parshat Mikeitz: Put in a prison, taken from a pit

The Torah is very specific in where Yosef is placed after angering his master. In parshat Vayeishev, Bereishit 39:20:

יט וַיְהִי כִשְׁמֹעַ אֲדֹנָיו אֶת-דִּבְרֵי אִשְׁתּוֹ, אֲשֶׁר דִּבְּרָה אֵלָיו לֵאמֹר, כַּדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, עָשָׂה לִי עַבְדֶּךָ; וַיִּחַר, אַפּוֹ.	19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke unto him, saying: 'After this manner did thy servant to me'; that his wrath was kindled.
כ וַיִּקַּח אֲדֹנֵי יוֹסֵף אֹתוֹ, וַיִּתְּנֵהוּ אֶל-בֵּית הַסֹּהַר--מְקוֹם, אֲשֶׁר-אסורי (אֲסִירֵי) הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲסוּרִים; וַיְהִי-שָׁם, בְּבֵית הַסֹּהַר.	20 And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were bound; and he was there in the prison.

and with him are placed the baker and the butler, in the same prison. Bereishit 40:3:

ב וַיִּקְצֹף פַּרְעֹה, עַל שְׁנֵי סָרִיסָיו--עַל שַׂר הַמַּשְׁקִים, וְעַל שַׂר הָאוֹפִים.	2 And Pharaoh was wroth against his two officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.
ג וַיִּתֵּן אֹתָם בְּמִשְׁמַר, בֵּית שַׂר הַטַּבָּחִים--אֶל-בֵּית הַסֹּהַר: מְקוֹם, אֲשֶׁר יוֹסֵף אָסוּר שָׁם.	3 And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.

Yet Yosef is not taken from the bet hasohar, the prison, but rather from the bor, the pit. Bereishit 41:14:

יד וַיִּשְׁלַח פַּרְעֹה וַיִּקְרָא אֶת-יוֹסֵף, וַיְרִיצֻהוּ מִן-הַבּוֹר; וַיְגַלַּח וַיְחַלֵּף שִׂמְלֹתָיו, וַיָּבֹא אֶל-פַּרְעֹה.

14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. And he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.

Obviously, pit = prison. Here they translate dungeon, since in the context it is in a prison. But the word bor is the same. There is no problem here. However, there is an irregularity of language.

It seems clear to me that this choice of the word bor is deliberate, and it is meant to be an intra-Biblical allusion to the pit that the brothers cast Yosef into. Yosef was put into this pit in parshat Vayeishev on Reuven's suggestion. Bereishit 37:22:

כא וַיִּשְׁמַע רְאוּבֵן, וַיַּצִּלֵהוּ מִיָּדָם; וַיֹּאמֶר, לֹא נַכֶּנּוּ נָפֶשׁ.	21 And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand; and said: 'Let us not take his life.'
כב וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם רְאוּבֵן, אַל-תִּשְׁפְּכוּ-דָם--הַשְׁלִיכוּ אֹתוֹ אֶל-הַבּוֹר הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר בַּמִּדְבָּר, וְיָד אַל-תִּשְׁלְחוּ-בוֹ: לְמַעַן, הַצִּיל אֹתוֹ מִיָּדָם, לַהֲשִׁיבוֹ, אֶל-אָבִיו.	22 And Reuben said unto them: 'Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him'--that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.

and the last time he was taken out of this pit he was sold into slavery. Bereishit 37:28-29:

כח וַיַּעַבְרוּ אֲנָשִׁים מִדְיָנִים סֹחֲרִים, וַיִּמְשְׁכוּ וַיַּעֲלוּ אֶת-יוֹסֵף מִן-הַבּוֹר, וַיִּמְכְּרוּ אֶת-יוֹסֵף לַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִים, בְּעֶשְׂרִים כָּסֶף; וַיָּבִיאוּ אֶת-יוֹסֵף, מִצְרָיְמָה.	28 And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt.
כט וַיָּשָׁב רְאוּבֵן אֶל-הַבּוֹר, וְהִנֵּה אֵין-יוֹסֵף בַּבּוֹר; וַיִּקְרַע, אֶת-בְּגָדָיו.	29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.

The reason for this deliberate use of language, and the creation of this intra-Biblical allusion, is to make note of the Divine Hand in all of this. Both times Yosef is brought from the pit, it advances Yosef towards the level of royal vizier. It is also almost as if all the event in Potifar's house did not happen, and the pit into which Yosef was cast in the midbar travelled to Egypt, and from there he was taken out to see Pharaoh. This was all part of Hashem's plan, in which He controlled seemingly random events to elevate Yosef to greatness.

Indeed, Yosef says this explicitly in parshat Vayechi, in Bereishit 50:20:

יח וַיֵּלְכוּ, גַּם-אֶחָיו, וַיִּפְּלוּ, לְפָנָיו; וַיֹּאמְרוּ, הִנֶּנּוּ לְךָ לַעֲבָדִים.	18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said: 'Behold, we are thy bondmen.'
יט וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם יוֹסֵף, אַל-תִּירָאוּ: כִּי הֲתַחַת אֱלֹהִים, אָנִי.	19 And Joseph said unto them: 'Fear not; for am I in the place of God?
כ וְאַתֶּם, חֲשַׁבְתֶּם עָלַי רָעָה; אֱלֹהִים, חֲשָׁבָהּ לְטֹבָה, לְמַעַן עֲשֹׂה כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה, לְהַחֲיֹת עַם-רָב.	20 And as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Chazal take note of the hidden Divine plan many times in this narrative in several midrashim (the one on the word emek comes to mind). One should not dismiss this as some pious reading of God into the narrative. God's hidden control of the situation is evident on many levels, in structure, choice of language (such as bor) and explicit details. Yosef's statement in Vayechi, mentioned above, is an example of such an explicit detail. Another is the fact that Yosef saw in a dream that he would rise to greatness and his brothers and parental units would bow to him. As we see in Vayeishev, in Bereishit 37:10-11:

י וַיְסַפֵּר אֶל-אָבִיו, וְאֶל-אֶחָיו, וַיִּגְעַר-בּוֹ אָבִיו, וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ מָה הַחֲלוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר חָלָמְתָּ: הֲבוֹא נָבוֹא, אֲנִי וְאִמְּךָ וְאַחֶיךָ, לְהִשְׁתַּחֲו‍ֹת לְךָ, אָרְצָה.	10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him, and said unto him: 'What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down to thee to the earth?'
יא וַיְקַנְאוּ-בוֹ, אֶחָיו; וְאָבִיו, שָׁמַר אֶת-הַדָּבָר.	11 And his brethren envied him; but his father kept the saying in mind.

Yaakov saw the dream as a possible portent of things to come.

Also, the repetition of the idea of dreams which occurs throughout the narrative, each time advancing the narrative. Dreams are taken as messages from God, and so Yosef's dreams, besides telling the future, also move the narrative forward (since his brothers envy him because of them and thus sell him). The same with the baker and the butler's dream, as well as Pharaoh's dream, which Yosef in his interpretation explicitly says was sent by God. God sent Pharaoh the dream not just to tell Pharaoh of coming events, but to elevate Yosef to greatness. But that is only on the most overt level. This idea of God's hidden direction is evident in many aspects throughout the narrative, and it is on this feature that Chazal pick up.

As I write elsewhere, it is this same theme of the hidden direction of God which occurs in Megillat Esther, in which seemingly random events occur which eventually work together to create salvation, but again there are hints of God's direction - e.g. Esther's direction that the Jews fast, Mordechai's statement that if she does not act; salvation will come for the Jews from somewhere else; Zeresh's statement that if Mordechai is from the zera of the Jews, once Haman starts to fall, he will fall all the way. Clearly the events in the megilla, starting from the party and Vashti's fall from grace, se are not random occurrences. And those who try to read God out of the megilla, claiming and smirking that the rabbis read Him into it on the level of hidden miracle, are not reading carefully enough.