ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים, “it was at the end of two years.” Pharaoh’s dream occurred two years after the reinstatement of the chief of the cupbearers. Although the Torah did not specify when the two years which it describes as having ended commenced, it is reasonable to assume that they commenced at the time the cupbearer had been released. The Torah implies that although the time had come then for Joseph to be released also, the fact that he pinned his hopes on the goodwill of the cupbearer whose good fortune he had foretold caused G’d to keep him in jail for another two years. As a result, he spent a total of 12 years in jail. He had served in the house of Potiphar for only one year. We arrive at this conclusion by the verse which says “the blessing of G’d was on the house of the Egyptian both in the field and in the house, the field being a reference to the summer, and “the house” being a reference to winter, the season when most people in temperate climates spend most of their time indoors. He had already been in jail for 9 years before the king’s prisoners joined him there. This is clear from the verse (Genesis 40,4) “they had been in jail for one year.” (a reference to the two ministers.) These ten years were followed by another two years that ended at the beginning of our portion. This account is difficult to reconcile with a statement in the Midrash Hagadol on Genesis 40,1 that the cupbearer and the chief baker sinned [in the sense that the Satan encouraged them to sin, Ed.] in order that they should have reason to bemoan their own fates instead of slandering Joseph, etc.” If the Midrash is correct, it is strange that they were not jailed many years previously. Perhaps one could say that though both the cupbearer and the chief baker committed a variety of sins against their king much earlier, the identity of these sinners had not been discovered until much later so that they were not jailed until Joseph had already been in jail for nine years.

מקץ, Rashi, following Onkelos, translates this as “at the end.” The reason he interprets the word as meaning “at the end,” is so we should not misunderstand its meaning to be “at the beginning,” as in Deut. 14,28 מקצה שלש שנים, where it means “the beginning of the third year.”

שנתים ימים, “two years;” seeing that the word שנתים means “two years,” why did the Torah add the superfluous ימים “years?” Some commentators explain this as meaning that here the Torah speaks of solar years instead of lunar years, as in ימים תהיה גאולתו, “it is to be redeemed within a year.” (lunar year of 12 months.) (Leviticus 25,29). This is supported by the words עד מלאת לו שנה תמימה, “until he has completed a full year” (Leviticus 25,30) Other commentators understand the phrase as referring to two of three ימים that Joseph spoke of in interpreting the dreams of the cupbearer and chief baker.

ופרעה חלם, “and Pharaoh had a dream.” The prefix letter ו at the beginning of the word ופרעה, is an oblique confirmation of the statement by our sages that G’d does not set in motion an important sequence of events without first consulting with the Heavenly Tribunal and revealing it to His prophets. Joseph, supposedly, also dreamt Pharaoh’s dream. We are therefore encouraged to treat this paragraph as a continuation of the preceding one by means of this letter ו, although on the face of it, it would appear to introduce something not connected to what immediately preceded it. [the Talmud does not include Joseph in its list of 48 prophets and 7 prophetesses. Ed.]

והנה עומד על היאור, “and here he was standing over the river (Nile)” According to Rashi no other river has ever been referred to as יאור. Nachmanides disagrees, saying that the river Tigris has also been described as יאור as we know from Daniel 12,6 where the word יאור cannot refer to the Nile but must refer to the Tigris. We also find that Onkelos translates the word יאור simply as נהרא, “river.” If it were a designation that applies exclusively to the river Nile, Onkelos could not have chosen the word נהרא to describe it. The word יאור is a derivative of the word אור, light, and we also find the word אור describing גשם, rain. (Job, 37,11 יפיץ ענן אורו, “the cloud spreads its rain). Bereshit Rabbah, 26,7 (quoting Rabbi Yochanan) states that wherever in the Book of Job, Elihu speaks of אור, he refers to rainfall. Perhaps this is all connected to the vapours rising from the streams and rivers, eventually producing rain. [the author must consider the “atmosphere” as another term describing light in the sense of daylight (seeing that we have daylight even when the sun does not shine, and as proof he considers the rainbow as part of this “atmosphere.” [Seeing that the author engages in speculation, I have added my own so as to make his speculation more plausible sounding, even if not scientifically correct. Ed.]

הנה מן היאור עולות שבע פרות, “and here seven cows were rising from the river.” Seeing that the Egyptians drink the waters of the Nile, and that river is the key to their enjoying a bountiful harvest or famine, the cows in Pharaoh’s dream are portrayed as “rising from out of the river.” The cows themselves symbolize beasts working the land, whereas the kernels in the second part of the dream portray the eventual harvest. Had Pharaoh only been shown cows in his dream, one might have been tempted to understand them as symbols of nations which Egypt would subjugate. This is why also the kernels were included in his dream. On the other hand, if Pharaoh had been shown only the kernels this would not have sufficed as the repetition of the dream was vital for its proper interpretation. Nachmanides writes that the phenomenon of extra-ordinarily bountiful harvests for seven consecutive years which Joseph predicted was experienced only in Egypt and not in the surrounding countries. This is why the Torah emphasizes (verse 29) שבע גדול בכל ארץ מצרים, great abundance of food in the whole land of Egypt.” The famine predicted by Joseph, however, included all the surrounding countries, all the trading partners of Egypt. Seeing that the seven good years occurred only in Egypt accounted for the fact that the surrounding countries had not laid in any supplies of non perishable food in anticipation of the famine to come.

ותעמודנה אצל הפרות, “they were standing next to, etc.” They stood right next to one another, as a sign that there would be not much interval between the seven good years and the famine following. Although Pharaoh had not even bothered to tell Joseph this detail (compare verses 18-20) There were sufficient hints in the story (his dream) as Pharaoh related it to Joseph to convince Joseph that the years of plenty would be immediately followed by the years of famine. The way the starved looking cows swallowed the fat cows leaving no trace of even having ingested them, alerted Joseph to the detail hinted at by the Torah’s report of the dream.

ותאכלנה הפרות, “the cows devoured, etc.;” this was an indication that the years of famine would completely neutralize the blessing of the seven good years; it alerted Joseph to the need to forestall this disaster by collecting non perishable food and storing it so it could be easily accessed when the time came. He impressed upon Pharaoh the need for draconian measures in order to ensure that the years of drought would not destabilize the country and his rule on the throne. Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh does not commence until when he suggests collecting and storing the surplus food of the seven good years. Rashi (verse 30) is not correct when he explains the manner in which the good years will be forgotten as part of Joseph’s advice. Joseph, concluding from the unchanged appearance of the starved looking cows that the impact of the seven good years would be forgotten, makes this part of this explanation to Pharaoh.

צומחות אחריהן, “were growing forth after them.” Pharaoh did not actually see these kernels growing in his dream. They were already fully grown when they appeared in his dream. The language used was only meant to show the fact that the good kernels were followed immediately by the windblown ones. The windblown kernels are not described as having all grown on a single stalk, suggesting that each successive one was forecasting that the famine would get worse from year to year

ותבלענה, “they devoured, etc.;” use of the word ותאכלנה has been avoided by the Torah here. The reason is that this word is inappropriate for kernels which were the subject in our verse, as opposed to verse 4 where the consuming of cows is described as their being “eaten,” ותאכלנה. The word ותבלענה is parallel to כבלע את הקודש in Numbers In practice, the windblown kernels grew and enclosed the good ones until the latter were as if they had never existed. Some commentators understand the word ותבלענה as literally meaning that the windblown kernels devoured their healthy counterparts. If so, the expression בליעה instead of אכילה, needs further elaboration. On the words וייקץ פרעה והנה חלום at the end of our verse, Rashi comments that the Torah merely indicates that this was the end of the dream Nachmanides writes that the Torah informs us that Pharaoh was preoccupied with his dream even after having awakened, i.e. realizing that what he had seen was not reality. He was wondering whether he would have a third dream that might enable him to make sense of the first two images. When he finally arose in the morning without having had an additional dream, he became very agitated. This is why the Torah continues with: “it was in the morning, and he proceeded to call in the necromancers of Egypt and all its wise men.” This is quite different from what we are told in Daniel 2,1 about Nevuchdnezzar’s dream. That King’s anxiety is described as ותתפעם רוחו, a more intense kind of agitation and trepidation than that which bothered Pharaoh. Nevuchadnezzar called in the potential interpreters still in the middle of the night, not waiting until a normal hour in the morning.

והנה חלום, “and, behold, it had only been a dream.” From the use of the singular “a dream,” although Pharaoh had seen two distinctly separate visions in his dream, the Torah hints that he himself realized that it had all been part of a single dream, as Joseph was to confirm to him later. The words ואין פותר אותם לפרעה, mean that not even a single one of the necromancers and the wise men had suggested interpretation that appealed to Pharaoh.

ותפעם רוחו, “his mind was agitated.” He had not forgotten what he had dreamt, as had Nevuchadnezzar. There had been no need for Nevuchadnezzar at the time to recall what he had dreamt as it foreshadowed events long in the future, and no one would have believed Daniel’s interpretation; he was not promoted to a position of prominence on account of his coming up with the interpretation but because he had been able to tell the king what he had dreamt, something the king had been unable to recall until reminded by Daniel. (Daniel chapter 2) In our situation here, it was enough for Joseph to offer the dream’s meaning, as he placed its realization as beginning almost immediately. Some commentators claim that the reason Joseph was believed was precisely because the dream had not been forgotten. Had it been forgotten, any reconstruction of the dream by an interpreter would have to rely on the words of the interpreter, as no one could know if he spoke the truth.

את חטאי, “my sins, etc.” he used the plural form in describing his sin, as he had also been guilty of forgetting the promise he had made to Joseph, something he should have kept at once.

פרעה קצף, “Pharaoh had been angry, etc.” It is bad form to call the king by his name, hence one refers to him in the third person even while in his presence. The word “Pharaoh” is not a proper name but a title accorded to the ruler of Egypt.

אותי ואת שר האופים, “me and the chief of the bakers.” Although the cupbearer had already said ויתן אותי, “he placed me, etc.”, he repeated the words אותי ואת שר האופים, omitting the reference to the jail being under the control of the chief executioner, so that it meant that he and the chief of the bakers were in the same part of the jail together. Had they not been treated alike in the jail, Joseph’s prediction of freedom for one and death for the other would not have been remarkable. The fact that these two ministers were assigned the same part of the jail made Joseph’s prediction doubly remarkable. Joseph realized that one of the two had not committed a crime that would qualify for the death penalty.

אותי השיב על כני, “me he restored to my position,” according to the plain meaning the word השיב refers to Pharaoh as being the one who restored the cupbearer to his former position. Other commentators consider Joseph as the subject of the word השיב, seeing that we have a tradition that the words of the interpreter determine the meaning of the dream, (Berachot 55) i.e. that Joseph’s interpretation set in motion the release of the cupbearer. Accordingly, Joseph had held the fate of both the chief of the bakers and the cupbearer in his hands when he offered his interpretation.

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.

בלעדי, אלוקי יענה את שלום פרעה, “this is not up to me; may G’d provide a reply which will put Pharaoh’s mind at rest.” Ibn Ezra says that seeing Pharaoh had asked Joseph to interpret the dream, Joseph told him that the interpretation was not up to him, but that it was up to G’d. He was confident that G’d would put Pharaoh’s mind at rest when he would hear the interpretation. One could also understand Joseph’s words to simply mean that there is a greater interpreter of dreams than he, namely G’d, with whom the dream originated. He wished and prayed that G’d would put Pharaoh’s mind at rest. Seeing that Joseph had given G’d credit by prefacing his interpretation with the word בלעדי, “it is not up to me,” this word is repeated when Pharaoh appoints him to high office and adds that without Joseph’s approval, בלעדיך, “without your (approval) no one will lift a foot in this country. (verse 44).”

צנומות, according to Rashi the word means, “stone-hard,” meaning that it is completely dried out from seed as translated by Onkelos. נצן לקין. Nachmanides questions how one can speak of נץ when the subject is kernels, a stage when נצים, blossoms, have long disappeared. Pharaoh had not seen any of these growing stalks of grain in a stage of budding, blossoming. He had only seen them after their growing process had been completed and the kernels were either full and healthy looking, or dried out, windblown, proof of harvest failure. Therefore, he explains the word צנומות to mean “split open into many small sections”. A similar word is commonly used to describe bread which has shrunk due to being dried out, פת צנומה. Such bread remains are sometimes placed in a bowl, so that when mixed with milk or some other liquid it can be made edible again. The word נצן is also understood as meaning something hollow, empty, lacking earth, i.e. the word is the opposite of מלאה, full. The husks were not full of wheat kernels as they should have been. When the Torah reports the dream objectively, [not as remembered by Pharaoh, Ed.] it said of Pharaoh והנה עומד על היאור, “and here he was standing above the river.” When Pharaoh relates the dream to Joseph, he does not describe himself as having stood above the river, but as having stood on the banks of the river, על שפת היאור. This was Pharaoh’s way of paying tribute to the river which was the mainstay of Egypt’s economy, so much so that Pharaoh worshipped the river as a deity. Describing himself as “standing above the river,” would have been an insult to the river in Pharaoh’s eyes. This consideration also explains why in the Torah’s report, both the good cows and the starved-looking cows are described as “rising from the river,” whereas in Pharaoh’s report the good cows are described as “rising from the river,” whereas the poorly looking cows are simply described as “following behind them,” and no mention is made of the word “the river.” The river must not be perceived as the origin of anything negative. It is always a source of blessing in the eyes of those who worship it as a deity. Pharaoh also described the appearance of the good cows as “of healthy flesh and of well formed shape,” whereas the Torah’s report describes them as “of beautiful appearance and healthy flesh,” in that order. We find similar minor variations in the description by Pharaoh of the poorly looking animals, and the objective description by the Torah of the same phenomenon. Joseph points out to Pharaoh that he had not told him precisely what he had seen, but had given him an edited version. Nonetheless, he says,” it is all one dream,” [even if you have tried to confuse me by not relating it accurately, Ed.] The interpretation of the dream, i.e. what it portends, is not affected by the changes you have made in how you related it. When Pharaoh heard that Joseph had first hand knowledge of his dream not from his mouth but from a higher source, he was dumbfounded and convinced that he had truly received a message from G’d, one that had required a man of Joseph’s caliber to reveal its meaning to him.

יהיו שבע שני רעב, “will be seven years of famine.” Joseph commenced his interpretation by mentioning the famine which it predicted, although in the dream the seven good years appeared first. He did so, seeing that Egypt was a land blessed with an abundant food supply, one which was taken for granted by its citizenry, and therefore mentioning it first would not have served as a warning signal. After all, G’d would not have sent Pharaoh a message advising him that seven good years were in store for his country. The principal message of the dream was to beware of the forthcoming famine and not to be lulled into a false sense of security by the seven good years. Another reason why Joseph zeroed in on the seven years of famine was that the accuracy of his interpretation could not be ascertained until then. Nobody would have cheered Joseph for predicting seven years of plenty.

ועל השנות החלום אל פרעה פעמים, “and concerning the basically same dream having been sent to Pharaoh twice, etc.” Actually, the dream had been repeated in a different variation only once, so why did Joseph speak of it having been repeated twice? Nachmanides explains that Joseph referred to it having been repeated a second time during the same night, not on successive nights, as is the custom with dreams that are intended to impress the dreamer with their message. G’d could have let Pharaoh have the dream with the cows on one night, and repeated it with the dream about the kernels on the following night, making two dreams of it. The fact that G’d did not wait, and let Pharaoh receive both parts of the message in the same night, was a sign that whatever the dream portended would occur in the immediate future. An alternate meaning could be that Joseph meant the changes Pharaoh had made in his dream when telling him, i.e. השנות from שנוי, change, and Joseph’s ability to detect that Pharaoh had made such changes, was proof that Joseph had interpreted the dream correctly.

ירא פרעה איש נבון, “let Pharaoh see (find) a man of insight and understanding, etc.” a leader who is able to run the state in a manner which will assure adequate bread for each of its citizens in accordance with the size of their respective families, dependents. He should also possess חכמה, the wisdom to store and preserve the surplus of the good years so that they would not rot before the seven years of famine commenced. Clearly, this would not be a task for a single individual but would require a number of officials, פקידים, for each region of Egypt. Joseph intended that he should be the man Pharaoh would appoint, that is why he defined the job in a manner that fitted his proven qualifications.

וחמש את ארץ מצרים, “and divide Egypt into 5 regions;” some claim that the meaning is that Pharaoh should impose a 20% tax, payable in produce,” this tax to be used as food storage in anticipation of the years of famine. Pharaoh would use the accumulated quantity to distribute seed to the farmers for planting. In return, Pharaoh would own one firth of the soil of Egypt in perpetuity.

אוכל בערים, “food in the cities, etc.,” so that it need not be brought from a distant central depot. This would also have the psychological advantage of putting local residents’ mind at rest if they knew there was a local food storage depot nearby.

הנמצא כזה?, “can someone like this one be found elsewhere?” The reason why Pharaoh felt he needed the consent of his ministers before appointing Joseph to such a position was the well-known animosity harboured by Egyptians generally against any Hebrew (Mesopotamians). The appointment to a position with such wide-ranging powers was something extraordinary even if Joseph had not been a slave and a Hebrew to boot.

אחרי הודיע אלוקים אותך כל זאת, “seeing that G’d has informed you of all these details, etc.” Pharaoh refers to the fact that Joseph’s interpretation of his dream seemed so amazingly logical and believable, so much so that it appeared to the listener as if it had already come true; It is also possible that Pharaoh referred also to the previous interpretation Joseph had given to the cupbearer, so that the words כל זאת seem amply justified.

אין נבון וחכם כמוך, “there is no one as wise and understanding as you.” In this instance the attribute נבון is mentioned before the attribute חכם, whereas in Deuteronomy 4,6 the nations of the world as described as describing the Jewish people as חכם ונבון, i.e. in the reverse order of these attributes. In this instance, insight was the first attribute required in order to understand the dream, whereas wisdom was required in order to deal with the challenge presented by fulfillment of the dream. When it comes to understanding words of Torah, the first requirement is חכמה, a certain amount of common sense, before one penetrates below the surface of what the text conveys to us.

על פיך ישק כל עמי , “and by your word will all my people be fed.” Some commentators understand this to mean that no one will be allowed to bear arms, נשק, without Joseph’s approval. Others understand the verse literally, in the sense of נשק meaning “to kiss.” It would then mean that the whole population would pay homage to Joseph by kissing his hand.

ויסר פרעה את טבעתו, “Pharaoh removed his (signet) ring;” having this ring in one’s possession was proof of one’s high office, a position which enabled the holder to neutralize any decree or legislation by withholding his stamp.

במרכבת המשנה, according to Rashi this is a reference to the carriage traveling immediately behind that of Pharaoh himself, the second most important one in the kingdom. משנה therefore refers to someone known. Nachmanides writes that the word משנה is an adjective, defining the rank of the carriage, as in the expression כהני המשנה, or משנה התורה הזאת, or משנה למלך, “second in rank after the king.” Here it would describe the carriage reserved for the king’s deputy. Another carriage was known as the first alternative, and yet another as the third alternative.

ויקראו לפניו 'אברך!', ”they would call out on his approach “bend your knees!” Everyone within range would have to bend down at the approach of Joseph’s carriage. Alternatively, the word is not derived from ברך, knee, but from ברכה blessing, and would mean that the people within sight of Joseph’s carriage passing were required to bless him.

אני פרעה, “I am the nominal ruler, Pharaoh;” Pharaoh meant that seeing every ruler of Egypt was named Pharaoh to indicate his rank, henceforth the only reminder of his rank would be his name. He would be king in name only.

ויקרא פרעה שם יוסף צפנת פענח, “Pharaoh named Joseph Tzofnat paneach, “the one who reveals what was hidden.” It was customary to give special names to the king’s ministers, names that related to their office, their accomplishments, etc. We find that Daniel was renamed Belteshezzar when appointed to office (Daniel 1,6).

ויתן לו את אסנת בת פוטיפרע...לאשה, “He gave him Ossnat, daughter of Potiphera as a wife.” He did not give him as a wife the daughter of a member of the Egyptian political hierarchy, but the daughter of Potiphar, Joseph’s former master. This was a politically inspired move, designed to stifle any protest movement that might be sparked by Potiphar resenting that his former slave had now become the economic czar of the empire, with power over life and death. Seeing that he made Joseph Potiphar’s son-in-law by this astute maneuver, he was certain that the former master would now boast about being Joseph’s father-in-law. Rashi also agrees that the man called here Potiphera, was the one that used to be Joseph’s master and is known to us as Potiphar. The name change reflects that he had become castrated. The description by the Torah of the position of this man as “the priest of On,” prompted Rashi to give this commentary, as the word און is an expression of “greatness, strength,” as we know from Yaakov describing his first born son Reuven as ראשית אוני, “the first product of my virility” (Genesis 49,3). In his capacity as the chief executioner, Potiphar occupied a position of power. Nachmanides writes that the attribute כהן און, indicates that as a result of his castration Potiphar felt very embarrassed and decided to devote the rest of his life to a monk-like existence in a Temple, far from the eyes of the world. It is quite possible that the word “On” is the designation given to the specific deity whom Potiphar worshipped as a priest. The description of Yitro as כהן מדין, similarly describes the deity that Yitro used to serve in his position of priest. Our sages illustrate this when they said that he would offer fatted calves to this deity. (compare Yalkut Shimoni Judges 1) Some commentators claim that Potiphar took refuge in a monastery out of fear that Joseph would revenge himself on him for having thrown him into jail.

ויצא יוסף , “Joseph went forth.” This refers to Joseph’s reputation which spread all over the land. The word ויצא is used in a similar context in Ezekiel 16,14 ויצא לך שם בגוים, “your fame went forth among the nations.” Alternately, Joseph went on a whirlwind tour of Egypt, a country that he had been totally unfamiliar with up until then.

לקמצים, “by the handful.” Rashi translates it as “handful over handful.” Other commentators understand this as what the farmers did with the crop, i.e. they hoarded and stashed it away in anticipation of the eventual famine. Onkelos understands the expression as meaning “to store underground,” in line with excavations in the earth which are performed in order to store and preserve valuables, which are referred to as קומצין in Yonathan ben Uziel on our verse. [the Hebrew קומץ, i.e. the hollow of the hand enclosed by the middle three fingers, is also used in Aramaic as describing hollow areas, such as holes in excavated earth. Ed.]

ויקבוץ את כל אכל, “he collected all the (surplus) food, etc.” Ibn Ezra is quick to point out that Joseph, of course, did not collect all the food, for had he done so the people would have died. The word כל is not always to be understood literally, as for instance in Genesis 41,56 וכל הארץ באו מצרימה, where it does not mean that the population of entire surrounding countries all came to Egypt. Nachmanides writes that Joseph first collected all the harvest, and released it in the form of rations per family. This is the meaning of the verse 41,35 “let them gather all the produce of the good years that are now coming and stockpile grain under Pharaoh’s authority, etc.” According to this verse, when the time came, Joseph collected every kind of crop including dried fruit, in order to have a stockpile and to prevent waste, [and eventual profiteering. Ed.] It is quite possible that Joseph paid cash to the farmers who handed in their crops in order to encourage them not to hold out on him. By doing this, the entire crop became legally Pharaoh’s, and was not only on loan to him. When the time came, Pharaoh could charge a higher price when the Egyptians bought it back, as no doubt prices had risen considerably by then, driven by international demand.

וליוסף יולד שני בנים בטרם תבא שנת הרעב, “And two children had been born for Joseph before the years of famine commenced.” From this verse our sages learned that it is forbidden for a person to indulge in marital relations during a famine. This raises the question how Levi could have ignored this ban [in effect already during the deluge in the ark, Ed.] since we have a tradition that Yocheved was not born until the family of Yaakov had reached the boundary of Egypt. Whence would Levi have known when the famine would end, and when the family would be moving to Egypt where the family would be amply provided for? We must assume that Joseph knew that his father’s family was not personally affected by the famine; besides Jews do not need to refrain from practicing reproduction only because the gentiles are short of food. If Joseph did refrain from indulging in marital relations it was because as a member of the Egyptian nation he had to share their hardship and be seen to do so. Moreover, at the beginning of the famine Joseph had no idea if his father was personally affected by the famine, so that he was duty bound to share the hardships endured by other members of his own family.

ויהי רעב בכל הארצות, “The famine was in all the countries, etc.” The Torah refers to all the countries bordering on Egypt. The famine most certainly did not spread world wide, for if it had been that widely spread, most human beings would have perished by it.

וישבר למצרים, “he sold to the Egyptians.” This means that he first sold to the Egyptians before selling to foreigners.

כי חזק הרעב, “for the famine had become very severe.” Joseph did not start selling until the famine had really become severe, He did not sell because the people had come to Pharaoh to complain, but because he convinced himself that the shortages had become real, and they did not hoard their private stocks.