Joseph Interprets the King’s Dreams

Joseph The Dreams Interpreter

Joseph interprets the King's Dreams

When two full years had passed, the Pharaoh of Egypt had a dream.  He was standing by the Nile River, when seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the river and began to feed on the grass. After them, there were seven other cows, ugly and gaunt.  They came up out of the Nile River and stood on the bank.  And those ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. The king woke up after this dream.  He had another dream when the king fell asleep again.  There were seven heads of grain, good and healthy which were growing on a single stalk. After them were another seven other heads of grains sprouted which were thin and scorched by the east wind.  The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good and healthy full heads of grain. The king woke up again after this dream and he realized that he had only been dreaming.  He was worried, so he called up all the magicians and wise men of Egypt in that morning.  He has narrated his two dreams to the magicians and wise men, however no one could explain to him the meaning of his dreams.

The wine steward told the king: “Today I have done wrong and I must confess.  Your highness, you were once angry with me your servant and the chief baker and you imprisoned both of us in the house of the captain of the guard.  Each of us had a dream in one same night, and each of our dreams has its own meaning. A young Hebrew, the slave of the captain of the guard was there with us that time.  We narrated to him our dreams, and then he interpreted our dreams for us.  All the things turned out exactly as what he said:  you have restored me to my position, but you have executed the baker.”

The Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the prison.  After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came into the king’s presence.  The king said to Joseph, “I have had two dreams, and no one could ever explain them to me.  I have been informed that you can interpret dream.”

“I cannot interpret that Your Majesty, but God will give a favorable interpretation.” Joseph answered to the king.

The Pharaoh said, “I dreamed that I was standing on the bank of the Nile, when seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the river and began feeding on the grass.  Then seven other cows came up which were ugly and gaunt.  They were the ugliest cows I have seen  in the entire land of Egypt.  The ugly and gaunt cows ate up the fat ones, but no one could have known it, because they looked just as bad as before. Then I woke up again after that dream. I also dreamed that I saw seven heads of grain, good and healthy, growing on one stalk.  Then seven heads of grains grain sprouted; thin and scorched by the east wind, and the thin heads of grain swallowed good and healthy full heads of grain.  I informed the magicians about these dreams, but none of them could explain them to me.”

Joseph said to the Pharaoh, “The two dreams mean the same thing; God has told you what he is going to do.  The seven fat cows represent the seven years, and the seven full heads of grain are also seven years; they all have same meaning.  The seven thin cows which came up later and the seven thin heads of grains scorched by the desert wind on the other hand represent the seven years of famine.  God has shown to you what he is going to do, just like what I have told you. There will be seven years of great abundance all over the land of Egypt.  There will be seven years of famine after that and all the good years will be forgotten, because the famine will ruin the country. The years of abundance will be totally forgotten, because the famine which follows will be so terrible.  The recurrence of your dream means that the matter has already been fixed by God and He will make things happen in the near future.

“And now the Pharaoh should choose some man with wisdom and insight and put him in charge of the country.  During the seven years of plenty harvest you must also appoint other officials and take a fifth of the crops.  During the good years that are coming, you have to order them to collect all the food and give them authority to store up grains in the cities but have them guarded.  The foods that were stored will be reserve supply for the country during the seven years of famine which are going to come on Egypt.  The people will not starve in this way.”

(Quoted from Genesis 41: 1-36, Today’s English Version & New International Version)