Joseph and His Superiors

Joseph prospers, even in prison (Gen 39:21–23). When the king’s chief professionals—his cupbearer and baker—are imprisoned, Joseph is assigned to care of them; he notes their distress (Gen 40:1–7). One night they each dream, and Joseph, once betrayed as “the dreamer,” is now redeemed by his ability to interpret the dreams of others; this is a role he seems to assume—in contrast to the Egyptian and Babylonian diviners of the day—by audaciously defining himself as the voice of God: “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me” (Gen 40:8; Custis, Genesis, Gen 40; Sarna, Genesis, 281). The cupbearer’s dream foretells his pardon (Gen 40:9–15); the baker’s, his death (Gen 40:16–19). Joseph’s interpretations come true in three days’ time and though the cupbearer is indeed reinstated, he forgets to mention Joseph to his superiors (Gen 40:20–22). Joseph remains in prison for two more years, completing a slavery and imprisonment that has lasted 13 years (Gen 40:23–41:1).

Pharaoh’s dreams of famine overtaking abundance, are the third set of dream pairs in the narrative (Gen 41:1–7). Pharaoh cannot find a satisfying interpretation among those offered by his Egyptian magicians—finally, the cupbearer remembers Joseph (Gen 41:8–13). Pharaoh sends for him, and for the fourth time Joseph’s clothes are changed, signifying the beginning of his liberation (Gen 41:14; see also Gen 37:3, 23; 39:12; 41:42; Berlin and Brettler, Jewish Study Bible, Gen 41). Here Joseph also shaves his head, signaling his full assimilation as an Egyptian; this, combined with his later mention of divining, his role as a dream interpreter, and his marrying a daughter of the priest of On, could be understood as Joseph becoming a type of Egyptian priest (Gen 41:14; 41:45; 44:1–6).

In a “remarkable inversion of power,” Joseph’s “innocent discernment” leaves Pharaoh with both an interpretation of his dreams and some unsolicited advice regarding the ultimate salvation of the entire nation from famine (Brueggemann, Genesis, 327; compare Dan 2 and 4).

Pharaoh, immediately convinced that Joseph has “the spirit of God,” promotes Joseph to second-in-command with the task of implementing the very plan he has proposed (Gen 41:37–38; see also Gen 1:2). Here it may be that the dream of God, the current or impending reality, and a human actor converge (Gen 41:33; Brueggemann, Genesis, 332). As his brothers had scornfully foretold (Gen 37:8, 10–11), Joseph will now rule, but conditionally: “His rule will be rooted not in sheer power, but in the benefit he provides to the less fortunate,” at least for a time (Gen 41:40–41; Jewish Study Bible).

Joseph is eventually given his fifth and final change of clothes, Pharaoh’s own ring, a new name (Zaphenath-paneah, “revealer of hidden things”), and a new wife, Asenath, from among the Egyptian nobility (Gen 41:42–45). Joseph’s “Egyptianization” (a delicate blend of “fidelity and enculturation” (Brueggemann, Genesis, 334) may later function as a disguise for the trickster, allowing for his reconciliation with his brothers and their relocation to Egypt as foretold (Gen 15:13–16; Sarna, Genesis, 288).

The narrative consistently wrestles with the tension between divine will and human agency, and also with the pulls of family, empire, and enculturation. Joseph’s identification as an Egyptian can be understood as an overidentification with those who enslave him, as he plays the imperial game for the sake of the promise of his dream, but in many ways, forgets the purpose of the promise in the process and perhaps the promisor, God (Brueggemann, Genesis, 358).

In the seven plenteous years that follow, Joseph stores up immense amounts of grain in preparation for the famine (Gen 41:47–49). He also has two sons whose names speak to the abundant restoration of Joseph’s own years of famine and heartache: Manasseh (“he who causes to forget”) and Ephraim (“fruitful land”; Gen 41:51–52; Custis, et. al., Genesis).