NOTES for Gen 41:1-57
Today's reading is remarkable, among other things, because it tells how the cupbearer remembered Joseph. True, it took two years and circumstances favorable to the petitioner's career (vv. 1, 8-14). Now that Pharaoh himself needed an interpreter of dreams, and no one in his circle could help, remembering Joseph meant being useful not only to Joseph but also to Pharaoh himself, which of course changed matters completely and gave Joseph a chance not only for release, but also for a new and this time absolutely dizzying career. Still, the matter was not only the interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams (vv. 1-7). That was not especially difficult, since their meaning was quite clear (vv. 25-32). What Pharaoh and his officials liked most was Joseph's proposed plan for how to use the coming years of abundance in order to prepare for the drought and famine that would follow (vv. 33-36). Egypt was going through difficult times then; the country had nearly broken apart into separate regions, and nomads were attacking from the deserts. They had managed not only to establish themselves in the Nile Delta and create a small state there, something previously unheard of in Egyptian history, but also to seize the Egyptian throne for a time (the dynasty ruling Egypt at that time was Semitic in origin). On the one hand, this situation gave Joseph himself and his kinsmen opportunities they could not have had at any other time; on the other hand, it required decisive action from the authorities. Gathering and preserving the surplus grain was only half the task. Later, this grain was to be lent to large private estates ruined by drought, first against the pledge of a future harvest and then against the pledge of the estate itself (Gen. 47:13-26). In this way, without any repressive measures, large private landownership, the economic basis of regional separatism, was practically eliminated, and the land passed into state ownership. Naturally, the central authority was strengthened and the state was consolidated. No wonder Joseph's plan was accepted, as they say, with enthusiasm, and it was decided to entrust its implementation to Joseph himself as the author of the project (vv. 39-49). Yet the most remarkable episode in today's passage may be Joseph's mention of his God in response to Pharaoh's question about the interpretation of the dreams (vv. 15-16). It is not hard to remember God in times of trouble and misfortune; it is much harder not to forget Him in years of success and prosperity. And it may be even harder to remember Him when opportunities such as those opened before Joseph, standing before Pharaoh as Pharaoh awaited the interpretation of his dreams. In such a situation, only someone for whom relationship with God has become the center and meaning of all life remembers God.