Parshas Miketz - the interpretation of Pharo's dream

The passuk says in this week’s sedrah (41:25)

וַיֹּאמֶר יוֹסֵף אֶל פַּרְעֹה חֲלוֹם פַּרְעֹה אֶחָד הוּא אֵת אֲשֶׁר הָאֱלֹקִים עֹשֶׂה הִגִּיד לְפַרְעֹה

“And Yosef said to Pharoh, both of Pharoh’s dreams are one. That which Hashem is doing He has told to Pharoh.”

• The word עֹשֶׂה is in the present tense, seemingly the passuk should have said, “That which Hashem will do he has told to Pharoh,” and not “That which Hashem is doing?”

Three pessukim later, Yosef repeats (41:28)

הוּא הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי אֶל פַּרְעֹה אֲשֶׁר הָאֱלֹקִים עֹשֶׂה הֶרְאָה אֶת פַּרְעֹה

“This is the matter which I said to Pharoh, that which Hashem is doing He has shown to Pharoh.”

• In the first passuk, Yosef said that Hashem has related (הִגִּיד) to Pharoh. In the second passuk, Yosef said that Hashem has shown (הֶרְאָה) to Pharoh. Why did Yosef change from הִגִּיד to הֶרְאָה?

Yosef continued to advise Pharoh that the grain from the good years should be stored for the years of famine (41:36)

וְהָיָה הָאֹכֶל לְפִקָּדוֹן לָאָרֶץ לְשֶׁבַע שְׁנֵי הָרָעָב אֲשֶׁר תִּהְיֶיןָ בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם וְלֹא תִכָּרֵת הָאָרֶץ בָּרָעָב

“And the food will be a deposit for the land for the years of famine which will be in the land of Mitzrayim, and the land will not be exterminated in the famine.”

• Why did Yosef offer his advice to Pharoh, seeing as he was only asked to interpret the dream?

The Tzaphnas Pa’aneach explains as follows:

The Medrash Rabbah says (Parshas Va’era)

"וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל מֹשֶׁה נְטֵה יָדְךָ עַל הַשָּׁמָיִם" הדא הוא דכתיב (תהלים קל"ה, ו') כל אשר חפץ ה' עשה וגו' אמר דוד אף על פי שגזר הקדוש ברוך הוא (שם קט"ו ט"ז) השמים שמים לה' והארץ נתן לבני אדם, משל למה הדבר דומה למלך שגזר ואמר בני רומי לא ירדו לסוריא ובני סוריא לא יעלו לרומי, כך כשברא הקדוש ברוך הוא את העולם גזר ואמר השמים שמים לה' והארץ נתן לבני אדם, כשבקש ליתן התורה בטל גזירה ראשונה ואמר התחתונים יעלו לעליונים והעליונים ירדו לתחתונים ואני המתחיל שנאמר (שמות י"ט כ') וירד ה' על הר סיני וכתיב (שם כ"ד א') ואל משה אמר עלה אל ה' הרי כל אשר חפץ ה' עשה בשמים ובארץ וגו'

“When Hashem created the world, He said, השמים שמים לה' והארץ נתן לבני אדם, ‘Those who are in the shamayim may not descend to the eretz, and those who are on the eretz may not rise to the shamayim.’ This comparable to a king who decreed and said, ‘The people in Rome may not go down to Syria and the people in Syria may not ascend to Rome.’

However at the time of matan torah, Hashem annulled that decree, as the passuk says, and Hashem descended on to Har Sinai, and to Moshe He said, ‘Go up to Hashem.’”

The first intervention by Hashem that prepared the way to matan torah was Pharoh’s dream. Subsequently, just as at Har Sinai, Hashem came down to the eretz and Moshe went up to the shamayim, so too in Pharoh’s dream, Hashem brought Pharoh into the realm of shamayim and showed him what was happening there. Since the concept of time is not significant for Hashem, Pharoh was able to see the years of plenty and the years of famine as they were happening, even though these would only occur 7 and 14 years in the future. That is why the passuk uses the present tense (עֹשֶׂה) concerning Pharoh’s nevuah, and not the future tense.

Initially Yosef used the term הִגִּיד because Pharoh thought that Hashem had merely told him a message. However, after Yosef explained that Pharoh had risen to the realm of shamayim and seen the ebb and flow of plenty that Hashem would create, he used the word הֶרְאָה, because Pharoh could understand that he had seen what Hashem was doing, and had not merely been told about it.

Also, since Pharoh had been brought into the realm of shamayim, this meant that Pharoh himself had become a part of Hashem’s plan. Subsequently Yosef explained that this meant that Pharoh was responsible for storing the flow of plenty that would come from shamayim during the first seven years, and then for the release this plenty during the years of famine, to counteract the extreme conditions that had been decreed by Hashem.

Since this advice was part of the interpretation of Pharoh’s dream, Yosef did not tell Pharoh anything that he had not been asked.