Commentaire sur La Genèse 41:14

מן הבור OUT OF THE DUNGEON — from the place of imprisonment which was made as a kind of pit Similarly, wherever בור occurs in Scripture it signifies a pit — even though it does not contain water (for בור is used of a cistern, excavated as a pit out of rocks) it is still called a בור; old French fosse.

They hurried him. A miraculous deliverance always transpires with haste. So it was when the Israelites left Egypt (see Shemos 12:39), and so will it be when Yisrael is redeemed from the current exile.

ויריצוהו מן הבור, they removed him from jail in haste seeing that Royal commands are always carried out promptly and as a matter of priority.

ויריצוהו מן הבור, “they rushed him from the pit.” In view of the earlier statement that Joseph had the run of the whole jail, and that the warden did not interfere with anything he did, (39,21-23) it sounds strange that Joseph had to be rushed from “the pit.” We may assume that when the warden heard that Pharaoh had sent for Joseph, he did not know if this portended something positive or negative. In the event that it spelled doom for Joseph, the warden did not want to appear as if he had favoured a prisoner slated for execution. Therefore, upon receiving the king’s summons, the warden first placed Joseph into the pit appropriate for all the other prisoners. In retrospect this was most appropriate, as it means that Joseph who had been incarcerated in a pit before the warden decided to make use of his intelligence, would now rise overnight from the lowest of the low to the second highest office in the world, i.e. viceroy to Pharaoh the world’s most powerful ruler. The fact that Pharaoh had exhausted all other means of having his dream interpreted satisfactorily, also contributed to the almost unbelievable reversal of his fortune.

וירצהו מן הבור, “and they rushed him from the dungeon.” Tanchuma Miketz 3 applies to this the words of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi “out of a narrowly confined space into a spacious area; from darkness into bright light; from the disgrace suffered by the righteous to princedom.” All of this has been described by Solomon in Proverbs 30,32: with the words “if you have suffered disgrace you will be elevated.” We find that Chananyah, Mishael and Azaryah were similarly elevated after first having suffered disgrace (compare Daniel 3,21-30 where these men are described as being thrown into a fiery furnace only to be saved from the fire miraculously. Subsequently they were elevated to high office). We find that Mordechai, after he had worn sackcloth and ashes to get the Jewish people to become penitents and to head off the evil decree of Haman (Esther 4,1 and 8,15), was subsequently elevated to be the Persian king’s first minister. Even Daniel, who was out of favour with King Darius, was thrown into a den of lions (Daniel 6,18) before being saved and subsequently raised to great influence at the court of said King. He had revealed the impending downfall of the Babylonian Empire to the Persians when he was able to decipher the meaning of the famous “writing on the wall” to King Belshazzar (Daniel 5,16). Joseph’s sudden elevation was similar and is described in Kohelet 4,14 as “from the prison house he emerged to reign,” and in the words of our sages in Shemot Rabbah 1,9, the words ועלה מן הארץ, which Pharaoh said worrying about a sudden rise to power by the Israelites (Exodus 1,10) were also inspired by the recollection of how a Jewish slave had suddenly risen to power in Egypt.”

From the prison... Rashi explained this so we will not think that after the butler got out of prison, Yoseif was put into a בור (i.e., an actual pit). Thus Rashi explains that בור and prison mean the same. And we need not ask: How does Rashi know this? Perhaps it was an actual pit? For [the answer is:] It is writtenוירצוה מן הבור . And ריצה (literally: “running”) is not the right term for [exiting] a pit. Rather the proper term is משיכה (pulling out), as it is written (37:28): וימשכו את יוסף מן הבור.

Wir dürfen auf alle Züge aufmerksam sein, die uns Josef charakterisieren. Die Hofbedienten wollen ihn rasch herausholen zum Könige. Es gilt ja den König zu beruhigen, und war er doch nur ein verachteter gefangener Sklave. Er aber lässt sich Zeit, scheert sich, wechselt erst seine Kleider — (es kommt nur noch einmal הַלֵף שמלתיו im Piel vor: Sam. II. 12, 20 und auch dort geschah es unter Widerspruch oder doch Missbilligung der Umgebung). — Er eilt auch nicht, er "kommt" zum Pharao. Er hat volles Bewusstsein seiner Persönlichkeit und seiner Sendung. Das machte ihn eben, wie wir gesehen, zum חכם, dass er jede Persönlichkeit, jedes Verhältnis, und so auch jede Lage in der ganzen Schärfe ihrer Besonderheit erfasste.

ויחלף שמלותיו, “he changed his clothing.” Our sages saw a hint in these two words that Joseph was brought before Pharaoh on Rosh Hashanah, as stated by the Talmud, tractate Rosh Hashanah folio 11. The numerical value of the letters in these two words is the same as in the words: בחד בתשרי on the first day of the month of Tishrey (Rosh Hashanah) Our author questions this as the word שמלותיו has the letter ו missing in the middle of the word.

ויגלח AND HE CLIPPED HIS HAIR, out of respect for the king (Genesis Rabbah 89:9).

ויחלף שמלותיו. It is forbidden to appear in the Royal palace clad in sackcloth, prisoner’s garb. [we know this already from Esther chapter 4 when Mordechai, to the consternation of Esther, approached the palace dressed in sackcloth.

ויגלח ויחלף שמלותיו, admission to the presence of the king is conditional on both body and attire being in first class condition.

It was made as a sort of pit... Before it is written (39:20) that they put Yoseif in prison, whereas here it is written, “They hurried him out of the בור (literally: ‘pit’).” Therefore Rashi explains that the prison “was made as a sort of pit.” (Maharshal)

Even if it does not contain water it is called בור... [Rashi knows this] because otherwise his clothes would be wet. He obviously would have to change them regardless of respect to royalty. In which case, why does it need to say, “He changed his clothes”? Thus Rashi explains that בור means prison, so it did not contain water. And why did Yoseif change his clothes? Perforce, out of respect to royalty. (Nachalas Yaakov)

Out of respect to royalty. [Rashi knows this] because Yoseif would not have shaved out of celebration, for he did not yet know how he would be judged, as he had not yet come before Pharaoh. And who knows if he would be able to interpret [the dream]?