Genesis 41:1

It was at the end of two years, that the remembrance of Joseph came before the Word of the Lord. And Pharoh dreamed, and, behold, he stood by the river,

BY THE ‘YE’OR’ (RIVER). With the exception of the Nile, none of the other rivers is called ye’or, a word signifying “canal,” because the entire country consists of artificially constructed canals, and the waters of the Nile flow into them. This is the language of Rashi.
Onkelos however did translate the word ye’or here as “river,” but in the book of Exodus he translated al ye’oreihem as “on their canals,” as he had to distinguish between nahar and ye’or since they are both mentioned in the same verse: ‘al naharotham ve’al ye’oreihem’ (on their rivers and on their canals). Thus, according to Onkelos, all rivers are called ye’orim, with the large ones being called both n’haroth and ye’orim while those canals constructed by man are also called ye’orim. applies only to a natural river, while the word ye’or applies to both a natural river and a man-made canal. Thus we find that the Tigris, besides being called nahar, is also called ye’or, as it is written, I was by the side of the great ‘nahar’ (river), which is Tigris… and behold a man clothed in linen, and it is further written there: And, behold, there stood other two, the one on the bank of the ‘ye’or’ (river) on this side, and the other on the bank of the ‘ye’or’ on that side. And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the ‘ye’or’ (river)., 12:5-6. In my opinion the fact is as Onkelos said, and nahar are both terms for rivers. as both ye’or and nahar convey the same concept, both being an expression for orah (light). The rain, likewise, is called or (light), as it is said: He spreadeth ‘oro’ (His light) upon it; He spreadeth abroad the cloud of ‘oro’ (His lighting);, 37:11. and as Rabbi Yochanan said, “All verses in Elihu’s speech in the book of Job containing the word orah refer to the coming down of rain.” Perhaps this is because the rains are influenced by the luminaries, (light) on account of the small luminary (the moon), since its movements, by command of the Creator, cause the rain.” An identical explanation is also found in R’dak’s Sefer Hashorashim, under the root or. and the rivers which are formed by the rains are thus related to their first cause, (light), since the rain is caused by the movement of the luminaries, as explained above. the luminaries.

ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים, two whole years according to Leviticus 25,29-30 ימים תהיה גאולתו, “it may be redeemed until the end of one year.” Here the Torah speaks of שנתים, i.e. twice a year. The word ימים as meaning a year has already occurred in Genesis 24,54 ימים או עשור, “a year or at least 10 months.” Also in Exodus 13,10 we find the expressionמימים ימימה, which means: “from year to year, annually.” When the words מקץ שנתים occur without the addition of the word ימים, they mean “one year.” When an animal did not yet reach the first anniversary of its birth it is called as being בן שנתו, “an up to one year old.” (compare Leviticus 12,6)

ויהי מקץ..ופרעה חולם, while he was dreaming about all kinds of matters of no relevance, matters reflecting what he had experienced during the course of the previous day, he also dreamt something totally unrelated to matters he could relate to, i.e. he saw himself standing on the banks of the river. The word חולם in the present tense, as opposed to חלם in the past, recalls Daniel’s statement as well as the Talmud’s statement in Berachot 55 that generally the subjects one dreams about are unfinished business of what one had been thinking of in the course of the previous day.

ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים, at the end of two years after the release of the cup bearer Pharaoh had given this banquet, following which he had the dream narrated here.

ופרעה חלם. He was dreaming that he was standing by the river. The word על as meaning “besides, close to,” occurs for instance, also in Numbers 2,20 ועלי מטה מנשה, “and beside him (the army of the tribe Ephrayim) camped the army of the tribe Menashe.” The meaning certainly could not be that Menashe was “above, over,” the tribe of Ephrayim, a more common meaning for the word על. G’d directs all these various apparently unrelated little incidents in mysterious ways in order to promote the realisation of His overall plan in historical developments, both of His people, and of mankind generally. Pharaoh’s dream was inspired by G’d in order that the prophecy to Avraham that before his descendants would take possession of the land of the Canaanites which He had promised them could come true. He had spoken of a period of 400 years parts of which would be harsh treatment of Avraham’s descendants as slaves. In order for this to come about, Avraham’s descendants had to be in Egypt. In order for them to go there voluntarily G’d had to orchestrate the famine. In order for Egypt not to perish during the famine Joseph had to interpret Pharaoh’s dream correctly and make the Egyptians indebted to himself and his family, thus reducing the number of years the Jews would do slave labour there. David details these steps of G’d’s השגחה in Psalms 105. When we look at Pharaoh’s dream with hindsight, we cannot fail to wonder why this dream was so difficult to interpret, and why the collective wisdom of all of Pharaoh’s wise men failed them. The answer is that G’d withheld their normal sagacity in order to bring Joseph into the picture. This concept of G’d interfering sometimes with the thought processes of human beings [not with their will which is inviolate they having been created in the image of G’d, i.e. with free will. Ed.] is described by the prophet Isaiah with the words משיב חכמים אחור ודעתם יסכל, “He turns sages back and makes nonsense of their knowledge.” (Isaiah 44,25)

ויהי מקץ, “it was at the end;” according to Rashi, the word מקץ means: at the end.” The reason why Rashi was forced to give this interpretation-which to most of us is quite clear, is that there are occasions when this expression means: “at the beginning.” One such example occurs in Jeremiah 34,14: מקץ שבע שנים תשלחו חפשי, “at the beginning of the seventh year you must release him to freedom” (the Jewish slave) [Seeing that his term or servitude is for six years, (Exodus 21,2) it cannot mean that he is to be released only at the end of the seventh year. Ed.] There is another verse involving this expression in Deuteronomy 15,1: מקץ שבע שנים תעשה שמטה, but this is inconclusive for our purpose, as the release of the debtor from overdue loans becomes effective only at the end of the seventh year.

ופרעה חולם, “and Pharaoh was dreaming;” G–d’s method of applying reward and punishment cannot be compared to any human system of doing so. Human beings inflict wounds with a chisel, a metal and pain causing instrument, while they apply only a flimsy plaster to heal the wound. G–d inflicts a wound that is superficial, like the application of a plaster, but when it comes to healing it, He uses immediately effective means. Joseph had been thrown into a pit on account of a mere dream he had dreamt concerning his brothers; he was healed by a dream dreamt by the then most powerful ruler on earth, the King of Egypt. In other words, G–d employed “the heavyweight” on earth in order to heal his wounds. One of our liturgists pointed this out already in a s’lichah recited on the third day of the “s’Iichot” recited before Rosh Hashanah. He points out there that the remedy G–d used to heal Joseph consists of parts of the weapon used to harm him.