John Calvin Commentary Genesis 42:9

"And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come." — Genesis 42:9 (ASV)

And Joseph remembered the dreams. When the boy Joseph had spoken of receiving homage, the absurdity of the thing drove his brothers to wickedly plan his death. Now, although they bow down to him without knowing him, there is still nothing better for them. Indeed, their only means of safety is to prostrate themselves at his feet and to be received by him as suppliants.

Meanwhile, their conspiracy, by which they attempted to overturn the heavenly decree so that they would not have to bear the yoke, was made fruitless. So the Lord forcibly restrains the obstinate, just as wild and rebellious horses are accustomed to being more severely treated, the more they kick and are restless.

Therefore, there is nothing better than humbly to calm one's mind to gentleness, so that each person may accept his own lot contentedly, even if it is not very magnificent. It may, however, seem absurd that Joseph should, at this time, have recalled his dream, as if it had been forgotten with the passing of years. Indeed, this could not have been the case, unless he had lost sight of God's promises.

I answer, what is recorded here is nothing other than what frequently happens to us: for although the word of God may be dwelling in our hearts, yet it does not continually come to our minds, but rather is sometimes so suppressed that it may seem to be extinguished, especially when faith is weighed down by the darkness of affliction.

Besides, it is not surprising if a long series of misfortunes should have buried his dreams, which suggested prosperity, in a kind of forgetfulness. God had exalted him, by these dreams, to the hope of great and distinguished authority. He is, however, cast into a well not unlike a grave.

He is taken from there to be sold as a slave; he is carried to a distant land; and, as if slavery would not be severe enough, he is locked up in prison. And though his misery was in some degree lessened when he was released from his iron chains, yet there was little, if any, hope of rescue.

I do not, however, think that the hope he held was entirely destroyed, but that a cloud passed over it, which deprived him of the light of comfort. A different kind of temptation followed, because nothing is more common than for great and unexpected good fortune to intoxicate its possessors.

And thus it happened, as we have recently read, that a forgetfulness of his father’s house crept into the mind of the holy man. He was not, therefore, so mindful of his dreams as he should have been. Another excuse may probably be suggested: that he, at that moment, compared his dreams with the event.

And truly, it was no ordinary virtue to immediately apply what was happening to confirm the divine prophecy. For we readily understand that those dreams which so quickly come back to mind had not been erased by the passage of time. So the disciples remembered the words of the Lord after he had risen from the dead; because, by witnessing the predicted event, their knowledge became clearer, while before, nothing but fleeting sparks of it had shone in their hearts.