Joseph in Egypt
Adapted from Genesis 39:1-41:57
The caravan that had bought Joseph as a slave continued on its way. When it reached Egypt, the traders sold Joseph to the captain of the pharaoh’s guards, Potiphar.
Potiphar liked Joseph and made him the head of his household. At first his wife also liked Joseph but then she became angry when he wouldn’t let her boss him around the way she liked. So, she told lies about him and, before he knew it, Joseph was thrown into jail.
While in jail, he met two of the pharaoh’s servants, the wine server and the baker. One night the wine server and the baker each had a dream. They told Joseph their dreams.
“I dreamt that there was a vine with three branches,” said the wine server, “and it was growing grapes. Then I made the grapes into wine and poured it into the Pharaoh’s cup.”
“God has given me the ability to understand dreams,” Joseph told the wine server, “and I think I know what your dream means.” Joseph then told the wine server that in three days the king would give him back his job.
The baker liked that explanation! He was anxious to hear what good things Joseph would tell him. “I dreamt that I had three baskets of bread on my head,” he said. “Then a bird came and ate some bread right out of the basket.”
Joseph told him what the dream meant. “In three days Pharaoh will take you out of prison too but you will not go back to your job. Pharaoh will kill you.” Sure enough, three days later, Pharaoh gave his wine server back his job. But he did not forgive the baker for what he had done.
“Don’t forget to tell the king who told you what your dream meant,” Joseph reminded the wine server as he was leaving jail.
“I most certainly will,” the wine server assured him.
But of course, he completely forgot about Joseph.
~
Two years later, Pharaoh woke up in the middle of the night, very troubled. He called for all his advisors and magicians to come at once. “I have had two very disturbing dreams and I need someone to tell me what they mean,” Pharaoh announced.
But no one could explain to Pharaoh what his dreams meant. Suddenly, the wine server remembered the Hebrew, Joseph, who had explained his dream. “I know someone who can interpret your dream,” he told the king. “Only, he’s in jail right now.”
The king ordered his guards to bring Joseph to him.
When Joseph appeared, he told Pharaoh, “Your Excellency, please tell me your dreams. I will pray to my God to tell me what your dreams mean.” So Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams.
“I was standing at the edge of the river and I could see seven fat cows feeding on the grass. Suddenly, seven very scrawny sick cows appeared and ate up the fat ones. After they ate the fat cows, the scrawny cows looked just as skinny and sickly as before!”
“Then I woke up from my dream. But I fell asleep again and had another dream,” continued Pharaoh. “In this dream, I saw seven full ears of corn. And then seven dried out, thin ears of corn appeared, and swallowed up the full ones. After they ate the full ones, the thin ears of corn looked just as dried out as before!”
Pharaoh turned to Joseph. “I told these dreams to all of my advisors and magicians, and no one could explain them to me.”
“Both dreams mean the same thing,” Joseph told Pharaoh, “There will be seven years of plenty in Egypt. But then there will be seven years of famine, when nothing will grow.”
“What should we do?” asked the king.
“Pharaoh should find a wise man and set him over the land of Egypt,” Joseph advised. “This man will be in charge of storing food during the good years, so there will be enough left for the hard years.”
Pharaoh heard Joseph’s words and realized he was right. “We will not find a man who is wiser than you are,” Pharaoh said to Joseph. “You will be in charge of my house and you will be second only to me.” Pharaoh made Joseph his second in command of all Egypt. Soon after, Joseph married and had two sons, Menashe and Ephraim.
~
Steps for Completing this Torah Hangout:
- Read the story above.
- With a partner or on a sheet of paper, discuss the following questions:
- How would you describe Joseph’s personality? Compare Joseph’s character in this story to his character when he was still at home with his father and brothers.
- How does Joseph go from being a slave to being the Pharaoh’s second in command?
- According to Joseph, how is he able to understand the meaning of dreams?
- When we learned about Joseph as a young man still living with his father and brothers, we saw how Joseph’s telling his dreams made his brothers hate him. Now, interpreting dreams of the servants and of Pharaoh make people love him. What about his dreaming and dream-telling make people either love Joseph or hate him?
- Now that you know what happens to Joseph in Egypt, do you think what his brothers did to him was a good thing? Why or why not?
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