Genesis 41 · WEB
Pharaoh's Dreams and Joseph's Exaltation
Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.
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At the end of two full years, Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he stood by the river.
2Behold, seven cattle came up out of the river, sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass.
3Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the bank of the river.
4The ugly and thin cattle ate up the seven sleek and fat cattle. So Pharaoh awoke.
5He slept and dreamed a second time, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good.
6Behold, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them.
7The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears of grain. Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
8In the morning, his spirit was troubled. He sent and called for all of Egypt's magicians and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
9Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I remember my faults today.
10Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker.
11We dreamed a dream in one night, he and I. Each man dreamed according to the interpretation of his dream.
12There was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. He interpreted to each man according to his dream.
13As he interpreted to us, so it was. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him."
14Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh.
15Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it."
16Joseph answered Pharaoh, "It is not in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace."
17Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, "In my dream, behold, I stood on the bank of the river.
18Behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, fat and sleek. They fed in the marsh grass.
19Behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for ugliness.
20The thin and ugly cattle ate up the first seven fat cattle.
21When they had eaten them up, it couldn't be known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke.
22I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good.
23Behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them.
24The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me."
25Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh.
26The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one.
27The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind. They will be seven years of famine.
28That is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. What God is about to do he has shown to Pharaoh.
29Behold, there will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt.
30After them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land,
31and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of the famine which follows, for it will be very grievous.
32The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
33"Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt's produce in the seven plenteous years.
35Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.
36The food will be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt; that the land not perish through the famine."
37The thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
38Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?"
39Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and wise as you.
40You shall be over my house, and according to your word will all my people be ruled. Only in the throne will I be greater than you."
41Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."
42Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck.
43He made him to ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, "Bow the knee!" He set him over all the land of Egypt.
44Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without you no man shall lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt."
45Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-Paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
46Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
47In the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly.
48He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities. The food of the field, which was around every city, he laid up in the same.
49Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number.
50To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.
51Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, "for," he said, "God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house."
52He called the name of the second Ephraim, "for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
53The seven years of plenty that were in the land of Egypt ended.
54The seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
55When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do."
56The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
57All countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.
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Summary
Two years after the cupbearer's release, Pharaoh has two disturbing dreams that none of Egypt's wise men can interpret. The cupbearer finally remembers Joseph. Joseph is hastily brought from prison, interprets the dreams as seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, and proposes an emergency grain storage plan. Pharaoh, recognizing that the Spirit of God is in Joseph, appoints him second-in-command over all Egypt. Joseph is thirty years old, receives a new name and an Egyptian wife, and spends the years of plenty storing grain. The famine begins, and all nations come to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph.
Themes
- Thirteen years of suffering suddenly transformed by God's timing
- Joseph's consistent humility — always pointing to God as the source
- God's providence working through history for the salvation of many
- Wisdom and preparation as acts of faith
- The Dreamer becomes the interpreter; the slave becomes the ruler
Key verses
- Gen 41:16 — “Joseph answered Pharaoh, 'It is not in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.'”
- Gen 41:38 — “Pharaoh said to his servants, 'Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?'”
- Gen 41:52 — “He called the name of the second Ephraim, 'for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.'”
Context & background
Joseph is thirty years old when he stands before Pharaoh — meaning thirteen years have passed since he was sold at seventeen. His journey: favored son → slave → prisoner → second in command. The name "Zaphenath-Paneah" given by Pharaoh may mean "God speaks and he lives" in Egyptian. Manasseh ("making to forget") and Ephraim ("fruitful") carry Joseph's theology of redemption: God has turned his suffering into fruitfulness. The entire Joseph story is explicitly connected to the salvation of "all the earth" — it is a microcosm of the gospel pattern: humiliation preceding exaltation, suffering as the path to salvation of others.
Cross-references
- Acts 7:10 — God rescued Joseph and gave him wisdom before Pharaoh
- Genesis 12:3 — all nations blessed through Abraham's seed — Joseph literally provides grain to all nations
- Philippians 2:9-11 — Christ humiliated then exalted to the highest place, as Joseph models
- Psalm 105:20-22 — the king sent and released Joseph, ruler of his possessions
- Revelation 19:12 — the exalted Christ given a new name echoes Pharaoh giving Joseph a new name