"Accursed are the wicked that never do a wholly good deed." The chief
butler described Joseph contemptuously as a "slave" in order that it
might be impossible for him to occupy a distinguished place at court,
for it was a law upon the statute books of Egypt that a slave could
never sit upon the throne as king, nor even put his foot in the stirrup
of a horse.[167]
Pharaoh revoked the edict of death that he had issued against the wise
men of Egypt, and he sent and called Joseph. He impressed care upon his
messengers, they were not to excite and confuse Joseph, and render him
unfit to interpret the king's dream correctly.[168] They brought him
hastily out of the dungeon, but first Joseph, out of respect for the
king, shaved himself, and put on fresh raiment, which an angel brought
him from Paradise, and then he came in unto Pharaoh.[169]
The king was sitting upon the royal throne, arrayed in princely
garments, clad with a golden ephod upon his breast, and the fine gold
of the ephod sparkled, and the carbuncle, the ruby, and the emerald
flamed like a torch, and all the precious stones set upon the king's
head flashed like a blazing fire, and Joseph was greatly amazed at the
appearance of the king. The throne upon which he sat was covered with
gold and silver and with onyx stones, and it had seventy steps. If a
prince or other distinguished person came to have an audience with the
king, it was the custom for him to advance and mount to the
thirty-first step of the throne, and the king would descend thirty-six
steps and speak to him. But if one of the people came to have speech
with the king, he ascended only to the third step, and the king would
come down four steps from his seat, and address him thence. It was also
the custom that one who knew all the seventy languages ascended the
seventy steps of the throne to the top, but if a man knew only some of
the seventy languages, he was permitted to ascend as many steps as he
knew languages, whether they were many or, few. And another custom of
the Egyptians was that none could reign over them unless he was master
of all the seventy languages.
When Joseph came before the king, he bowed down to the ground, and he
ascended to the third step, while the king sat upon the fourth from the
top, and spake with Joseph, saying:[170] "O young man, my servant
beareth witness concerning thee, that thou art the best and most
discerning person I can consult with. I pray thee, vouchsafe unto me
the same favors which thou didst bestow on this servant of mine, and
tell me what events they are which the visions of my dreams foreshow. I
desire thee to suppress naught out of fear, nor shalt thou flatter me
with lying words, or with words that please me. Tell me the truth,
though it be sad and alarming."[171]
Joseph asked the king first whence he knew that the interpretation
given by the wise men of his country was not true, and Pharaoh replied,
"I saw the dream and its interpretation together, and therefore they
cannot make a fool of me."[172] In his modesty Joseph denied that he
was an adept at interpreting dreams. He said, "It is not in me; it is
in the hand of God, and if it be the wish of God, He will permit me to
announce tidings of peace to Pharaoh." And for such modesty he was
rewarded by sovereignty over Egypt, for the Lord doth honor them that
honor Him. Thus was also Daniel rewarded for his speech to
Nebuchadnezzar:
"There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, but as for me, this
secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any
living, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to
the king, and that thou mayest know the thoughts of thy heart."[173]
Then Pharaoh began to tell his dream, only he omitted some points and
narrated others inaccurately in order that he might test the vaunted
powers of Joseph. But the youth corrected him, and pieced the dreams
together exactly as they had visited Pharaoh in the night, and the king
was greatly amazed.[174] Joseph was able to accomplish this feat,
because he had dreamed the same dream as Pharaoh, at the same time as
he.[175] Thereupon Pharaoh retold his dreams, with all details and
circumstances, and precisely as he had seen them in his sleep, except
that he left out the word Nile in the description of the seven lean
kine, because this river was worshipped by the Egyptians, and he
hesitated to say that aught that is evil had come from his god.[176]
Now Joseph proceeded to give the king the true interpretation of the
two dreams. They were both a revelation concerning the seven good years
impending and the seven years of famine to follow them. In reality, it
had been the purpose of God to bring a famine of forty-two years'
duration upon Egypt, but only two years of this distressful period were
inflicted upon the land, for the sake of the blessing of Jacob when he
came to Egypt in the second year of the famine. The other forty years
fell upon the land at the time of the prophet Ezekiel.[177]
Joseph did more than merely interpret the dreams. When the king gave
voice to doubts concerning the interpretation, he told him signs and
tokens. He said: "Let this be a sign to thee that my words are true,
and my advice is excellent: Thy wife, who is sitting upon the
birthstool at this moment, will bring forth a son, and thou wilt
rejoice over him, but in the midst of thy joy the sad tidings will be
told thee of the death of thine older son, who was born unto thee but
two years ago, and thou must needs find consolation for the loss of the
one in the birth of the other."
Scarcely had Joseph withdrawn from the presence of the king, when the
report of the birth of a son was brought to Pharaoh, and soon after
also the report of the death of his first-born, who had suddenly
dropped to the floor and passed away. Thereupon he sent for all the
grandees of his realm, and all his servants, and he spake to them,
saying: "Ye have heard the words of the Hebrew, and ye have seen that
the signs which he foretold were accomplished, and I also know that he
hath interpreted the dream truly. Advise me now how the land may be
saved from the ravages of the famine. Look hither and thither whether
you can find a man of wisdom and understanding, whom I may set over the
land, for I am convinced that the land can be saved only if we heed the
counsel of the Hebrew." The grandees and the princes admitted that
safety could be secured only by adhering to the advice given by Joseph,
and they proposed that the king, in his sagacity, choose a man whom he
considered equal to the great task.[178] Thereupon Pharaoh said: "If we
traversed and searched the earth from end to end, we could find none
such as Joseph, a man in whom is the spirit of God.[179] If ye think
well thereof, I will set him over the land which he hath saved by his
wisdom."[180]
The astrologers, who were his counsellors, demurred, saying, "A slave,
one whom his present owner hath acquired for twenty pieces of silver,
thou proposest to set over us as master?" But Pharaoh maintained that
Joseph was not only a free-born man beyond the peradventure of a doubt,
but also the scion of a noble family.[181] However, the princes of
Pharaoh were not silenced, they continued to give utterance to their
opposition to Joseph, saying: "Dost thou not remember the immutable law
of the Egyptians, that none may serve as king or as viceroy unless he
speaks all the languages of men? And this Hebrew knows none but his own
tongue, and how were it possible that a man should rule over us who
cannot even speak the language of our land? Send and have him fetched
hither, and examine him in respect to all the things a ruler should
know and have, and then decide as seemeth wise in thy sight."
Pharaoh yielded, he promised to do as they wished, and he appointed the
following day as the time for examining Joseph, who had returned to his
prison in the meantime, for, on account of his wife, his master feared
to have him stay in his house. During the night Gabriel appeared unto
Joseph, and taught him all the seventy languages, and he acquired them
quickly after the angel had changed his name from Joseph to Jehoseph.
The next morning, when he came into the presence of Pharaoh and the
nobles of the kingdom, inasmuch as he knew every one of the seventy
languages, he mounted all the steps of the royal throne, until he
reached the seventieth, the highest, upon which sat the king, and
Pharaoh and his princes rejoiced that Joseph fulfilled all the
requirements needed by one that was to rule over Egypt.
The king said to Joseph: "Thou didst give me the counsel to look out a
man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt, that he may
in his wisdom save the land from the famine. As God hath showed thee
all this, and as thou art master of all the languages of the world,
there is none so discreet and wise as thou. Thou shalt therefore be the
second in the land after Pharaoh, and according unto thy word shall all
my people go in and go out; my princes and my servants shall receive
their monthly appanage from thee; before thee the people shall
prostrate themselves, only in the throne will I be greater than
thou."[182]