Literary Devices – Bereshit 41/0

Literary Devices – Bereshit 41

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Structure

N. Leibowitz notes that Yosef's response to Paroh in verses 25-36 can be divided into three sections, each prefaced by a declaration that attributes the events to come to the hand of God:

• Verse 25: Attribution to God
• Verses 26-27: Numerical Interpretation (sevens, doubled dream)
• Verse 28: Attribution to God
• Verses 29-31: Content Interpretation (years of plenty / famine)
• Verse 32: Attribution to God
• Verses 33-36: Advice to Paroh

See Nechama Leibowitz, עיונים בספר בראשית (Jerusalem, 1992): 310-312, who analyzes this structure, noting how Yosef's anchoring his whole speech with references to Hashem highlights how even in the foreign society of Egypt, Yosef continuously sees the hand of God.