Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah
Or HaChaim on Genesis 41:33/אור החיים על בראשית מ״א:ל״ג
אוְעַתָּה יֵרֶא וְגוֹ׳. טַעַם יוֹסֵף שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂה יוֹעֵץ לַמֶּלֶךְ וְהוּא לֹא בִּקֵּשׁ מִמֶּנּוּ אֶלָּא פִּתְרוֹן הַחֲלוֹם, כִּי בָא לָתֵת לוֹ טַעַם אֲשֶׁר הֶרְאָהוּ ה׳ אֶת אֲשֶׁר הוּא עוֹשֶׂה, כִּי הוּא כְּדֵי שֶׁיַּפְקֵד פְּקִידִים וְגוֹ׳. עוֹד לֶהֱיוֹת שֶׁהֶרְאוּהוּ בַּחֲלוֹם שֶׁבָּלְעוּ הַפָּרוֹת הָרַקּוֹת לַפָּרוֹת הַבְּרִיאוֹת, זֶה יַגִּיד כִּי יִתְפַּרְנְסוּ שְׁנֵי רָעָב מִשְּׁנֵי שָׂבָע, וְלָזֶה אָמַר יֵרֶא פַרְעֹה וְגוֹ׳:
1 ועתה ירא פרעה איש נבון וחכם, "Now let Pharaoh see to an understanding and wise man, etc." The reason that Joseph made himself the king's adviser when he had only been asked to interpret the dream was that Joseph wanted to tell Pharaoh why G'd had revealed all the information of what He was about to do. The only reason for this was to encourage Pharaoh to appoint the appropriate officials to deal with the future. Furthermore, the manner in which the lean cows had devoured the fat cows without leaving a trace was clear evidence that during the lean years survival would depend on the produce of the years of plenty. Joseph therefore told Pharaoh to make the appropriate provisions.
באִישׁ נָבוֹן וְחָכָם. לָדַעַת אוֹפֶן אוֹצְרוֹת הַתְּבוּאָה לְבַל תֵּרָקֵב, וְזֶה מֵהַתְּבוּנָה. וְאָמְרוֹ וְחָכָם שֶׁיּוֹדֵעַ כְּלָלִיּוּת הַחָכְמוֹת, לָדַעַת חָכְמַת הַתִּשְׁבּוֹרֶת וְהַהַנְדָּסָה וְהַמִּסְפָּר. וְהִקְדִּים ״נָבוֹן״ כִּי הוּא דָּבָר הַמְעַכֵּב יוֹתֵר כְּדֵי שֶׁתִּתְקַיֵּם הַתְּבוּאָה.
2איש נבון וחכם. "An understanding and wise man." The man should know how to store agricultural produce so that it would not rot. The word חכם, wise, referred to someone who was an engineer, could deal with numbers, etc. The reason Joseph first mentioned the qualification נבון was because it was most important to preserve the harvests in good condition.