Parasha: Genesis 41:1 - 44:17

Miketz - "At the end"

Genesis 41:

1 Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that *Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river. *(hfor4Pa Phar-oh = King; fr1P, Pe-ra = Leader)

2 Suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow. (And he continues to dream as you already heard during the Torah reading.)

3 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river.

4 And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke.

5 He slept and dreamed a second time; and suddenly seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, plump and good.

6 Then behold, seven thin heads, blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them.

7 And the seven thin heads devoured the seven plump and full heads. So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream.

8 Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians (Char-tim MFor4Ha = "sacred scribes") of ¹Mits-raim(Egypt) and all its wise men (Cha-kam MkAHA = "skilled, wise, intelligent"). And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

( Myir1c;mi = Egypt = to restrain, distresses & two parts. Mats-or = rOcm1 = lower Egypt; Pat-rom = MOrt4Pa = upper Egypt; Egyptians = Mits-rim = Myr9c;mi) (Heireg yod)

9 Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: "I remember my faults this day. . . .

10 "When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker,

11 "we each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.

12 "Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream.

13 "And it came to pass, just as he interpreted for us, so it happened. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him."

14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Yosef (Joseph)(pseOy = "he takes away"), and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh.

15 And Pharaoh said to Yosef, "I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it."

16 So Yosef answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me; Elohim, will give Pharaoh an answer of peace." [Elohim = Myhi(lx$ (hl,0xe = "these" hlAxe = "oak tree") (Gods plural)] (So Pharaoh tells Yosef his dream. . . )

17 Then Pharaoh said to Yosef: "Behold, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river.

18 "Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow.

19 "Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Mits-raim (Egypt.)

20 "And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows.

21 "When they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke.

22 "Also I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven heads came up on one stalk, full and good.

23 "Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them.

24 "And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads. So I told this to the sacred scribes, but there was no one who could explain it to me."

25 Then Yo-sef said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one; Elohim has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: (Yosef explains the dream to Pharaoh)

26 "The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one.

27 "And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine.

28 "This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. Elohim has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.

29 "Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Mits-raim;

30 "but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Mits-raim; and the famine will deplete the land.

31 "So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe.

32 "And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by Elohim, and Elohim will shortly bring it to pass.

33 "Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning ( Bin NyBi) and wise man (Ha-kam MkAHA = "skilled, wise, intelligent"), and set him over the land of Mits-raim.

34 "Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Mits-raim in the seven plentiful years.

35 "And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.

36 "Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Mits-raim, that the land may not perish during the famine."

37 So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.

38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of Elohim?"

39 Then Pharaoh said to Yosef, "In as much as Elohim has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.

40 "You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you."

41 And Pharaoh said to Yosef, "See, I have set you over all the land of Mits-raim."

42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Yosef's hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.

43 And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, "Bow the knee!" So he set him over all the land of Mits-raim. (Every knee will bow. . . )

44 Pharaoh also said to Yosef, "I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Mits-raim."

45 And Pharaoh called Yosef's name Za-ph-nat - Pa-ne-cha (Hanef;Pa tn1p;cA = "revealer of a secret" - Egyption= "Saviour of the Age" ). And he gave him as a wife Ase-nat (tn1s4xA = "she who is of Neith" or "is devoted to Isis"), the daughter of Po-ti - Phe-ra ( fr1p, yFiOP) priest of On (NOx = light of the sun). [Po-ti - Phe-ra (fr1p, yFiOP = "he whom the Ra gave"] So Yosef went out over all the land of Mits-raim.

46 Yosef was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Mits-raim (13 years had passed). And Yosef went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Mits-raim.

47 Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly.

48 So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Mits-raim, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them.

49 Yosef gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable.

50 And to Yosef were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Ase-nat, the daughter of Po-ti-Phe-ra priest of On, bore to him.

51 Yosef called the name of the firstborn Me-nas-seh ( hw,0n1m4 = "one who forgets") : "For Elohim has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house."

52 And the name of the second he called Eph-ra-im (Myir1p4x, = "twin lands, double fruit"): "For Elohim has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." (Hereg yod)

53 Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Mits-raim ended, (20 years later)

54 and the seven years of famine began to come, as Yosef had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Mits-raim there was bread. (Why bless a pagan country?)

55 So when all the land of Mits-raim was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Yosef; whatever he says to you, do."

56 The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Yosef opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Mits-raim.

57 So all countries came to Yosef in Mits-raim to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands.

Genesis 42:

1 When Ya'acov saw that there was grain in Mits-raim, Ya'acov said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?"

2 And he said, "Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Mits-raim; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die."

3 So Yosef's ten brothers went down to buy grain in Mits-raim.

4 But Ya'acov did not send Yosef's brother Ben-yamin (Benjamin)(Nymiy!n4Bi= "son of my right hand) with his brothers, for he said, "Lest some calamity befall him."

5 And the sons of Yisrael went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was in the land of Ce-na-an (Canaan).

6 Now Yosef was governor over the land (FyL0iwa shal-let' = ruler ); and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Yosef's brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. (Remember his dream: the eleven stars, the sun and the moon will bow)

7 Yosef saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, "Where do you come from?" And they said, "From the land of Ce-na-an to buy food."

8 So Yosef recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.

9 Then Yosef remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, "You are spies! (Lgar! Ra-gal = to move the feet, to walk about) You have come to see the nakedness (hv!r4f, Er-vah = idea to dishonor) of the land!"

10 And they said to him, "No, my lord (adon = NOdxA), but your servants have come to buy food.

11 "We are all one man's sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies." (Come/dishonor)

12 But he said to them, "No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land."

13 And they said, "Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Ce-na-an; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more."

14 But Yosef said to them, "It is as I spoke to you, saying, `You are spies!' (Lgar! Ra-gal = to move the feet, to walk about; to calumniate, to spread false and harmful statements).

15 "In this manner you shall be tested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

16 "Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!"

17 So he put them all together in prison three days.

18 Then Yosef said to them the third day, "Do this and live, for I fear Elohim:

19 "If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses.

20 "And bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die." And they did so.

21 Then they said to one another, "We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us."

22 And Reu-ven ( NbeUxr4 = "behold a son" - 1^st born) answered them, saying, "Did I not speak to you, saying, `Do not sin against the boy'; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us."

23 But they did not know that Yosef understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.

24 And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Sim-on (NOfm4wi = "hear with acceptance" - 2^nd born) from them and bound him before their eyes.

25 Then Yosef gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man's money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them.

26 So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there.

27 But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack.

28 So he said to his brothers, "My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!" Then their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, "What is this that Elohim has done to us?"

29 Then they went to Ya'acov their father in the land of Ce-na-an and told him all that had happened to them, saying:

30 "The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.

31 "But we said to him, `We are honest men; we are not spies.

32 `We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Ce-na-an.'

33 "Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, `By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone.

34 `And bring your youngest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.'"

35 Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly each man's bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.

36 And Ya'acov their father said to them, "You have bereaved me: Yosef is no more,

Sim-on is no more, and you want to take Ben-yamin. All these things are against me."

37 Then Reu-ven(Ruben) spoke to his father, saying, "Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you."

38 But he said, "My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave."

Genesis 43:

1 Now the famine was severe in the land.

2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from

Mits-raim, that their father said to them, "Go back, buy us a little food." (Watch the bonding .)

3 But Ye-hudah (Judah) (Hd!Uhy4 = "Praised" - 4^th born) spoke to him, saying, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, `You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"

4 "If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.

5 "But if you will not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, `You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"

6 And Yis-rael (Israel) said, "Why did you deal so wrongfully with me as to tell the man whether you had still another brother?"

7 But they said, "The man asked us pointedly about ourselves and our family, saying, `Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?' And we told him according to these words. Could we possibly have known that he would say, `Bring your brother down'?"

8 Then Ye-hudah said to Yis-rael his father, "Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.

9 "I myself will be surety (Ar-ab: braf! = exchange) for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.

10 "For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time." (This is how Yehudah & Ben-yamin became bonded together forever)

11 And their father Yis-rael said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and carry down a present for the man--a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.

12 "Take double money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight.

13 "Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man.

14 "And may Elohim Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Ben-yamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!"

15 So the men took that present and Ben-yamin, and they took double money in their hand, and arose and went down to Mits-raim; and they stood before Yosef.

16 When Yosef saw Ben-yamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Take these men to my home, and slaughter an animal and make ready; for these men will dine with me at noon."

17 Then the man did as Yosef ordered, and the man brought the men into Yosef's house.

18 Now the men were afraid because they were brought into Yosef's house; and they said, "It is because of the money, which was returned in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may make a case against us and fall upon us, to take us as slaves with our donkeys."

19 When they drew near to the steward of Yosef's house, they talked with him at the door of the house,

20 and said, "O sir, we indeed came down the first time to buy food;

21 "but it happened, when we came to the encampment, that we opened our sacks, and there, each man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; so we have brought it back in our hand.

22 "And we have brought down other money in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks."

23 But he said, "Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your Elohim and the Elohim of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money." Then he brought Simeon out to them.

24 So the man brought the men into Yosef's house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed.

25 Then they made the present ready for Yosef's coming at noon, for they heard that they would eat bread there.

26 And when Yosef came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed down before him to the earth.

27 Then he asked them about their well-being, and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?"

28 And they answered, "Your servant our father is in good health; he is still alive." And they bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves.

29 Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Ben-yamin, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me?" And he said, "Elohim be gracious to you, my son."

30 Now his heart yearned for his brother; so Yosef made haste and sought somewhere to weep. And he went into his chamber and wept there.

31 Then he washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, "Serve the bread."

32 So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an *abomination to the Egyptians. *(hbAfeOT . . Ho-ev-at. . . They were shepards of cattle - see note)

33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another.

34 Then he took servings to them from before him, but Ben-yamin's serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.

Genesis 44:

1 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack.

2 "Also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain money." So he did according to the word that Yosef had spoken.

3 As soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.

4 When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Yosef said to his steward, "Get up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, `Why have you repaid evil for good?

5 `Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and with which he indeed practices

divination? You have done evil in so doing.'"

6 So he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words.

7 And they said to him, "Why does my lord say these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing.

8 "Look, we brought back to you from the land of Ce-na-an the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house?

9 "With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's slaves."

10 And he said, "Now also let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be blameless."

11 Then each man speedily let down his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack.

12 So he searched. He began with the oldest and left off with the youngest; and the cup was found in Ben-yamin's sack.

13 Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.

14 So Ye-hudah and his brothers came to Yosef's house, and he was still there; and they fell before him on the ground.

15 And Yosef said to them, "What deed is this you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination?"

16 Then Ye-hudah said, "What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? Elohim has found out the iniquity of your servants; here we are, my lord's slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found."

17 But he said, "Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father."

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NOTE: hbAfeOT . . . Ho-ev-at. . . Abomination: This word is used,

1. To express the idea that the Egyptians considered themselves as defiled when they ate with strangers (Ge 43:32) The Jews subsequently followed the same practice, holding it unlawful to eat or drink with foreigners (John 18:28 Ac 10:28 11:3)

2. Every shepherd was "an abomination" unto the Egyptians (Ge 46:34) This aversion to shepherds, such as the Hebrews, arose probably from the fact that Lower and Middle Egypt had formerly been held in oppressive subjection by a tribe of nomad shepherds (the Hyk-sos), who had only recently been expelled, and partly also perhaps from this other fact that the Egyptians detested the lawless habits of these wandering shepherds.

3. Pharaoh was so moved by the fourth plague, that while he refused the demand of Moses, he offered a compromise, granting to the Israelites permission to hold their festival and offer their sacrifices in Egypt. This permission could not be accepted, because Moses said they would have to sacrifice "the abomination of the Egyptians" (Ex 8:26) i.e., the cow or ox, which all the Egyptians held as sacred, and which they regarded it as sacrilegious to kill.