וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֵלָ֔יו חֲל֣וֹם חָלַ֔מְנוּ וּפֹתֵ֖ר אֵ֣ין אֹת֑וֹ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֜ם יוֹסֵ֗ף הֲל֤וֹא לֵֽאלֹהִים֙ פִּתְרֹנִ֔ים סַפְּרוּ־נָ֖א לִֽי׃
And they said unto him: ‘We have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it.’ And Joseph said unto them: ‘Do not interpretations belong to God? tell it me, I pray you.’
On the Migration of Abraham
[19] What, then, are the uncorrupted parts? His having nothing to do with Pleasure when she says, “Let us lie together” (Gen. 39:7) and enjoy the good things of mankind: the shrewdness coupled with the resoluteness which enabled him to recognize the products of empty fancies which many accounted to be good, and to distinguish them as mere dreams from those which are really so; and to confess that the true and certain interpretations of things are given under God’s guid ance (Gen. 40:8), while the doubtful imaginations that have no certainty follow the rule and line of the erring and deluded life of men who have not undergone purification, a life that finds its joy in the delights provided by bakers and cooks and butlers.
On the Cherubim
[128] Right reason too would not hold Joseph free from blame, when he said that through God would the true meaning of dreams be found (Gen. 40:8). He should have said that by Him as cause the unfolding and right interpretation of things hidden would fitly come to pass. For we are the instruments, wielded in varying degrees of force, through which each particular form of action is produced; the Craftsman it is who brings to bear on the material the impact of our forces, whether of soul or body, even He by whom all things are moved.