Joseph and dreams

Genesis 40:7-8 - So he asked Pharaoh's officials who were in custody with him in his master's house, "Why are your faces so sad today?"

"We both had dreams," they answered, "but there is no one to interpret them."

This exchange between Joseph and the king's officials is somewhat surprising. They are all in prison, albeit a minimum security facility (or so it would seem), and this one day in particular they are noticeably sad. Aren't you sad virtually all the time in prison? I wonder if this was even less than minimum security and more like a group house arrest or a halfway house. Maybe some of them could even come and go to a limited extent. At any rate, life couldn't have been too, too bad if it's a dream that makes you so obviously sad.

Perhaps these men put a lot of stock in dreams. Maybe even more than the average person in that society, and that added to their sadness at the lack of an interpreter.

Joseph was no stranger to dreams that could be interpreted. Years ago he'd had some of his own that were easy to figure out. He would be a ruler, and the rest of his family would bow down before him. Now dreams become important again as he provides God's reasons for sending them first to the cupbearer and the baker and then 2 years later to the king himself.

I wonder why the king's magicians and wise men couldn't interpret Pharaoh's dreams. In hindsight, they don't seem that difficult. I wonder if some of them did have the right answer in mind but were too afraid to give their boss the bad news. If they didn't know for sure, I wonder why no one would even hazard a guess. Hm, maybe that speaks for itself -- it would have been too hazardous to guess and get it wrong.

Here's another quotation that could use stage directions. I wonder which words Joseph emphasized when he said to Pharaoh, "I can't do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires."

I can't do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.

I can't do it [pregnant pause...but not too long, Joe!], but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.

I can't do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.

I wonder how many dreams I can remember are supposed to be interpreted.