Genesis 41 Study Notes

41:1-7 Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world of his day, was also the Egyptian who received dreams from God that were far-reaching in their implications. His two dreams, both on the same night, had essentially identical plots, though the images were different. Both had fourteen items, seven healthy and seven thin and sickly. In both dreams the seven healthy things appeared first, only to be consumed by the afflicted ones. Both were symbolic since they contained features not found in the real world.

41:8-14 These dreams clearly indicated trouble, but exactly what trouble was the question. To unravel the mystery, Pharaoh summoned all the court magicians, who would have received instruction from ancient Egyptian scrolls of dream interpretation; some of these ancient scrolls, dating to the Twelfth Dynasty (1973-1786 BC), have been recovered by archaeologists. Pharaoh also summoned all of Egypt’s wise men to assist in the critical task of discerning the dreams’ meanings. However, no one could interpret the dreams satisfactorily.

The crisis caused the chief cupbearer to remember how Joseph had accurately interpreted two mysterious dreams two years earlier. Desperate for insight into his own dreams, Pharaoh immediately sent for Joseph. Prior to entering the royal court he had to be shaved—probably both his beard and scalp—and he put on clothes made of linen, as was appropriate for the Egyptian court. Joseph’s change in appearance mirrored the change that was about to occur in his career.

41:15-16 Fluent in the Egyptian language after thirteen years in the land, Joseph listened intently as Pharaoh described his problem. With humility Joseph confessed to Pharaoh that he was unable to interpret the dreams, but confidently added that his God would give Pharaoh the information he desired.

41:17-24 As Pharaoh repeated his account of the dreams, he added that the sickly cows still appeared wasted after they had eaten the healthy ones.

41:25-32 Joseph prefaced his interpretation with three important insights: first, Pharaoh actually had only one dream (lit “Pharaoh’s dream is one”), though it was given twice using different symbols. Second, the dream’s source was the one true God (lit “the God”). Third, it revealed what God was about to do.

41:33-36 Joseph advised Pharaoh to take specific steps in preparation for the upcoming fourteen-year cycle of events in order to create a food reserve for the seven years of famine.

41:37-46 Joseph’s insight into the dream, along with his ability to devise such a prudent plan, convinced Pharaoh that Joseph had God’s spirit in him. Pharaoh gave Joseph the Egyptian name Zaphenath-paneah (“Then God Said, ‘Let Him Live’”) and a wife of high social status. Asenath (“She Who Belongs to the Goddess Neith”) was the daughter of Potiphera, a priest at On (Heliopolis), the prestigious religious center of solar worship in ancient Egypt. Joseph, who was now thirty years old, had been transformed by God in thirteen years from an imprisoned foreign slave to the world’s second most powerful man. He who had spent years in prison now went throughout the land of Egypt overseeing a project that would save the lives of untold thousands.

41:47-52 In addition to giving blessing on the harvests, God blessed Joseph’s personal life with two sons. Manasseh’s name reflected the fact that God had helped Joseph forget his hardship both in Egypt and in his whole family, with its sordid background of rape (34:2), murder (34:25-26), incest (35:22), deception (34:13), and betrayal (37:28). Ephraim’s name confessed that God had made Joseph fruitful in a land where he had once been treated as a despised felon.

41:53-57 As Joseph, guided by God’s revelation, had said, after seven years of abundance famine struck every land in the region, even beyond Egypt’s borders. Pharaoh directed the people to go to Joseph, who sold grain to the Egyptians to preserve the lives of his adopted countrymen. However, as other nations learned of Egypt’s food supply, they came to Joseph. In the centuries to come, Egypt proved to be the breadbasket for the Mediterranean world.