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?
Properly speaking, Joseph should have gone out free from his dungeon on the same day as the butler. He had been there ten years by that time, and had made amends for the slander he had uttered against his ten brethren. However, he remained in prison two years longer. "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord," but Joseph had put his confidence in flesh and blood. He had prayed the chief butler to have him in remembrance when it should be well with him, and make mention of him unto Pharaoh, and the butler forgot his promise, and therefore Joseph had to stay in prison two years more than the years originally allotted to him there. The butler had not forgotten him intentionally, but it was ordained of God that his memory should fail him. When he would say to himself, If thus and so happens, I will remember the case of Joseph, the conditions he had imagined were sure to be reversed, or if he made a knot as a reminder, an angel came and undid the knot, and Joseph did not enter his mind. But "the Lord setteth an end to darkness," and Joseph's liberation was not delayed by a single moment beyond the time decreed for it. God said, "Thou, O butler, thou didst forget Joseph, but I did not," and He caused Pharaoh to dream a dream that was the occasion for Joseph's release. In his dream Pharaoh saw seven kine, well-favored and fat-fleshed, come up out of the Nile, and they all together grazed peaceably on the brink of the river, In years when the harvest is abundant, friendship reigns among men, and love and brotherly harmony, and these seven fat kine stood for seven such prosperous years. After the fat kine, seven more came up out of the river, ill-favored and leanfleshed, and each had her back turned to the others, for when distress prevails, one man turns away from the other. For a brief space Pharaoh awoke, and when he went to sleep again, he dreamed a second dream, about seven rank and good ears of corn, and seven ears that were thin and blasted with the east wind, the withered cars swallowing the full ears. He awoke at once, and it was morning, and dreams dreamed in the morning are the ones that come true. This was not the first time Pharaoh had had these dreams. They had visited him every night during a period of two years, and he had forgotten them invariably in the morning. This was the first time he remembered them, for the day had arrived for Joseph to come forth from his prison house. Pharaoh's heart beat violently when he called his dreams to mind on awaking. Especially the second one, about the ears of corn, disquieted him. He reflected that whatever has a mouth can eat, and therefore the dream of the seven lean kine that ate up the seven fat kine did not appear strange to him. But the ears of corn that swallowed up other ears of corn troubled his spirit. He therefore called for all the wise men of his land, and they endeavored in vain to find a satisfactory interpretation. They explained that the seven fat kine meant seven daughters to be born unto Pharaoh, and the seven lean kine, that he would bury seven daughters; the rank ears of corn meant that Pharaoh would conquer seven countries, and the blasted ears, that seven provinces would rebel against him. About the ears of corn they did not all agree. 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. Sagacious as he was, Pharaoh knew that none of these explanations hit the nail on the head. He issued a decree summoning all interpreters of dreams to appear before him on pain of death, and he held out great rewards and distinctions to the one who should succeed in finding the true meaning of his dreams. In obedience to his summons, all the wise men appeared, the magicians and the sacred scribes that were in Mizraim, the city of Egypt, as well as those from Goshen, Raamses, Zoan, and the whole country of Egypt, and with them came the princes, officers, and servants of the king from all the cities of the land. To all these the king narrated his dreams, but none could interpret them to his satisfaction. Some said that the seven fat kine were the seven legitimate kings that would rule over Egypt, and the seven lean kine betokened seven princes that would rise up against these seven kings and exterminate them. The seven good ears of corn were the seven superior princes of Egypt that would engage in a war for their overlord, and would be defeated by as many insignificant princes, who were betokened by the seven blasted ears. Another interpretation was that the seven fat kine were the seven fortified cities of Egypt, at some future time to fall into the hands of seven Canaanitish nations, who were foreshadowed in the seven lean kine. According to this interpretation, the second dream supplemented the first. It meant that the descendants of Pharaoh would regain sovereign authority over Egypt at a subsequent period, and would subdue the seven Canaanitish nations as well. There was a third interpretation, given by some: The seven fat kine are seven women whom Pharaoh would take to wife, but they would die during his lifetime, their loss being indicated by the seven lean kine. Furthermore, Pharaoh would have fourteen sons, and the seven strong ones would be conquered by the seven weaklings, as the blasted ears of corn in his dream had swallowed up the rank ears of corn. And a fourth: "Thou wilt have seven sons, O Pharaoh, these are the seven fat kine. These sons of thine will be killed by the seven powerful rebellious princes. But then seven minor princes will come, and they will kill the seven rebels, avenge thy descendants, and restore the dominion to thy family." The king was as little pleased with these interpretations as with the others, which he had heard before, and in his wrath he ordered the wise men, the magicians and the scribes of Egypt, to be killed, and the hangmen made ready to execute the royal decree. However, Mirod, Pharaoh's chief butler, took fright, seeing that the king was so vexed at his failure to secure an interpretation of his dreams that he was on the point of giving up the ghost. He was alarmed about the king's death, for it was doubtful whether the successor to the throne would retain him in office. He resolved to do all in his power to keep Pharaoh alive. Therefore he stepped before him, and spake, saying, "I do remember two faults of mine this day, I showed myself ungrateful to Joseph, in that I did not bring his request before thee, and also I saw thee in distress by reason of thy dream, without letting thee know that Joseph can interpret dreams. When it pleased the Lord God to make Pharaoh wroth with his servants, the king put me in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker. And with us there was a simple young man, one of the despised race of the Hebrews, slave to the captain of the guard, and he interpreted our dreams to us, and it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was. Therefore, O king, stay the hand of the hangmen, let them not execute the Egyptians. The slave I speak of is still in the dungeon, and if the king will consent to summon him hither, he will surely interpret thy dreams."
