And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh - a proverbial form of expressing sovereign power. These ceremonies of investiture were closed in usual form by the king in council solemnly ratifying the appointment. But the expression, "I am Pharaoh, implies that the rulers of Egypt were regarded as in some mysterious way the progeny and vicegerents of the national deity, and they accordingly embodied his name Rƒ, or with the article Ph' Ra, in their official title.
And without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt - i:e., Joseph was appointed vizier, or prime minister of state. The sudden elevation of a person from a humble and obscure condition to the highest dignity has been frequently exemplified, both in ancient and modern times, in the East. In 1852 the prime minister of Persia was the son of a donkey-driver, who rose by the strength and energy of his character to be the second man in rank, but really the first in power. Nowhere, however, have such promotions been so common as in Egypt; and Joseph's elevation was one instance only of many which the history of that country furnishes.
The Pharaoh who promoted Joseph was one of those rare specimens of an absolute prince who had the discernment to discover merit, as well as the wisdom to patronize it; and had all who are invested with despotic power displayed the same amiable and patriotic spirit, there would have been fewer objections to admit the principle of the 'right divine.' But the special providence of God had determined to make Joseph governor of Egypt; and the way was paved for it by the deep and universal conviction produced in the minds both of the king and his counselors, that a divine spirit animated his mind, and had given him such extraordinary knowledge.