You notice that the butler spoke of Joseph as “a Hebrew.”  The people of Israel, to whom Joseph belonged, were called Hebrews as well as Israelites.  The word Hebrew means, “One who crossed over,” and it was given to the Israelites because Abraham, their father, had come from a land on the other side of the great river Euphrates, and had crossed over the river on his way to Canaan.

Then king Pharaoh sent in haste to the prison for Joseph; and Joseph was taken out, and he was dressed in new garments, and was led in to Pharaoh in the palace.  And Pharaoh said: 

“I have dreamed a dream; and there is no one who can tell what it means.  And I have been told that you have power to understand dreams and what they mean.”

And Joseph answered Pharaoh: 

“The power is not in me; but God will give Pharaoh a good answer.  What is the dream that the king has dreamed?”

“In my first dream,” said Pharaoh, “I was standing by the river:  and I saw seven fat and handsome cows come up from the river to feed in the grass.  And while they were feeding, seven other cows followed them up from the river, very thin, and poor, and lean—­such miserable creatures as I had never seen before.  And the seven lean cows ate up the seven fat cows; and after they had eaten them up, they were as lean and miserable as before.  Then I awoke.

“And I fell asleep again, and dreamed again.  In my second dream, I saw seven heads of grain growing up on one stalk, large, and strong, and good.  And then seven heads came up after them, that were thin, and poor, and withered.  And the seven thin heads swallowed up the seven good heads; and afterward were as poor and withered as before.

“And I told these two dreams to all the wise men, and there is no one who can explain them.  Can you tell me what these dreams mean?”

And Joseph said to the king: 

“The two dreams have the same meaning.  God has been showing to king Pharaoh what he will do in this land.  The seven good cows mean seven years, and the seven good heads of grain mean the same seven years.  The seven lean cows and the seven thin heads of grain also mean seven years.  The good cows and the good grain mean seven years of plenty, and the seven thin cows and thin heads of grain mean seven poor years.  There are coming upon the land of Egypt seven years of such plenty as have never been seen; when the fields shall bring greater crops than ever before; and after those years shall come seven years when the fields shall bring no crops at all.  And then for seven years there shall be such need, that the years of plenty will be forgotten, for the people will have nothing to eat.”

[Illustration:  "The two dreams have the same meaning"]

“Now, let king Pharaoh find some man who is able and wise, and let him set this man to rule over the land.  And during the seven years of plenty, let a part of the crops be put away for the years of need.  If this shall be done, then when the years of need come, there will be plenty of food for all the people, and no one will suffer, for all will have enough.”