Notes 56: Pharaoh's dreams (41:1-13)

SYNOPSIS: One morning Pharaoh is very concerned about what two dreams he had that night could possibly mean, and none of the kingdom's wise men can tell him. Pharaoh's embarrassed cup-bearer suddenly remembers his encounter with Joseph in jail, and tells Pharaoh how Joseph had correctedly predicted his fate and that of the unfortunate baker.

• Text of the passage (in Nawat)

EAS, p. 316: "No appreciable progress has been made in the effort to establish the historical setting of the episode, and with it the identity of the Pharaoh 'who knew Joseph.'" CB goes further (p. 354): "Probably neither the author of the original story nor any of the editors of the Pentateuch identified this Pharaoh with any particular king of Egypt. Many theories on the subject have been current at various times." However, this is not to say that the basis for the whole story is of necessity completely fictional. EAS again:

On the other hand, the incidental detail is authentically Egyptian. Pharaoh elevates Joseph to the typically Egyptian post of Vizier (43). This is corroborated by the transfer to Joseph of the royal seal (42), inasmuch as the Vizier was known as the "Sealbearer of the King of Lower Egypt" as far back as the third millennium... The gift of the gold chain is another authentic touch. The three names in vs. 45 are Egyptian in type and components; so, too, in all probability, is the escorts' cry of "Abrek" (43).

41:2 hay'or
This is the BH name for the River Nile.

ba'axu
'In the reeds.' An Egyptian loanword (CB).

41:8 kol xarTumme mitzráyhim
Concerning xarTummim, CB: "The word... is only found (a) of Egyptians, here and in Exod. vii-x, and (b) in Daniel, where its use is due to imitation of the story of Joseph."

41:9 mazkir
The meanings of this causative verb (from z-k-r 'to remember') include 'make known.' This would be behind Speiser's 'I must make confession' and JPS's 'I must make mention', which are preferable to the 'I remember' found in KJV, ESV and others. The latter may have been influenced by the LXX anamimnêiskô (despite the Vulg. confiteor) and also, perhaps, by 40:23 w'lo zakhar sar hammashqim et yosef wayyishkaxéhu 'The chief cup-bearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.'