B'reshith/Genesis
CHAPTER 41
[c. Year 2231 from creation; 1769 B.C.E.]
1. But what did take place was that at the end [mi-qetz] of two years to the day, the Pharaoh had a dream, and, there he was, standing by the [Nile] River,
Two years to the day: literally, two years of days, or, a pair of duplicated (or repeated) days. These are not just any two years. The two belong together somehow. If these two years had not passed, what is about to take place could not have come about. They are providential, despite his frustration at the cupbearer not doing what any decent man should have done out of gratitude. Yosef must have been excited the day after the cupbearer was released, but then the days dragged on with no change. In retrospect we can see why it was so important that he be in a place where he could be found when needed, but he had to keep his spirits up despite someone else’s critical error. He had to believe there was more to it than this, but still he had to wait, and we need to learn to be patient when the things it seems we need right now are not available to us. It may take a long time to get to where we are going. We cannot learn everything at once; we have to learn in season. Yaaqov (James) says that if we do not receive what we ask for, it is because we would only waste it on our pleasures (4:3) instead of being productive. Yosef may have thought he was ready for a life of freedom two years before, but if he had been granted that, and he had gone home to his family, what provision would there have been for the problem that was about to come to light? He might have been able to answer the new dilemma on one level, but without going these two spirals higher, he might have had only part of the picture or lacked some piece of knowledge that he somehow gained during this time. So it was as if he was in protective custody, though it would have been hard for him to think of it as such while he was experiencing the imprisonment. If he had been let out two years earlier, the whole world would have suffered an immense setback. But now the time has come, and the two years are now only a mention. Thirty is also the age when the priests would later begin their public service after training, so this may be a factor as well. Pharaoh was probably standing by the Nile to worship it. It was considered one of the deities of Egypt, for it was seen as what gave life to the land. In any case, the presence of the river in the dream alerted him to the fact that this was not mere entertainment.
2. when, lo and behold! Up came seven cows out of the River—all beautiful in appearance and robust of flesh, and they were grazing among the marsh-grass.
3. But, suddenly, up came seven other cows out of the River, ugly and gaunt, and they stood beside the cows that were already on the bank of the River.
4. Then the ugly, gaunt cows started eating the beautiful, robust cows! And then Pharaoh awoke.
When cows are grazing, they are more vulnerable to predators, because they have their heads down. But these other cows would not have seemed a threat; they are the same species. Below we will see how something that appears so unthreatening can devour us.
5. But he fell asleep [again] and dreamt a second time, and, look! Seven ears of grain were sprouting on a single stalk—robust and healthy.
6. But suddenly seven ears of grain, wispy and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up behind them,
7. and the seven lean ears swallowed up the seven healthy, full ears. Then Pharaoh woke up, and, lo and behold, it had been a dream.
8. Yet in the morning his spirit was still troubled, so he sent someone to summon all the scribes of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh related to them his dream, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
9. Then the chief of the cupbearers spoke up before Pharaoh, saying, "Today I must confess my faults.
10. "Once Pharaoh was angry with his courtiers, and put me in the custody of the house of the chief executioner—both me and the chief of the bakers.
11. "And he and I both dreamed a dream on the same night, and we each dreamed in the same symbolism as appeared in each other's dream.
12. "And there was a young Hebrew there with us, a slave of the chief executioner. And we related our dreams to him, and he interpreted them for us—to each of us according to his dream.
13. "And it turned out that just as he had interpreted to us, so it came about—he restored me to my position, but hanged him."
14. So Pharaoh sent and summoned Yosef, and they hurried to bring him out of the dungeon. And he shaved and changed his clothing, and came to appear before Pharaoh.
Would the cupbearer have known where to find Yosef when he was needed if he had not forgotten about him? Yet just because YHWH worked it out for the best does not mean his slackness was acceptable! He still did the wrong thing, and he needed to fix it. One wonders whether the silver cup that shows up later in the story might not have been a gift given to Yosef by this man when he recognized his guilt.
15. Then Pharaoh told Yosef, "I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said about you that if you hear a dream you can interpret it."
16. But Yosef answered Pharaoh by saying, "[It is] not something that resides in me! But Elohim will grant an answer concerning Pharaoh's welfare."
17. So Pharaoh told Yosef, "In my dream, behold, I was standing on the River's edge,
18. "and there came seven cows, up from the River, robust and beautiful, and they were feeding among the reeds,
19. "when, lo and behold, seven other cows came up after them, languishing and very ugly and gaunt; I have never seen the likes of them in Egypt for ugliness!
20. "And these cows—the gaunt and ugly ones—ate the first seven cows—the robust ones!
21. "And though they went into their innermost parts, it was not evident that they had entered their inward parts; they looked as bad as at first. Then I woke up.
The Egyptians worshiped cows. Cows eat only grain; if they eat anything else, they develop “<ad Cow Disease”, which makes their brains swell and cease functioning. This is a lesson for us; if we do not “eat” what is in line with Torah and what forms the “bread” of community, it will destroy our minds. What cows eat, they ruminate on. Chewing the cud allows them to digest on deeper and deeper levels. Their four stomachs picture the four levels of Scriptural interpretation that the rabbis say form an acronym for paradise. YHWH told Y’hoshua (1:8) to not let the Torah depart from his mouth, but meditate on it days and night, and this would lead to prosperity in success—not necessarily financially, but in terms of leading Israel, overcoming his enemies, and taking the Land that is our inheritance, so if we continue to process YHWH’s word like this, we can succeed in regaining our Land. The cow is sure-footed despite its body that is disproportionate in size to its legs; this is due to its split hoof. So the cow is in many ways a picture of the righteous person—one who does the right thing for the right reason in the right season. (Remove any of these three factors, and you can only be partly right at best.) But some of these cows are “fat and fine”, while others are skinny and ugly. We may be righteous, but how do we know if we are robust or gaunt? Here, Pharaoh is a picture of YHWH, the ruler of the whole world. These cows ended up bringing ruin to his kingdom. It is important to know whether we are doing things that will increase, confirm, and undergird His Kingdom, or detract from it. What part of ourselves can we examine to know whether we are adding to or taking away from what supplies His Kingdom? What is needed to sustain His Kingdom and make it grow? These cows ate the other ones, yet showed no sign of having eaten anything. They still remain emaciated. How is this possible? There are many parallels. There are “skinny cows” that want to eat up the fat, but unlike this decree, which could not be changed because it was not a matter of needing to repent, there are ways in which if we deal properly wit the “fat cows”, the skinny ones will be powerless to devour them. Are we on the positive side or the negative? Do we define ourselves by what we do or by what we do not do? What will are will by nature define what we are not, but where is the focus? If we define ourselves as those who do not do Christmas, people will only see us as a Scrooge or a “Grinch”. But if we say “we only keep the Biblical feasts and seek to remove all paganism from our lives”, not only is the other excluded automatically; we open many doors for people who need only such a nudge to start seeking their true heritage. Why give them a “skinny” when you can give them a “fat”? We are not “those people who do not eat pigs”, but those who eat according to YHWH’s instruction. We do not define ourselves as non-Christians or those who do not believe Yahshua is a deity, but as those who embrace Yahshua as our kinsman redeemer and therefore come to see him as he really is and worship the One he worshipped. We do not see him as our father, but as our brother or uncle, and that continues to bless the Kingdom instead of casting it in an always-adversarial light. What we have in common is not what we are against. Those who do nothing themselves yet complain about those who do will consume the healthy if allowed to remain among them. They should either start eating to become fat too, or stop pretending to be of the same kind. One false doctrine or bad attitude can destroy many years of healthy growth. One little word that hurts another can undo many years of praying for him, because people tend to remember the harsh words rather than the encouraging ones. So check yourself when about to speak. And if you are on the receiving end, give your neighbor the benefit of the doubt when he does give you the rare cold shoulder, and assume he is having a bad day. Don’t let one moment devour all the years you have both invested in the relationship. The skinny cows can eat up the fat also if great men of YHWH do not teach their children to love and serve Him in the same way, as was the case with David, Eli, Shmu’el, and others. After Yahshua was raised to power there was a period in which the “church” was healthy, walking in YHWH's commands, then was co-opted by the Roman Empire, which ate up the earlier teachings yet did not profit from them. Start teaching others what they should do, and the adversaries—even those in our own minds—will run away, and the Kingdom will begin to overcome the many lean years we have already experienced.
22. "Then again I saw in my dreaming that seven ears of grain were growing up on a single stalk, full and healthy.
23. "But, lo and behold, seven ears that were withered and blasted by the east wind sprouted up after them,
East wind: possibly a clue to the cause of the famine.
24. "and the lean ears were swallowing up the seven nice ears! Then I told it to my scribes, but no one is making the meaning known to me!"
25. Then Yosef answered Pharaoh, "The dream of Pharaoh is one and the same: The Elohim has granted to Pharaoh disclosure of what He is about to do!
26. "The seven healthy cows represent seven years; the seven healthy ears also announce seven years. It is essentially one dream.
27. "And as for the seven scrawny cows that came up after them—they represent seven years; the seven empty stalks blighted by the east wind, too, are seven years--of famine.
28. "This is the message about which I said to Pharaoh [that] Elohim has warned Pharaoh about what He is going to do:
Yosef wisely both gives Elohim the credit (in general terms, not intending to proselytize Pharaoh before his influence becomes too significant to ignore) but also makes it sound as if Elohim will do his bidding any time he wants to , giving him leverage. Elohim is also the term that emphasizes that Pharaoh is about to be judged. He probably sees it as the judgment from the crocodile-god.
29. "Note it well! Seven years of great plenty are coming for the whole land of Egypt,
30. "then after them, seven years of famine will arise—so terrible even that all the bounty of the land will be forgotten, and the famine will consume the land.
31. "The years of plenty will not even be remembered, in the face of the scarcity that follows—it will be that severe.
32. "Moreover, the fact that the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice signifies that the matter has been established by Elohim , and Elohim is hastening to bring it about.
A matter is established by two witnesses that agree. Unlike Yonah's prophecy to Nin'veh, it was determined, confirmed by two "witnesses" and could not be changed.
33. "So now, let Pharaoh seek out a man who is discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
Yosef goes further than merely telling Pharaoh what is going to take place; he offers him advice on what he needs to do. Pharaoh has already told him that none of his wise men was smart enough in this crisis, so Yosef plants a seed thought so that the self-evident truth becomes obvious to Pharaoh. He demonstrates his wisdom immediately. Discerning: Heb., bin—able to clearly distinguish between two things with certainty, or simply, able to see the truth clearly. Wise: Heb., hakham, which basically means “skilled”, having learned from instruction. This takes discernment a step further, because it is not only knowing something but knowing how to apply it as well. One may know how to use a hammer, but needs to know when not to use it, too. Getting caught up in knowing as much as possible before we learn to apply it will make us very unbalanced and practically useless. Wisdom is knowing what to do with the truth once you know it. Many will walk in the truth if someone else tells them how, but we all need to be able to discern for ourselves as well, and that comes from an intimate knowledge of the Book that has the foundations of everything. Discernment and wisdom are closely related. Neither is effective without the other. If you are lacking in one or both, you need to put yourself in a place where someone who does know how to apply the truth can teach you to do so. Community is like the four stomachs of the cow: If you do not know what to do with the truth you know, get everyone together; “in a multitude of counselors, there is much wisdom”. Eventually there are elders in a community, and they know who is sharpest in each area, not just in knowledge but also in application. The Torah was not given just to one person, bu to a people. As there is no truth without Torah, there is no wisdom without community. Our heritage is discernment and wisdom; our inheritance is Torah and community.
34. "Let Pharaoh take action, and let him appoint deputy administrators over the land, and take a fifth part of the [produce of the] land during the seven years of plenty,
A fifth: what would have been spent on luxury, though this also shows just how abundant the harvest was during these years, if a mere 20% could carry them through seven additional years with no harvest.
35. "and let them gather all the food from these beneficent years that are coming, and let them heap up grain and store food in the cities under the Pharaoh's oversight.
36. "And let the food be an appointed reserve for the land toward the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt; thus you will prevent the land from being decimated by the famine."
Decimated: literally, cut off; i.e., it would cease to exist as a nation, probably overcome by enemies.
37. And the message was acceptable in Pharaoh's estimation, and in the opinion of all of his courtiers.
This is still wise advice for us today. Do not become lazy because you have plenty right now; if you do, it is time to go to work! If we have extra time today, instead of wasting it on foolish pursuits, we should use it to store up knowledge or understanding so that we can still be ready when we have little or no time to prepare for whatever may come our way. Store up useful things on every level. Invest in the Kingdom;this way the skinny years will not be able to destroy it. Many people talk about what they would do for the Kingdom if only they had more resources, but when they get more, they still say the same thing, and when they have much, they focus on guarding it, keeping the “fat” fat rather than using it to guard against the “skinny”. That way, they are doomed to lose whatever they do have. No other investment is safe anymore anyway; YHWH hates and is taking away one by one all the other things people invest in, because they are deceitful and usually gotten through injustice to those who have little; if we store up properly, we will have something with which to feed everyone.
38. So Pharaoh said to his courtiers, "Could we find any other man like this one, in whom is the spirit of Elohim?"
39. Then Pharaoh addressed Yosef: "Since Elohim has taught you all this, there is no one as wise and intelligent as you.
40. "You shall be over my own household, and at your word all my people shall kiss [your hand]. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”
41. Furthermore, Pharaoh told Yosef, "Behold, I have set you over the entire land of Egypt."
42. And Pharaoh took his ring off his finger and put it on Yosef's, and he clothed him with fine white garments and put a golden necklace around his neck,
43. and he paraded him in a chariot that was second to his own, and they went before him, crying, "Bow the knee!" Thus he set him over the whole land of Egypt.
44. And Pharaoh said to Yosef, "I am Pharaoh, but without a 'go-ahead' from you, not a man shall lift his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt!"
45. And Pharaoh called Yosef by the name Tzaf'nath-Paaneakh, and he gave him As'nath the daughter of Poti-fera, priest of On, as a wife. Thus Yosef emerged [as being in charge] over the land of Egypt.
If “priest” is taken in its more basic sense of "officiator", and we read On according to its etymology as “strength or vigor”, he is an “officiator of strength” and may be the minister of defense. It may be that Pharaoh made this man his father-in-law because he would be needed to defend the storehouses Yosef would oversee. Or, he may have been Potifar himself. Pharaoh may have been making a political statement that he did not believe Yosef had assaulted Potifar’s wife. He knows Yosef is the best man for the job, but in order to prevent repercussions from Potifar for Pharaoh’s putting Yosef in a higher position than he, gives him Potifar’s own daughter for he would be less likely to be jealous of one who was his own relative.
46. Now Yosef was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Yosef left Pharaoh's presence and moved freely about the whole land of Egypt.
Yahshua, like the Temple priests, was also raised to public prominence at age 30 (Luke 3).
47. And the land produced by handfuls in the seven years of plenty.
48. And he gathered a supply of every kind of food produced by the seven years that came upon the land of Egypt, and he stationed food in the cities. The produce of the fields that surrounded each city he placed in the middle of the city.
49. And Yosef heaped up grain like the sand of the seashore— exceedingly much—until he stopped counting it, because there is no number that high.
50. And two sons were born to Yosef prior to the year of the famine's onset, whom As'nath the daughter of Potifera, priest of On, bore to him.
While we might see having an Egyptian mother as a likely cause for our own idolatry, that latent tendency goes all the way back to Avraham’s father. It is more likely that the blood of the “officiator of strength” needed to be injected into our gene pool because Yosef’s father Yaaqov was very passive and gave up too easily when presented with situations he should have fought. Yosef was raise din his tent, and thus YHWH married him to strength so his sons would be more balanced, just as Yehudah needed Tamar’s tendency to go to any length to protect the seed brought in since it was what was missing from the mix.
51. And Yosef named the firstborn Menashe ["He who causes to forget"] "—because", he said, "Elohim has made me forget all my hardship, and my father's whole household."
Though his very mention of his father’s household indicates that he really did still remember it, but now he was beginning his own household and there was no longer any bitterness connected with the memories of his old home. His descendants, however, all but forgot their roots. What he meant was that all he went through, including being cast out of his father’s house, was nothing in comparison to where it had brought him.
52. And the second son he named Efrayim ["doubly fruitful"]—"because Elohim has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction!"
Having refused the foreign seductress (like Shlomo warns about in so many proverbs about wisdom) set him on a path to become not only fruitful, but a hero. Putting away foreign things sets uus in a position to be both productive and wise.
53. When the seven years of plenty which were upon the land had come to an end,
54. the seven years of famine began to be manifest, just as Yosef had said they would. And the famine extended to all countries, but in the whole land of Egypt there was bread.
Like the U.S. in the 1800s, Egypt was the breadbasket of the world.
55. But all the people of the land of Egypt became hungry, and the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh told all of Egypt, "Go toYosef, and do whatever he tells you."
56. And the famine had its effect on the face of the whole earth, and Yosef opened all the granaries, and he sold it to the Egyptians. Then the famine became very severe in the land of Egypt.
57. The whole world also came to Egypt—to Yosef himself—to buy food, because the famine was severe all over the earth.
Commentary on
Parashat MiQetz
Fat or Skinny Cows?
