Genesis 41:25-36

Joseph also presented God as sovereign over Pharaoh (Genesis 41:25; Genesis 41:28). The Egyptians regarded Pharaoh as a divine manifestation in human form. By accepting Joseph’s interpretation of his dreams Pharaoh chose to place himself under Joseph’s God. God rewarded this humility by preserving the land of Egypt in the coming famine.

". . . the writer has gone out of his way to present the whole narrative in a series of pairs, all fitting within the notion of the emphasis given by means of the repetition: ’The matter is certain and swift’ (Genesis 41:32). The repetition of the dreams, then, fits this pattern." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 214.]

"The intention of prophecies concerning judgments to come, is to excite those threatened with them to take proper measures for averting them." [Note: Bush, 2:281. Cf. von Rad, p. 376.]

"The writer’s emphasis on the ’good’ and ’evil’ represents Joseph’s wisdom and discernment as an ability to distinguish between the ’good’ (tob) and the ’evil’ (ra’). Such a picture suggests that in the story of Joseph the writer is returning to one of the central themes of the beginning of the book, the knowledge of ’good’ (tob) and ’evil’ (ra’). While Joseph is able to discern between ’good and evil,’ it is clear from this story that ultimately such knowledge comes only from God (Genesis 41:39). Joseph is the embodiment of the ideal that true wisdom, the ability to discern between ’good and evil,’ comes only from God. Thus the lesson of the early chapters of Genesis is artfully repeated in these last chapters." [Note: Sailhamer, "Genesis," p. 240.]

"Joseph prefigured the victors Moses and Daniel, the bookends of Israel’s period of captivity, whose wisdom prevailed over the Gentiles (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18 to 1 Corinthians 2:16)." [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 740.]