The Nile
Geneses 41 (Revised Standard Version)
[1]After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile,
[2] and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows sleek and fat, and they fed in the reed grass.
[3] And behold, seven other cows, gaunt and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.
[4] And the gaunt and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke.
[5] And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk.
[6] And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind.
[7] And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
[8] So in the morning his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men; and Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was none who could interpret it to Pharaoh.
[9] Then the chief butler said to Pharaoh, "I remember my faults today. [10] When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, [11] we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning. [12] A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard; and when we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. [13] And as he interpreted to us, so it came to pass; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged."
[14]Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.
[15] And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it."
[16] Joseph answered Pharaoh, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer."
[17] Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile;
[18] and seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass;
[19] and seven other cows came up after them, poor and very gaunt and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt.
[20] And the thin and gaunt cows ate up the first seven fat cows,
[21] but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as gaunt as at the beginning. Then I awoke.
[22] I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good;
[23] and seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them,
[24] and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me."
[25] Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dream of Pharaoh is one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. [26] The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dream is one. [27] The seven lean and gaunt cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine.
[28] It is as I told Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. [29] There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, [30] but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land, [31] and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of that famine which will follow, for it will be very grievous. [32] And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. [33] Now therefore let Pharaoh select a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. [34] Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land, and take the fifth part of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plenteous years. [35] And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. [36] That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine which are to befall the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine."
[37] This proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.
[38] And Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a man as this, in whom is the Spirit of God?" [39] So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are; [40] you shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only as regards the throne will I be greater than you."
[41] And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."
[42] Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; [43] and he made him to ride in his second chariot; and they cried before him, "Bow the knee!" Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. [44] Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt."
[45] And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaph'enath-pane'ah; and he gave him in marriage As'enath, the daughter of Poti'phera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
[46]Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went through all the land of Egypt.
[47] During the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth abundantly, [48] and he gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plenty in the land of Egypt, and stored up food in the cities; he stored up in every city the food from the fields around it.
[49] And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.
[50] Before the year of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom As'enath, the daughter of Poti'phera priest of On, bore to him. [51] Joseph called the name of the first-born Manas'seh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house."
[52] The name of the second he called E'phraim, "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
[53] The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of Egypt came to an end;
[54] and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. [55] 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; what he says to you, do." [56] So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. [57] Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.
It's interesting the Scripture repeats the dream twice. Even Pharaoh wants to be understood.
Pharoahs leave historical records, this is a Topographical List of the Cities:
TABLE 12
Egyptian Topographical Lists
| Names | Tuthmosis III (1481 BC) | Amenhotep II (1440) | Amenhotep III (1386) | Seti I (1291) | Ramses II (1275) |
| Jacob-El | yes | | | | yes |
| Joseph-El | yes | | yes | | |
| Asher | | | yes | yes | yes |
| Yahweh | | | yes | | yes |
| Shasu | | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Hapiru | | yes | | yes | |
- In Ramses II's topographical list (ca.1275 BC) the place-name "Jacob-El" (#9) appears again (ANET 1969, 242; Simons 1937). The first appearance was in Thutmose III's list. This means that this city of
- It seems abundantly clear from all these topographical lists concerning Canaan that the Hebrews were in Canaan at this time, but they did not use the name "Israel" until there league of tribes was well formed by the time of Merneptah.
- On a statue-base of Amenhotep III at Kom el Hetan which is the funerary
Most scholars will place the Jews, pro-Israelites, or even Jacobites in
I've heard this chapter used to cast Socialism down, when people depend on a power other than God, they will reap what they sow. There is truth in that, God wants us to depend on Him. What form of Government does God really support? We could argue at this point for no government, God led the Children of Israel into freedom and expected them to be self-governing. This self-governing didn't work for the Children of Israel.
God had to keep stepping in. Abraham was married twice, he only favored one son. Twin sons were jealous & fighting with parents that favored different sons. The blessing seeker/taker had 12 sons and repeated favoritism. Even when we try to bless our families, life intervenes. Self instead of intimacy. Joseph loved dreaming of ruling over his brothers and goaded them. It didn't go well. People have trouble even among the people they love.
Just as we see seasons of prosperity and seasons of leanness, it is not random, God intervenes. Each wise generation looks to God to be their daily salvation. Did Joseph deserve to be rescued? Probably, but he landed in this situation with sin of his own. Did the children of Jacob deserve to be rescued? How would we fully understand human nature without this road map. History is determined by the victors, but the Old Testament has something unique. The fallen - Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad & Asher and all the others in the Old Testament are forgiven and given another chance.
Psalm 118:1-4
1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.”
Joseph's tomb?
At the southwest end of the burial area, some 83 meters from the villa compound, was a monumental tomb, Tomb 1. It was composed of a nearly square superstructure containing the main burial chamber, and a chapel annex. In a robbers' pit sunk into the chapel, excavators found fragments of a colossal statue depicting an Asiatic dignitary. The likeness was of a seated official 1 times life size. It was made of limestone and exhibited excellent workmanship. The skin was yellow, the traditional color of Asiatics in Egyptian art. It had a mushroom-shaped hairstyle, painted red, typical of that shown in Egyptian artwork for Asiatics. A throwstick, the Egyptian hieroglyph for a foreigner, was held against the right shoulder. The statue had been intentionally smashed and defaced (Bietak 1996: 20-21).
In his book Pharaohs and Kings:" A Biblical Quest", David Rohl suggests that this is the tomb of Joseph himself (1995: 360-67). The evidence seems to support this hypothesis. We must assume that Tomb 1 was that of the occupant of the villa, and thus possibly of Joseph himself. The Bible is very specific as to what became of Joseph's body.
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