refers to the edict granting official power to Joseph, to

be issued in the form of a firman, as in all Oriental countries; and

all who should receive that order would kiss it, according to the usual

Eastern mode of acknowledging obedience and respect for the sovereign

[WILKINSON].

41. Pharaoh said, . . . See, I have set thee over all the

land--These words were preliminary to investiture with the insignia

of office, which were these: the signet-ring, used for signing public

documents, and its impression was more valid than the sign-manual of

the king; the khelaat or dress of honor, a coat of finely

wrought linen, or rather cotton, worn only by the highest personages;

the gold necklace, a badge of rank, the plain or ornamental form

of it indicating the degree of rank and dignity; the privilege of

riding in a state carriage, the second chariot; and lastly--

43. they cried before him, Bow the knee--abrech, an

Egyptian term, not referring to prostration, but signifying, according

to some, "father" (compare

Ge 45:8);

according to others, "native prince"--that is, proclaimed him

naturalized, in order to remove all popular dislike to him as a

foreigner.

44. These ceremonies of investiture were closed in usual form by

the king in council solemnly ratifying the appointment.

I am Pharaoh, and without thee, &c.--a proverbial mode of

expression for great power.

45. Zaphnath-paaneah--variously interpreted, "revealer of

secrets"; "saviour of the land"; and from the hieroglyphics, "a wise

man fleeing from pollution"--that is, adultery.

gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of--His naturalization

was completed by this alliance with a family of high distinction. On

being founded by an Arab colony, Poti-pherah, like Jethro, priest of

Midian, might be a worshipper of the true God; and thus Joseph, a pious

man, will be freed from the charge of marrying an idolatress for

worldly ends.

On--called Aven

(Eze 30:17)

and also Beth-shemesh

(Jer 43:13).

In looking at this profusion of honors heaped suddenly upon Joseph, it

cannot be doubted that he would humbly yet thankfully acknowledge the

hand of a special Providence in conducting him through all his

checkered course to almost royal power; and we, who know more than

Joseph did, cannot only see that his advancement was subservient to the

most important purposes relative to the Church of God, but learn the

great lesson that a Providence directs the minutest events of human

life.

46. Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before

Pharaoh--seventeen when brought into Egypt, probably three in

prison, and thirteen in the service of Potiphar.

went out . . . all the land--made an immediate survey

to determine the site and size of the storehouses required for the

different quarters of the country.

47. the earth brought forth by handfuls--a singular expression,

alluding not only to the luxuriance of the crop, but the practice of

the reapers grasping the ears, which alone were cut.

48. he gathered up all the food of the seven years--It gives a

striking idea of the exuberant fertility of this land, that, from the

superabundance of the seven plenteous years, corn enough was laid up

for the subsistence, not only of its home population, but of the

neighboring countries, during the seven years of dearth.

50-52. unto Joseph were born two sons--These domestic events,

which increased his temporal happiness, develop the piety of his

character in the names conferred upon his children.

53-56. The seven years of plenteousness . . .

ended--Over and above the proportion purchased for the government

during the years of plenty, the people could still have husbanded much

for future use. But improvident as men commonly are in the time of

prosperity, they found themselves in want, and would have starved by

thousands had not Joseph anticipated and provided for the protracted

calamity.

57. The famine was sore in all lands--that is, the lands

contiguous to Egypt--Canaan, Syria, and Arabia.