028. XVI. Joseph Made Governor Of Egypt
§ XVI. JOSEPH MADE GOVERNOR OF EGYPT Genesis 40:1-23, Genesis 41, Genesis 47:13-26
1. Assigned to two official prisoners. Now it came to pass after these things that the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt, so that Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief of the cupbearers and the chief of the bakers, and imprisoned them in the house of the chief executioner, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. And the captain of the guard assigned Joseph to wait on them; and they remained in confinement for some time.
2. His offer to interpret their dreams. Meanwhile the king of Egypt’s cupbearer and baker, who were confined in prison, both in the same night had a dream, each of different interpretation. Therefore when Joseph came in to them in the morning, he saw plainly that they were sad. So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were imprisoned with him in his master’s house, saying, Why do you look so sad to-day? And they said to him, We have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. Then Joseph said to them, Does not the interpretation of dreams belong to God ? tell them to me, I pray you.
3. The cupbearer’s dream. Then the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream I seemed to see a vine before me, and on the vine three branches, and it was as though it budded, it put out blossoms and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand. Then Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within three days shall Pharaoh lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you shall give Pharaoh’s cup into his hand as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. But may you keep me in remembrance when it is well with you, and may you show kindness to me and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house; for I was unjustly stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.
4. The baker’s dream. When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, I also saw in my dream, and, behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head, and in the uppermost basket there were all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh; and the birds were eating them out of the basket upon my head. And Joseph answered and said, This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; within three days Pharaoh will take off your head, and hang you on a tree, and the birds shall eat your flesh from off you.
5. Their fulfilment. And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants. Then he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. And he restored the chief cupbearer to his office so that he again gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand. The chief baker, however, he hanged, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
6. Pharaoh’s dreams. Now it came to pass after two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream in which he seemed to be standing by the Nile and to see coming up from the Nile seven cows, sleek and fat, which had been feeding in the reed grass. Then he seemed to see seven other cows coming up after them out of the Nile, bad-looking and lean, and standing by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the bad-looking cows ate the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke. Afterward he slept and had a second dream, and he seemed to see seven good ears of grain growing on one stalk. Also he seemed to see seven ears, thin and blasted by the east wind, springing up after them. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.
7. Failure of his wise men to interpret them. And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called all the sacred scribes and wise men of Egypt; and Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
8. The cupbearer’s testimony. Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh saying, My sins I now recall: Pharaoh was very angry with his servants, and imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the chief executioner; and we both had a dream the same night, each having a dream of different interpretation. And there with us was a Hebrew youth, a servant of the chief executioner; and we told him and he interpreted to us our dreams, to each man differently according to his dream. And exactly as he interpreted our dreams to us so they came to pass: me they restored to my office, and him they hanged.
9. Joseph before Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon; and he shaved himself and changed his clothes and came to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. Now I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, Not I; God alone will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.
10.Repetition of Pharaoh’s dreams. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, In my dream as I was standing on the bank of the Nile, I saw seven cows, fat and sleek which had been feeding in the reed grass. Then I seemed to see coming up after them seven more cows, thin, bad- looking and lean, worse than I ever saw in all the land of Egypt; and the lean and bad-looking cows ate the first seven fat cows; and when they had eaten them up, one could not tell that they had eaten them, for they were still as bad- looking as at the beginning. Then I awoke. Again I dreamed and seemed to see coming up on one stalk seven ears, full and good; and then seven ears, withered, thin, blasted with the east wind, sprang up after them; and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I have told it to the magicians, but there is no one who can inform me regarding it.
11. Joseph’s interpretationofthem. Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, What Pharaoh has dreamed signifies the same thing; what God is about to do he hath declared to Pharaoh. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years. It is one and the same dream. And the seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. That is why I said to Pharaoh, What God is about to do he hath showed to Pharaoh. Behold, there are coming seven years of great plenty throughout the land of Egypt, and there shall be after them seven years of famine, so that all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it shall be very severe. As for the fact that the dream came twice to Pharaoh, it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Now therefore let Pharaoh choose a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh take action and appoint overseers over the land and take up the fifth part of the produce of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. And the food shall be a provision for the land against the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish because of the famine.
12.Pharaoh’s reward. And the plan pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find one like this, a man in whom is the spirit of God? And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have appointed you over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his finger and put it upon Joseph’s finger, and clothed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck, and made him ride in the second chariot which he had. Then they cried before him, Bow the knee! Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh also said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, but without your consent shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh also called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah, and gave him as a wife Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.
13. His provisions for the famine. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt, and gathered up all the food of the seven full years, which were in the land of Egypt, and stored the food in the cities, putting in each city the products of the fields about it.
14.Theseven years of famine. And the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph; and what he tells you do. And when the famine was upon all the earth, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. But the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
15.Pharaoh’s tribute: all the money of Egypt. And there was no bread in all the land, since the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt languished because of the famine. And Joseph gathered in all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
16.Allthe herds. And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, Give us bread; for why should we die before your eyes, because our money fails? Then Joseph said, Give your cattle, and I will give you grain for your cattle, if money has failed. So they brought their cattle to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle and the asses. Thus for that year he sustained them with bread in exchange for all their cattle.
17. All the land except that of the priests. And when that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, We do not hide it from my lord, now that our money is all spent; and even the herds of cattle are my lord’s; there is nothing left to give to my lord but our bodies and our lands. Why should we perish before your eyes, both we and our land? take possession of us and our land in return for bread, and we and our land will become possessions of Pharaoh; and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, so that the land may not become desolate. So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh’s. And as for the people, he reduced them to servitude from one end of Egypt even to the other. Only the land of the priests he did not buy, because the priests had a definite allowance from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them; hence they did not sell their land.
18. Establishment of a permanent tax. Then Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have bought you and your land to-day for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. And at the ingatherings you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed for the field, and for your food, and for those of your households, and for food for your little ones. And they said, You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants. Thus Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of the priests did not come into the possession of Pharaoh.
I.Dramatic Contrasts in the Story of Joseph. Nothing more dramatic can be imagined than the sudden and striking contrasts in Joseph’s experiences. The pampered favorite of his father suddenly finds himself a slave in Egypt. The trusted head of his master’s household is in a moment cast into a dungeon with little hope of release. From this same dungeon he is now raised to a position of highest honor and responsibility in the most powerful and brilliant empire of the age. This marvellous transformation takes place not through a miracle, but because the great need found the man, and the man had been fitted by his varied experiences to meet the need. Joseph’s destiny turned upon his attitude toward his fellow-prisoners and the opportunities for helpfulness which they offered. Apparently like himself the royal cupbearer and baker were victims of oriental injustice. The ancients believed universally that the gods spoke to them through dreams. According to the Egyptian inscriptions the kings were often guided in determining their policy by intimations conveyed to them in dreams. Among Orientals the intuitions are highly developed, and it is not impossible that in some cases their intuitions were reflected in their dreams. The dreams of Joseph’s fellow-prisoners were each suggestive. It required, however, a keen-sighted, courageous man like Joseph to discern and declare their meaning.
II.The Prisoner Raised to High Authority. The good deed done and the interpretation fulfilled, two years more of discouraging, yet patient waiting passed before the dungeon door opened. In the light of Egyptian religious belief, Pharaoh’s dream was especially significant. Cows were sacred to the cow-headed goddess Hathor, and to Isis who seems to have sometimes symbolized the land fertilized by the Nile. Fat, sleek cows, as well as full ears of grain, also suggested plenty. Joseph, however, is the only one in all the land who could clearly and convincingly interpret the meaning of Pharaoh’s strange dreams. More important still, he was able to outline a wise and definite policy to be pursued. None of the varied and painful experiences that had come to the young Hebrew, who in his youth had also dreamed dreams, were in vain. Pharaoh and his counsellors recognized the man of the hour and were not slow to act. All the honors that an oriental despot could confer were at once heaped upon Joseph. The Egyptian name given to him appears to mean Nourisher of the land, Giver of Life or God spake and he came into life. Asenath, the name of his wife, means, Belonging to the goddess Neith. With these honors came responsibility. Joseph first wisely provided for the needs of the people. At the same time he showed his loyalty to his master by adding greatly to Pharaoh’s wealth and authority. Today we would condemn Joseph’s policy as unjust and tyrannical. The ancient East, however, thought little of the rights of the masses. The early Hebrew story-tellers record the incident simply as further proof of Joseph’s fidelity.
Under the first twelve Egyptian dynasties the land was almost entirely owned by the nobles. The change in land tenure here ascribed to Joseph appears to have been brought about by Aahmose I, the founder of the eighteenth dynasty, who freed Egypt from the rule of the invading Hyksos. The priests in the earlier period were supported by the offerings and revenues which came from the temple lands. In later times, at least, the kings made liberal gifts and concessions to different temples, with the result that the priests held a large part of the total wealth of Egypt.
III.Aim and Teachings. Again the primary aim of these stories is realized in the vivid portrayal of the experiences and character of Joseph. His patience and cheerfulness in the most unfair and adverse circumstances, his eagerness to seize every opportunity for service, his unique organizing and executive ability, and his fidelity to his masters are vividly illustrated. Chief among the many teachings of these stories are: (1) The trials which come to each individual are essential for the development of his character and ability. (2) Therefore, “Those whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.” (3) “All things work together for good to those who love God.” (4) The only successful way to forget one’s own burdens is to help bear another’s. (5) Men forget, but God never forgets his faithful servants. (6) He alone who improves the small opportunities will not miss the great chance of life. (7) “ Whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister, and whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant.” (8) Trained ability is essential to success and the highest honor.