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their own flesh and blood, suggests
selling Joseph to a passing group
of Midianite traders for 20 silver
shekels. The brothers follow Judah’s
plan and also dip Joseph’s robe in
goat’s blood to pretend to their
father that their brother has been
killed by a wild animal.Fortunes in Egypt
The Midianites sell Joseph on to
Ishmaelites traveling to Egypt,
who, in turn, sell him into slavery in
the house of Potiphar, the captain
of Pharaoh’s guard. Joseph serves
his master well and is soon in
charge of the entire household.
However, when Potpihar’s wife
falsely accuses Joseph of seducing
her, Potiphar throws him in prison.JOSEPH THE DREAMER
As Joseph stays true to his faith
by resisting sexual temptation,
God does not desert him in his
suffering. He is put in charge of the
other prisoners, and interprets the
dreams of two of them—Pharaoh’s
chief cupbearer and head baker.
He tells them that in three days the
baker will be put to death, while
the cupbearer will be pardoned.
When his predictions come true,
Joseph asks the cupbearer to put in
a good word for him with Pharaoh,
which he promises to do.
However, the cupbearer, unlike
God, is fallible and forgets his
promise until two years later, when
Pharaoh begins to have strange
dreams. In the first dream, seven
sickly cows devour seven healthy
ones as they graze beside the Nile.
In the second, seven sickly ears
of grain swallow seven fat ones.
At this point, the cupbearer
remembers Joseph. Hearing the
cupbearer’s story, Pharaoh has
Joseph brought before him.
Joseph is quick to explain the
meaning of Pharaoh’s dream, while
also being careful to stress that hePharaoh’s Egypt
Ancient Egypt was a sharply
segregated society. At the
top stood the pharaoh, not
just as a king, but as an
incarnation of divine power.
Below the pharaoh came the
nobles and then the priests; at
the bottom were the farmers
and slaves, the largest group.
Although the country was
mainly desert, agriculture
along the Nile valley created
enormous wealth for ancient
Egypt. The unusual fertility of
the Nile valley was due to the
akhet (the annual inundation),
when the Nile floods. The silt
left behind enriched the soil,
leading to abundant harvests.
Tax on this bounty created
immense wealth for Pharaoh
and the nobles.
Hapi, the Nile god, and
Osiris, god of life, received
hymns and offerings to ensure
the inundation. These gods
were among more than 2,000
in ancient Egypt, including
Anubis, god of the underworld,
Isis, goddess of love, and the
sun god Ra. It is not known to
what extent the Israelites in
Egypt embraced these gods or
stayed true to their one God.Jacob is shown examining Joseph’s
blood-stained coat in a 19th-century
engraving. Refusing to be comforted,
Jacob says: “I will continue to mourn
until I join my son in the grave” (37:35).Joseph’s dream An upright sheaf of wheat is surrounded
by 11 others, which bow down before it. (Genesis 37:7)The cupbearer’s dream A hand squeezes one of three
bunches of grapes into a goblet. (40:9–11)US_058-061_Joseph_the_Dreamer.indd 60 21/09/17 11:26 am