Parashat Mikeitz (Genesis 41:1-44:17)
Genesis 41
41:7 And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.
Comment: How many dreams appeared in the story about Joseph?
Six. This is the 6th and the last dream in the story of Joseph. Six dreams knit up this wonderful story that has changed many people’s lives. Dreams, an invisible and intangible thing, actually changed people’s destiny. If you think about it, there is actually a master of fate behind it.
The story took place in West Asia and North Africa, in an ancient era when slavery was still practiced.
Joseph, a wealthy 17-year-old boy who was favored by his father, described to his brothers his Dreams 1,2, that suggested that the brothers were about to bow down to him, which intensified their jealousy and prompted them to sell Joseph to Egypt as a slave, to prevent the fulfillment of Joseph’s Dreams 1, 2.
In Egypt, Joseph was falsely accused and put into a prison. There, with Gd’s help, Joseph interpreted the dreams of his inmates at the age of 28, which are the Dreams 3,4.
Two years later, Pharaoh dreamed Dreams 5,6 that no one could interpret. The inmate who was released from prison recommended Joseph to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh, so that Joseph was released from prison. He interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams (again with Gd’s help), and became the prime minister of Egypt, in order to implement the revelation in Dreams 5 and 6, and save food for the famine in advance.
During the famine years, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy food and bowed down to the Egyptian prime minister, not knowing that it was actually the 39-year-old Joseph, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Joseph’s Dreams 1, 2 from 22 years ago.
(These are translated with Google from a Chinese article of mine: http://mijiale.mypressonline.com/2022/12/10/（创37-41）六个梦背后的作者/)
41:35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
Comment: As the next verse explains, the excess food from the good years is kept for feeding the famine years. This is similar to saving money from salary to be used in the retirement years. This actually can be applied more generally. For example: What if you suddenly get a lot of time to spend, such as by waiting in a long line, or having missed a flight?
You can take out your smartphone, study the Bible, read the papers, or write your own book …. When one has a lot of leisure time, one can use it to prepare for the busier times in the future. After one gets baptized and before he could leave this world and return to Gd, he is commissioned by Gd to do His will on earth. So he should make good use of all his time here before he is called to return to Gd.
Many years ago there was no smartphone yet, and I missed a flight to Madison, WI, and had to wait for about half a day. In order to spend time there, I thought about a research problem that I was working on with my collaborator. Baruch Hashem, I had an idea before boarding the plane. After I arrived at Madison, I found time to record the idea in the evening, and later formed a concise theorem. The paper was published a year later and has since received dozens of citations. At that time I was not baptized yet and was not tenured yet either, so my focus was on secular research. If leisure time appeared now, I would focus more on studying the Bible, or doing related writings.
Genesis 42
42:14 And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:
Comment: “Ye are spies”: The brothers are now being “wrongly accused”, as Joseph was wrongly accused (by the wife of his former master).
42:17 And he put them all together into ward three days.
Comment: The brothers are now put in a prison, as Joseph was put in a prison (after being wrongly accused).
Genesis 43
43:9 I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:
Comment: The original text from
reads as אנכי אערבנו מידי תבקשנו אם־לא הביאתיו אליך והצגתיו לפניך וחטאתי לך כל־הימים
The initial letters of the second to fourth words (from right to left) אערבנו מידי תבקשנו spell אמת in acrostic, which means “Truth”.
43:10 For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.
Comment: The original text reads as:
כי לולא התמהמהנו כי־עתה שבנו זה פעמים
The holy name of “the L-RD” appear in acrostic in the final letters of כי־עתה שבנו זה .
43:11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:
Comment: The original text reads:
ויאמר אלהם ישראל אביהם אם־כן אפוא זאת עשו קחו מזמרת הארץ בכליכם והורידו לאיש מנחה מעט צרי ומעט דבש נכאת ולט בטנים ושקדים
Acrostic in the final letters of והורידו לאיש מנחה we find ושה , which means “And a lamb (or kid)”.
2025 Comment: “nuts”, some translate as pistachio nuts https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h992/kjv/wlc/0-1/
Our family sometimes hosts students for dinner and Bible study. We often treat them with pistachio nuts. We did not know that this kind of nut appeared in the Bible. After I learned about this, I would mention students when we eat pistachios – that they are in the Bible, they were included in a present that Jacob sent to the Egyptian prime minister, who was actually Jacob’s long lost son Joseph.
“a present”: Jacob sent a present when he faced danger himself many years ago. At that time he prepared to fight, he prayed to G-d, and he also prepared a present to seek peace (Chapter 31). Now he is teaching his sons similar things to do when they need to face a seemingly harsh Egyptian ruler.
43:12 And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight:
2025 Comment: This time it is not about a possible war, but trying to buy food to eat during a worldwide severe famine, from the “Egyptian ruler”. So the preparation of war is replaced by preparing to do business with enough money. In verse 13 Jacob also instructs them to bring their youngest brother whom the “Egyptian ruler” wanted to see. In verse 14 Jacob adds a prayer for G-d to give them mercy before “the man”. Preparations are different now for different purposes from Chapter 32, but both times Jacob prayed since G-d can change people’s hearts, whoever they are. Both times a present was sent, since it is usually good to show good will and make peace with people. This time the present is from the best local produce, which, unknowingly to Jacob, might be cherished by his long lost son (“the Egyptian ruler”) and soften his heart. However, all is in G-d’s plan.
Comment: The original text reads as:
וכסף משנה קחו בידכם ואת־הכסף המושב בפי אמתחתיכם תשיבו בידכם אולי משגה הוא
In acrostic, the final letters of משנה קחו בידכם ואת spell הומת, which means “was killed”.
In summary, these four verses Genesis 43:9-12 seem to contain this message in acrostic: ‘True is the L-RD, and a lamb (or kid) was killed’[1]. I am not sure what this means. Does it hint at the goat killed 22 years ago instead of Joseph himself, so that it is foretelling that Jacob will soon find the truth that Joseph is still alive? Or maybe in Christian theology, a kid or lamb that was killed symbolizes Jesus [2], who was killed a long time ago to atone for the sin of the Israelites, and after such a long time, now they will soon repent and be saved from all troubles?
[1] I translate “אמת Adonai” as “True is Adonai”, similar to a translation of “אמת malkeinu” as “True is our king” in Aleinu, see http://prayingwithfire.org/images/Newsletter169BW.pdf
[2] Revelation 5:6 says “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” This lamb being killed symbolizes that Gd sent His own representation in human form to suffer death and atone for our sins. This lamb was translated into the same word as what I found in acrostic in Genesis 4:11, as שה in the Hebrew translation of the New Testament: http://www.sarshalom.us/resources/scripture/asv/html/revelation.html#5
43:34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.
Comment: “Benjamin’s mess (i.e. portion) was five times”: Was Joseph favoring his full brother Benjamin too much over his 10 half brothers?
I do not think so. This might have been deliberately done to give the ten brothers a possible reason to be jealous of Benjamin, and to create an opportunity for them to overcome their jealousy, when they would need to act in the next chapter to save Benjamin, who would be “wrongly accused”.
Genesis 44
44:3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.
2025 Comment: “The morning was light”: Jewish wisdom cares about safety. They taught that travelers should leave lodging after daylight starts and find lodging before daylight ends. (Taanit 10b) https://www.sefaria.org/Taanit.10b.11?lang=bi
“The morning was light”: It has Hebrew letters related to a greeting `morning of light’ Boker Ohr. It is a beautiful response to `good morning’ (Boker Tov). This brings me a good memory since I learned it from my daughter, who attended a Hebrew school as a little girl. Once she greeted me in Hebrew Boker Tov (Good morning), and I responded to her Boker Tov also, but she said I should say Boker Ohr (Morning of light), and told me that her school teacher said so.
44:16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.
Comment: The brothers are now facing slavery, as Joseph faced.
It is striking that the 10 brothers faced all the sufferings that they caused Joseph to face after selling him (slavery, being wrongly accused, being prisoned). Benjamin was innocent and he is facing slavery too, but he will be compensated by Joseph in the future for this unjustified scare. (See v.45:22: “To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.”)
Did Joseph want to personally avenge his brothers for everything that he suffered?
No. We will soon see that in fact he wanted to forgive them. His “revenges” were all disproportionately light. For example, brothers were not imprisoned very long (only 3 days for most of them). The link below basically suggests that Joseph was helping the brothers to recall their previous sin and to sincerely regret, by getting some idea of how the victim suffered. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/brotherly-confession
For ordinary people like us, we shouldn’t misunderstand the Bible and personally revenge people who did us wrong. Instead, we are taught to forgive people as Gd forgives us, (Matthew 6:14-15) “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”