Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Genesis 41:1-57
Joseph the Optimist Genesis 41:33 Neither the personality nor the public position of Joseph accounts for his effect on posterity. His peculiarity is not that he rises to a pinnacle of earthly splendour. It is that his splendour has come out of his dungeon. I. The portrait of Joseph is a philosophical picture the earliest attempt to delineate a theory of the universe in the form of the narrative. Joseph is made the spokesman of the new evangel. He comes before us as the advocate for optimism.... read more
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 41:6
(6) East wind.—In Palestine the prevalent winds are those which blow from the west or east, and the latter, coming across arid deserts, is injurious to vegetation. In Egypt the winds generally are from the north or south, but the south-east wind, called Chamsin, blowing from the deserts of Arabia, has even more disastrous effects upon plants than the east wind in Palestine, and from the small dust with which it is laden is baleful also to human life. As there are no words in Hebrew for any... read more