Genesis 41:15

_AND PHARAOH SAID UNTO JOSEPH, I HAVE DREAMED A DREAM, AND THERE IS NONE THAT CAN INTERPRET IT: AND I HAVE HEARD SAY OF THEE, THAT THOU CANST UNDERSTAND A DREAM TO INTERPRET IT._ 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-declared his own inability to penetrate futurity, but, at the same time, his confident persuasion, that God would reveal what was necessary to be known. 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 i...

15._And Pharaoh said unto Joseph_. We see that Pharaoh offers himself as a disciple to Joseph, being persuaded, by the statement of the butler, that he is a prophet of God. This is, indeed, a constrained humility; but it is expressly recorded, in order that, when the opportunity of learning (157) is afforded us, we may not refuse reverently to honor the gifts of the Spirit. Now, though Joseph, in referring Pharaoh to God, seems to deny that he himself is about to interpret the dream, yet his answer bears on a different point: for, because he knew that he was conversing with a heathen addicted to superstitions, he wishes, above all things, to ascribe to God the glory due to him; as if he had said, I am able to do nothing in this matter, nor will I offer anything as from myself; but God alone shall be the interpreter of his own secret. (158) Should any one object, that wheneve

9-32 God's time for the enlargement of his people is the fittest time. If the chief butler had got Joseph to be released from prison, it is probable he would have gone back to the land of the Hebrews. Then he had neither been so blessed himself, nor such a blessing to his family, as afterwards he proved. Joseph, when introduced to Pharaoh, gives honour to God. Pharaoh had dreamed that he stood upon the bank of the river Nile, and saw the kine, both the fat ones, and the lean ones, come out of the river. Egypt has no rain, but the plenty of the year depends upon the overflowing of the river Nile. See how many ways Providence has of dispensing its gifts; yet our dependence is still the same upon the First Cause, who makes every creature what it is to us, be it rain or river. See to what changes the comforts of this life are subject. We cannot be sure that to-morrow shall be as this day, o...

- Joseph Was Exalted 1. יאר _y__e__'or_, “river, canal,” mostly applied to the Nile. Some suppose the word to be Coptic. 2. אחוּ _'āchû_, “sedge, reed-grass, marsh-grass.” This word is probably Coptic. 8. חרטמים _charṭumı̂ym_, ἐξηγηταὶ _exēgētai_, ἱερογραμματεῖς _hierogrammateis_, “sacred scribes, hieroglyphs.” חרט _chereṭ_ “stylus,” a graving tool. 43. אברך _'abrēk_ “bend the knee.” In this sense it is put for הברך _habrēk_ imperative hiphil of...

EXPOSITION GENESIS 41:1 AND IT CAME TO PASS AT THE END OF TWO FULL YEARS (literally, _two years of _days, _i.e._ two complete years from the commencement of Joseph's incarceration, or more probably after the butler's liberation), THAT PHARAOH—on the import of the term _vide _Genesis 12:15. Under what particular monarch Joseph came to Egypt is a question of much perplexity, and has been variously resolved by modern Egyptologists in favor of— 1. Osirtasen I; the founder of the twelfth dynasty, a prosperous and successful sore-reign, whose name appears on a granite obelisk at Heliopolis. 2. Assa, or Assis, the fifth king of the fifteenth dynasty of Shepherd

AND PHARAOH SAID UNTO JOSEPH,...., Immediately, upon his being introduced to him: I HAVE DREAMED A DREAM, AND [THERE] IS NONE THAT CAN INTERPRET IT; that he could yet meet with; none of his magicians or wise men, who made great pretensions to skill in such matters: AND I HAVE HEARD SAY OF THEE, [THAT] THOU CANST UNDERSTAND A DREAM TO INTERPRET IT; it had been reported to him, particularly by the chief butler, that when he heard a dream told him, he had such knowledge and understanding, that he could interpret it, tell the meaning of it, what it portended, and what would be the events signified by it....

CHAPTER 41 JOSEPH'S EXALTATION _ 1. Pharaoh's dreams (Genesis 41:1)_ 2. Joseph brought from the prison (Genesis 41:8) 3. Joseph's humility (Genesis 41:16) 4. The revealer of secrets (Genesis 41:17) 5. Joseph's wise counsel (Genesis 41:33) 6. Pharaoh's answer (Genesis 41:37) 7. Joseph's exaltation and marriage (Genesis 4

GENESIS 41. JOSEPH INTERPRETS PHARAOH'S DREAMS AND IS MADE VICEROY OF EGYPT. This is mainly from E, Genesis 41:1 apart from Genesis 41:15_ b_, and perhaps Genesis 41:9_ b_ entirely so. But J has been used as well in the later part. It is not worth while to attempt analysis since the two narratives must have been closely parallel. Genesis 41:46_ a_ belongs to P. The two dreams are modelled on the same lines, and mean the same thing (_cf. Genesis 37:5_ and Peter's triple vision,...

Joseph as Interpreter 8. _his spirit was troubled_ Compare the effect of the dreams in Genesis 40:6; Daniel 2:1-3. _all the magicians_ or, as R.V. marg., _sacred scribes_. The Heb. _ḥartummim_used in this chapter and Exodus 7-9 probably designates the priestly class, which was credited with the knowledge of all sacred mysteries, cf. Genesis 41:24; Exodus 7:11, &c. LXX renders by ἐξηγηταί = "interpreters," Lat. _conjectores_. The rendering "magicians" represents "possessors of occult knowledge or magic." The same Heb. word is used in...

2. _Joseph as Prisoner in Egypt_ (Genesis 39:1 to Genesis 41:45). 39 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh'S, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites, that had brought him down thither. 2 And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3 And his master saw that Jehovah was with him, and that Jehovah made all that he did to prosper in his hand. 4 And Joseph found favor in his sight, and he ministered unto him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. 5 And it came to pass from the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that Jehovah blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessi