His spirit was troubled; and he sent— The peculiarity of the dreams made a strong impression upon Pharaoh's spirit; and, desirous to be satisfied with respect to their meaning, he sent for all those whose province and profession it was to interpret dreams; but he inquired of them in vain; the rules of their art failed them—they could not interpret the dreams: whence it seems to follow, that God was pleased to reserve in his own power the interpretation of particular dreams; or, possibly, these magicians, &c. were mere pretenders, and easily baffled, when the Almighty thought fit to elude their little skill. See Dan. ch. 2: As the magicians and wise men were not able to interpret Pharaoh's dream, so neither, I conceive, were they able to interpret those of the butler and baker. See note on Genesis 41:5 in the foregoing chapter.
The magician— חרטמים chartumim, a kind of conjurers among the AEgyptians and Babylonians; properly, I apprehend, such as pretended to supernatural performances by the means of talismans, which were "magical figures cut or engraved with superstitious observations on the characterisms and configurations of the heavens, to which some astrologers have attributed wonderful virtues particularly that of calling down celestial influence." So the Hebrew word חרטם is a compound of חרט to engrave, and אטם to close, stop up, from the supposed virtue of these talismanic engravings, to release the confined influences of the heavens, planets, &c. See Daniel 1:20 and Parkhurst.
Wise men— The AEgyptians gave the name of wise men to those whom the Greeks afterwards called more modestly philosophers, or lovers of wisdom. Before Greece became the nurse of arts and sciences, men came from every part to learn philosophy in the school of the AEgyptian priests, who had very generally a great reputation for wisdom. They tell us, that their kings enjoined them chiefly two things—the worship of GOD, and the study of wisdom; that, renouncing all other employments and all secular concerns, they passed their whole life in the contemplation of divine things. They always appeared with a grave demeanor, a composed walk, a fixed attention, laughed seldom, had always their hands folded in their habits, and were very much attached to the customs of their country; they gave their nights to study and the contemplation of the stars, or to self-purification, and their days to the worship of their gods, in honour of whom they sung hymns four times a day: all the time which remained from these occupations was employed, in the study of arithmetic and geometry. Such, according to Porphyry, were the wise men of AEgypt.
REFLECTIONS.—When Joseph began to despair of his friend at court, to cease from man, and to trust wholly in God, then was his deliverance about to be accomplished. Two long years had he lain in the house of his prison without any relief from his expected friend, when God worked not only for his enlargement but his preferment. Pharaoh's dreams trouble him. Though strange the rovings of his fancy, he felt an impression which he could not get rid of; the remembrance was strong upon his mind, but the magicians were called in vain to give the interpretation. Note; (1.) The nature of dreams is among the secret things. Though not utterly to be overlooked, they are not superstitiously to be attended to. (2.) When patience hath had her perfect work, God can easily furnish the means for the deliverance of his servants.