NOTES for Gen 41:1-24
1 And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river. |
2 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow. |
3 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river. |
4 And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke. |
5 And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good. |
6 And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them. |
7 And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. |
8 And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh. |
9 Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day: |
10 Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the chief baker: |
11 And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. |
12 And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret. |
13 And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged. |
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh. |
15 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. |
16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. |
17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river: |
18 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow: |
19 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness: |
20 And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: |
21 And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke. |
22 And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good: |
23 And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them: |
24 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me. |
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Pharaoh too sees prophetic dreams. After all, God leaves no one without support, and if a person cannot hear Him otherwise, He often uses dreams as a last resort. Here, however, it is important to take into account the difference between a dream as such and what is usually called "subtle sleep": an intermediate state between sleep and wakefulness, for which the Hebrew Bible has a special word.
The state of "subtle sleep" more closely resembles visions in the strict sense, like those prophets see, while a person experiences a prophetic dream precisely as a dream: it resembles sleep, though it has some significant differences from it. The main difference is that during the dream a person is quite clearly aware of himself; he usually does not perceive his state as sleep, and yet he does not wake up (in ordinary sleep, a single thought that one is sleeping immediately leads to waking). Often during a dream a person can even remember certain events that happened to him while awake. In addition, during a dream, especially a prophetic one, the sleeper's perceptions are usually sharpened, so that he experiences everything happening to him more fully and clearly, and the actions themselves inside such a dream turn out to be entirely meaningful. They, like the scenes unfolding at the same time, may be strange and unusual, but at the same time quite logical, and within the scenes themselves quite natural and organic.
Something like this is exactly what Pharaoh sees, just as earlier the cupbearer and the baker did, and Joseph himself as well. Understanding what was seen is another matter: logic alone is not enough to understand a dream; it must be grasped in its wholeness, grasped directly and not through reflection. Such understanding is impossible without revelation; that is why there are far more people who see dreams than interpreters (we are speaking, of course, of true interpreters, not fantasists who base themselves on their own rather arbitrary associations, like those that fill popular dream books). And so it happened that now Pharaoh himself needed an interpreter: he understood at once that what he had seen was not an ordinary dream, but precisely a prophetic dream.
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