Today, we're diving into the fascinating story of Pharaoh's dreams, a pivotal moment in the biblical narrative of Joseph.
Now, Joseph, as you might remember, was languishing in an Egyptian prison. He probably should have been freed alongside the chief butler, as Ginzberg tells us in Legends of the Jews. He’d been there for ten long years, atoning for speaking ill of his brothers. But, alas, he remained captive for another two years. Why? Because, as the story goes, Joseph put his faith in a human being – the chief butler – rather than solely in God. He'd asked the butler to remember him to Pharaoh, but the butler, well, he forgot.
It wasn't intentional, mind you. The Zohar tells us that God orchestrated the butler's forgetfulness. Every time the butler was about to remember Joseph, something would happen to distract him. An angel, it seems, was undoing his mental knots! But as they say, "the Lord setteth an end to darkness," and Joseph’s release was destined.
God, according to the narrative, declared, "Thou, O butler, thou didst forget Joseph, but I did not." And so, to trigger Joseph's release, God sent Pharaoh a dream. Actually, two dreams.
In the first, Pharaoh saw seven healthy, well-fed cows emerge from the Nile, grazing peacefully. These, according to tradition, symbolized seven years of abundance. Years where, as the story tells us, friendship and harmony flourish among people. Then, seven gaunt, sickly cows appeared, each turning its back on the others – a stark image of hardship and isolation.
Pharaoh awoke briefly, only to fall back asleep and dream again. This time, he saw seven full, healthy ears of corn, followed by seven thin, blighted ears, withered by the east wind. And here’s the kicker: the withered ears swallowed up the healthy ones!
He woke up again, this time for good. And it was morning. Now, dreams dreamed in the morning, as everyone knows, are the ones that come true. Interestingly, Ginzberg notes that Pharaoh had been having these dreams for two years, but this was the first time he truly remembered them. Why? Because the time had come for Joseph to emerge from prison.
Understandably, Pharaoh was troubled, especially by the corn dream. He reasoned that anything with a mouth could eat, so the cows made a twisted kind of sense. But ears of corn devouring other ears? That really bothered him.
So, he summoned all the wise men of Egypt. The magicians, the sacred scribes from every corner of the land – Mizraim, Goshen, Raamses, Zoan – they all came. Even the princes and officers. Pharaoh recounted his dreams, but none could offer a satisfactory interpretation.
Some suggested the cows represented daughters being born or buried. Others thought the corn signified conquered or rebellious countries. Some thought the good ears stood for seven cities to be built by Pharaoh, and the seven withered ears indicated that these same cities would be destroyed at the end of his reign. As we find in Midrash Rabbah, there were multiple interpretations floating around.
Pharaoh, being a shrewd ruler, recognized that none of these explanations rang true. Frustrated and angered, he reportedly ordered the execution of all his wise men! (Talk about pressure!)
But then, the chief butler, the very one who had forgotten Joseph, had a sudden recollection. Seeing Pharaoh's distress, and worried about his own position, he stepped forward. "I do remember my faults this day," he confessed, admitting his past ingratitude towards Joseph. He told Pharaoh about the Hebrew slave who had accurately interpreted his and the baker's dreams in prison.
"There is a young man there, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, which told us, and to me he interpreted according to my dream, and he [the baker] interpreted according to his dream. And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was." (Genesis 41:12)
He urged Pharaoh to summon Joseph, assuring him that the Hebrew could unlock the meaning of the dreams. And with that, the stage was set for Joseph’s rise from prisoner to advisor, a turning point not only for Joseph but for all of Egypt.
Pharaoh’s dreams are a powerful reminder of how seemingly random events can have profound consequences. And perhaps, they also whisper a message about faith, timing, and the importance of remembering those we've forgotten. What do you think?