How does Joseph’s explanation of Pharao’s dreams lead to preparation for the famine?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

Joseph explains the dreams as seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, then advises storing a fifth of the produce. Pharao puts him over Egypt. Grain is stored during the plenty and sold when the famine comes, providing food for Egypt and buyers from all provinces.

Chapter breakdown

After two years, Pharao dreams that he stands by the river. Seven beautiful, fat cows come out and feed in marshy places. Seven ugly, lean cows follow and feed on the riverbank in green places. They eat the beautiful, well-conditioned cows, and Pharao wakes. He sleeps again and dreams that seven full, fair ears of grain grow on one stalk. Seven thin, damaged ears follow and devour the beauty of the first ones. He wakes again. In the morning he is afraid and calls all Egypt’s interpreters and wise men, but nobody can explain the dream.

The chief butler remembers and confesses his sin. He recalls that the king, angry with his servants, put him and the chief baker in the prison of the captain of the soldiers. On one night both had dreams foretelling what was to come. They told a young Hebrew man there, a servant of that same captain, and the events proved his interpretations true: the butler was restored to office and the baker was hanged on a gibbet, a structure for hanging. At the king’s command Joseph is brought from prison, shaved and given a change of clothes before appearing before Pharao. The king says nobody can explain his dreams but he has heard Joseph is wise at interpreting them. Joseph answers, “Without me, God shall give Pharao a prosperous answer.”

Pharao retells the dreams to Joseph. He stood on the riverbank and saw seven beautiful cows, full of flesh, grazing in green places in marshy pasture. Seven cows followed that were uglier and leaner than any he had seen in Egypt. They ate the first cows but showed no sign of being full: they remained as lean and ugly as before. He woke and slept again. He then saw seven full, fair ears of grain on one stalk, followed by seven thin, damaged ears that devoured the beauty of the first. He told the dream to the interpreters, whom the edition calls conjecturers here, but nobody could explain it.

Joseph says the king’s dream is one: God has shown Pharao what he is about to do. The seven beautiful cows and seven full ears both mean seven years of plenty. The seven lean cows and the seven thin ears damaged by a burning wind mean seven years of famine. The order will be seven years of great plenty throughout Egypt, then seven years of such scarcity that the earlier abundance will be forgotten. The famine will consume the land, and the great scarcity will destroy the great plenty. The repeated dream is a sign of certainty: God’s word will come to pass and be fulfilled quickly.

Joseph advises the king to choose a wise, hardworking man and make him ruler over Egypt. Overseers should be appointed throughout the regions to gather a fifth of the produce into barns during the seven fruitful years about to begin. The grain should be stored under Pharao’s authority in the cities, ready for the seven years of famine that will oppress Egypt. The stated purpose is that scarcity should not consume the land. This advice pleases Pharao and all his servants.

Pharao asks his servants whether they can find another man so full of the spirit of God. He tells Joseph that, since God has shown him these things, none is wiser or like him. Joseph will be over his house, and all the people must obey his commands; only the kingly throne will be above him. Pharao appoints him over all Egypt, gives him the ring from his own hand, clothes him in a robe of silk and places a gold chain around his neck. He puts him in his second chariot. A crier, or herald, proclaims that everyone should bow the knee and know that Joseph is governor over the whole land. Pharao declares that without Joseph’s command no one may move hand or foot in Egypt. He gives Joseph an Egyptian name rendered here as the saviour of the world, and gives him Aseneth, daughter of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis, as his wife. Joseph goes out into the land of Egypt.

Challoner’s note gives Zaphnah paaneah for the name rendered the saviour of the world.

Joseph is thirty when he stands before king Pharao, and he travels around all the regions of Egypt. The seven fruitful years arrive. Grain is bound into sheaves, bundles of cut grain, and gathered into Egypt’s barns. The abundance is stored in every city. The wheat is compared to the sand of the sea, and its plenty exceeds measure. Before the famine, Aseneth, daughter of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis, bears Joseph two sons. He names the firstborn Manasses, saying that God has made him forget all his labours and his father’s house.

Challoner explains Manasses as oblivion, or forgetting.

Joseph names the second son Ephraim, saying that God has made him grow in the land of his poverty.

Challoner explains Ephraim as fruitful, or growing.

When Egypt’s seven years of plenty pass, the seven years of scarcity Joseph foretold begin. The famine prevails in the whole world, but there is bread throughout Egypt. When the Egyptians also begin to hunger, they cry to Pharao for food. He tells them to go to Joseph and do whatever he says. The famine increases daily across the land, and Joseph opens all the barns and sells to the Egyptians, who are also oppressed by it. All provinces come into Egypt to buy food and seek relief from their want.

The story inside

Joseph’s advice turns the meaning of the dreams into a preparation with a stated purpose. The two sets of seven describe years: abundance first, then scarcity severe enough to erase it. Joseph therefore calls for a wise, hardworking ruler, overseers and the collection of a fifth of the produce during the fruitful years. Storage in the cities under Pharao’s authority is meant to keep the land from being consumed by famine. Pharao accepts the advice and appoints Joseph himself, giving him authority over the people while keeping the throne above him. The later events show the plan in use: grain is gathered during abundance, and the barns are opened for sales when Egypt too is hungry. The response to Pharao’s dreams thus includes both an explanation of what is coming and recorded action before it arrives, without requiring an invented tax system or political title.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Joseph distinguishes the interpretation’s source from himself. When Pharao says he has heard of Joseph’s wisdom, Joseph says God will give the answer. His explanation then identifies the two dreams as one message about the same sequence of years.
2
The order of plenty and famine makes advance storage possible. Joseph recommends gathering a fifth during the seven fruitful years, with overseers and city reserves. Retaining the share, timing, authority and stated purpose explains how the plan answers the coming scarcity.
3
The famine reaches Egypt as well as the wider world. The stored bread does not mean Egyptians never hunger: they cry to Pharao, who directs them to Joseph, and Joseph sells from the opened barns. Keeping both the reserve and the hunger shows why the final distribution is needed.

Test your recall

Why do both dreams mean the same sequence of years, what preparation does Joseph advise before the famine, and how is the stored grain used once Egypt is hungry?

Show answer

Both sets of seven describe the same events: seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Joseph says the repeated dream shows that God’s decision is certain and will come soon. He advises appointing a capable ruler and overseers to store a fifth of the harvest during the good years. When the famine comes, Joseph opens the stores and sells grain to the Egyptians; people from other provinces also come to buy food.

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 4646–4675
Genesis Chapter 41 Joseph interpreteth the two dreams of Pharao: he is made ruler over all Egypt. 41:1. After two years Pharao had a dream. He thought he stood by the river, 41:2. Out of which came up seven kine, very beautiful and fat: and they fed in marshy places. 41:3. Other seven also came up out of the river, ill-favoured, and lean fleshed: and they fed on the very bank of the river, in green places: 41:4. And they devoured them, whose bodies were very beautiful and well conditioned. So Pharao awoke. 41:5. He slept again, and dreamed another dream: Seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk full and fair: 41:6. Then seven other ears sprung up thin and blasted, 41:7. And devoured all the beauty of the former. Pharao awaked after his rest: 41:8. And when morning was come, being struck with fear, he sent to all the interpreters of Egypt, and to all the wise men: and they being called for, he told them his dream, and there was not any one that could interpret it.
Lines 4676–4701
41:9. Then at length the chief butler remembering, said: I confess my sin: 41:10. The king being angry with his servants, commanded me and the chief baker to be cast into the prison of the captain of the soldiers. 41:11. Where in one night both of us dreamed a dream foreboding things to come. 41:12. There was there a young man a Hebrew, servant to the same captain of the soldiers: to whom we told our dreams, 41:13. And we heard what afterwards the event of the thing proved to be so. For I was restored to my office: and he was hanged upon a gibbet. 41:14. Forthwith at the king’s command Joseph was brought out of the prison, and they shaved him: and changing his apparel brought him in to him. 41:15. And he said to him: I have dreamed dreams, and there is no one that can expound them: Now I have heard that thou art very wise at interpreting them: 41:16. Joseph answered: Without me, God shall give Pharao a prosperous answer.
Lines 4702–4723
41:17. So Pharao told what he had dreamed: Methought I stood upon the bank of the river, 41:18. And seven kine came up out of the river, exceeding beautiful and full of flesh: and they grazed on green places in a marshy pasture. 41:19. And behold, there followed these, other seven kine, so very ill-favoured and lean, that I never saw the like in the land of Egypt: 41:20. And they devoured and consumed the former, 41:21. And yet gave no mark of their being full: but were as lean and ill-favoured as before. I awoke, and then fell asleep again, 41:22. And dreamed a dream: Seven ears of corn grew up upon one stalk, full and very fair. 41:23. Other seven also thin and blasted, sprung of the stalk: 41:24. And they devoured the beauty of the former: I told this dream to the conjecturers, and there is no man that can expound it.
Lines 4724–4749
41:25. Joseph answered: The king’s dream is one: God hath shewn to Pharao what he is about to do. 41:26. The seven beautiful kine, and the seven full ears, are seven years of plenty: and both contain the same meaning of the dream. 41:27. And the seven lean and thin kine that came up after them, and the seven thin ears that were blasted with the burning wind, are seven years of famine to come: 41:28. Which shall be fulfilled in this order. 41:29. Behold, there shall come seven years of great plenty in the whole land of Egypt: 41:30. After which shall follow other seven years of so great scarcity, that all the abundance before shall be forgotten: for the famine shall consume all the land, 41:31. And the greatness of the scarcity shall destroy the greatness of the plenty. 41:32. And for that thou didst see the second time a dream pertaining to the same thing: it is a token of the certainty, and that the word of God cometh to pass, and is fulfilled speedily.
Lines 4750–4765
41:33. Now therefore let the king provide a wise and industrious man, and make him ruler over the land of Egypt: 41:34. That he may appoint overseers over all the countries: and gather into barns the fifth part of the fruits, during the seven fruitful years, 41:35. That shall now presently ensue: and let all the corn be laid up, under Pharao’s hands, and be reserved in the cities. 41:36. And let it be in readiness, against the famine of seven years to come, which shall oppress Egypt, and the land shall not be consumed with scarcity. 41:37. The counsel pleased Pharao, and all his servants.
Lines 4766–4794
41:38. And he said to them: Can we find such another man, that is full of the spirit of God? 41:39. He said therefore to Joseph: Seeing God hath shewn thee all that thou hast said, can I find one wiser and one like unto thee? 41:40. Thou shalt be over my house, and at the commandment of thy mouth all the people shall obey: only in the kingly throne will I be above thee. 41:41. And again Pharao said to Joseph: Behold, I have appointed thee over the whole land of Egypt. 41:42. And he took his ring from his own hand, and gave it into his hand: and he put upon him a robe of silk, and put a chain of gold about his neck. 41:43. And he made him go up into his second chariot, the crier proclaiming that all should bow their knee before him, and that they should know he was made governor over the whole land of Egypt. 41:44. And the king said to Joseph: I am Pharao: without thy commandment no man shall move hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. 41:45. And he turned his name, and called him in the Egyptian tongue the saviour of the world. And he gave him to wife Aseneth, the daughter of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis. Then Joseph went out to the land of Egypt.
Lines 4795–4796
The saviour of the world.... Zaphnah paaneah.
Lines 4797–4814
41:46. (Now he was thirty years old when he stood before king Pharao), and he went round all the countries of Egypt. 41:47. And the fruitfulness of the seven years came: and the corn being bound up into sheaves, was gathered together into the barns of Egypt. 41:48. And all the abundance of grain was laid up in every city. 41:49. And there was so great abundance of wheat, that it was equal to the sand of the sea, and the plenty exceeded measure. 41:50. And before the famine came, Joseph had two sons born: whom Aseneth, the daughter of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis, bore unto him. 41:51. And he called the name of the firstborn Manasses, saying: God hath made me to forget all my labours, and my father’s house.
Lines 4815–4816
Manasses.... That is, oblivion, or forgetting.
Lines 4817–4819
41:52. And he named the second Ephraim, saying: God hath made me to grow in the land of my poverty.
Lines 4820–4821
Ephraim.... That is, fruitful, or growing.
Lines 4822–4840
41:53. Now when the seven years of plenty that had been in Egypt were passed: 41:54. The seven years of scarcity, which Joseph had foretold, began to come: and the famine prevailed in the whole world, but there was bread in all the land of Egypt. 41:55. And when there also they began to be famished, the people cried to Pharao, for food. And he said to them: Go to Joseph: and do all that he shall say to you. 41:56. And the famine increased daily in all the land: and Joseph opened all the barns, and sold to the Egyptians: for the famine had oppressed them also. 41:57. And all provinces came into Egypt, to buy food, and to seek some relief of their want.