Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams and Rises to Power: Clothing, a motif throughout the Joseph story, plays a particularly prominent role in this account; it marks Joseph’s transition from prison to the honor of standing before Pharaoh and then his investiture with authority. In this account we read about Pharaoh’s dreams (vv. 1–7), his need for an interpreter (vv. 8–16), Joseph’s interpretation of the dreams (vv. 17–32), his counsel to Pharaoh concerning the coming crisis (vv. 33–38), Joseph’s installation into office (vv. 39–45), the years of plenty (vv. 46–49), the birth of Joseph’s two sons (vv. 50–52), and the beginning of the famine (vv. 53–57).

41:1–7  Since Pharaoh’s power was directly related to the fertility of the Nile, years of poor crops weakened the throne. One night Pharaoh r…