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The butler and baker give Joseph the standard complaint of prisoners in an ancient city. They have dreamed, and there is no court interpreter available in their cell. The Targum pr...
This is one of the most daring glosses in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. The chief butler has told Joseph about a vine with three branches, ripening into grapes that he pressed into Phara...
Joseph's promise to the butler is both specific and ordinary. At the end of three days the memory of thee will come before Pharoh and he will lift up thy head with honour, and rest...
The Targum preserves a psychological detail the Hebrew only hints at. The chief baker, when he understood the interpretation of his companion's dream, seeing that he had interprete...
The Targum gives the baker's dream two readings, the way it gave the butler's dream two readings. This is its interpretation. The three baskets are the three enslavements with whic...
The Targum does not soften the sentence. At the end of three days, Pharoh with the sword will take away thy head from thy body, and will hang thee upon a gibbet, and the birds will...
On the third day, as Joseph had said, the prophecy lands. The Targum reports it with ceremonial quietness. It was on the third day, the nativity of Pharoh that he made a feast to a...
The Targum opens chapter 41 with a subtle theological edit. The Hebrew says it was at the end of two years, and Pharaoh dreamed. Pseudo-Jonathan adds a single phrase that rearrange...
The Targum gives us the theological architecture of Pharaoh's sleepless morning. In the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called all the magicians of Mizraim and all...
The Targum preserves the exact phrasing of Pharaoh's summons. I have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter for it; and I have heard of thee, saying, that if thou hear a drea...
The Targum preserves one of the great theological statements in Genesis. And Joseph answered Pharoh, saying, (It is) without me; it is not man who interprets dreams: but from befor...
Pharaoh watched something impossible in his dream. Seven gaunt cows swallowed seven fat ones whole, and when it was done, the thin cows looked exactly as wretched as before. No bul...
When Joseph stood before Pharaoh, he did not hedge. The seven wasted cattle and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind were not two dreams but one, doubled for emphasis. Tar...
The instant they bowed, he remembered. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 42:9) reports it without fanfare: "Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed of them." The sheaves and t...
Pharaoh woke up sweating. In his sleep he had seen a balance. On one pan, all the land of Mizraim — the pyramids, the treasuries, the Nile itself, the whole weight of an empire. On...
That’s the kind of dream Jacob, later known as Israel, had as he fled from his brother Esau. It wasn't just a random jumble of images, but a direct encounter with the divine. The T...
Why the darkness? The passage opens by connecting God’s encounters with Bilam, the non-Israelite prophet, specifically noting that God "came to Bilam at night." This links back to ...
We often read the Creation story in Genesis and think we understand it. But what if there's a deeper layer, a secret code waiting to be unlocked? Let's look at the verse, "And to r...
Bereshit Rabbah, a classical collection of rabbinic interpretations on the book of Genesis, offers us a fascinating glimpse into their perspective. Specifically, in section 12, we ...
The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), those collections of rabbinic commentaries and stories that expand on the Hebrew Bible, often offer surprising perspectives. Here, i...
It's usually translated as "also," "indeed," or even "moreover." Seems harmless enough. But according to Rabbi Ḥanina ben Sansan, that seemingly innocent word, when uttered with a ...
The verse: "And thorns and thistles it will grow for you, and you shall eat the vegetation of the field." So, what exactly are these "thorns and thistles," or kotz and dardar in He...
That liminal space is rich with meaning, according to Jewish tradition. And it all starts with a single verse. In (Genesis 15:12), we read: "It was as the sun was setting, and a sl...
We're diving into Bereshit Rabbah, a treasure trove of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, specifically chapter 50, and it tells a wild story about just that. It all r...
Dreams have always held a special fascination, and Jewish tradition is no exception. Take the famous dream of Jacob in (Genesis 28:12): "He dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set on...
Take the story of Jacob's dream in Genesis 28, where he rests his head on a stone and sees a ladder stretching to heaven. On that ladder, angels ascend and descend. A seemingly sim...
To one fascinating example, found in Bereshit Rabbah 68, which takes a familiar image – Jacob's ladder – and connects it to a very different dream, that of King Nebuchadnezzar. Rem...
It turns out, this isn't just a modern observation. Our sages recognized this dynamic thousands of years ago. Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina, in Bereshit Rabbah 69, starts us off with a quo...
That’s the kind of morning Jacob had. We find ourselves in (Genesis 28:18). Jacob, after his famous dream of the ladder stretching to heaven, wakes up "early in the morning, and he...
Sometimes, it's in those very details that the most fascinating stories are hidden. Take the moment in (Genesis 33:5) when Jacob, after years of estrangement, finally meets his bro...
To a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. Specifically, we're looking at Bereshit Rabbah 83, which takes a see...
Jewish tradition suggests this might be more than just a feeling. Sometimes, it's woven into the very fabric of our stories. Take the story of Jacob and Joseph, father and son. At ...
It all starts with Joseph, the favored son, and a couple of very fateful dreams. "His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers…" This line from (Genesis ...
We're talking about Joseph, remember him? The favorite son with the technicolor dreamcoat? He had a knack for dreaming... and maybe not such a great knack for keeping those dreams ...
When Joseph told his brothers about his dreams, he expected some reaction—but what he got was pure, unadulterated envy. That's exactly what we find in (Genesis 37:12): "His brother...
Our story comes from Bereshit Rabbah, a classic Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) (interpretive) text that expands on the book of Genesis. We find Joseph, already a long...
The Torah is brimming with them, and Jewish tradition loves to unpack their layers of meaning. Take the dream of the chief butler in the Joseph story. In (Genesis 40:9), he recount...
Our story comes from Bereshit Rabbah (Genesis Rabbah), a classical Rabbinic text that intricately interprets the Book of Genesis. We're in chapter 40, where Joseph, languishing in ...
The book of Genesis tells us, "It was at the conclusion of two years, and Pharaoh was dreaming: and, behold, he stood at the Nile" (Genesis 41:1). But Bereshit Rabbah, that incredi...
It’s a question that echoes through the story of Joseph, as we find it explored in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. The passage ope...
It opens with a simple question: "And Pharaoh was dreaming" – do not all people dream? What’s so special about his? The answer, according to Rabbi Yoḥanan, is that a king’s dream p...
Pharaoh knew that feeling all too well. (Genesis 41:8) tells us, "It was in the morning and his spirit was troubled; he sent and summoned all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wi...
We're looking at the story of Pharaoh's dream and how Joseph, the ultimate dream interpreter, finally gets his shot. The text begins, "He sent and summoned…" referring to Pharaoh g...
It seems that even in the hallowed pages of the Bible, we see echoes of this self-serving behavior. to the story of Joseph, the coat of many colors, and Pharaoh's dream. Remember t...
Jewish tradition certainly has. There's a fascinating story in Bereshit Rabbah 89 that makes you think twice about speaking carelessly. The story begins simply enough. A woman appr...
Talk about a whirlwind! As we read in (Genesis 41:14), "Pharaoh sent and summoned Joseph, [and they rushed him from the dungeon. He shaved, changed his garments, and came to Pharao...
To a fascinating interpretation found in Bereshit Rabbah (93), a collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of Genesis. The passage opens with the simple phrase, "Judah approached...
Like everyone else is contributing, and you're just... there? Our sages grappled with this feeling, and their stories, preserved in texts like Kohelet Rabbah, offer surprising comf...
