Philo: On Joseph

XIX. But the chief butler, after he was released, forgot him who had foretold his release to him, and who had alleviated all the misfortunes which had befallen him, perhaps, indeed, because every ungrateful man is forgetful of benefits, and perhaps, too, because of the providence of God, who designed that the prosperity of the young man should not be owing to man, but rather to himself; for after two years he, by means of a dream, and by two visions, predicted to the king the good and evil which was about to happen to his land, each of the visions indicating the same thing, so as to produce a firmer belief in them.

For he thought that seven oxen were coming slowly up out of the river, fat and very well fleshed, beautiful to look upon, and that they began to feed by the river; after which seven others, equal in number, destitute of flesh in a strange degree, and very lean, came up, exceedingly ill-favoured, and they too fed alongside of the others. Then, on a sudden the better oxen were devoured by the inferior ones, and yet those who ate them were in none, not even in the very slightest degree, increased in bulk in their bodies, but were still leaner than before, or, at all events, not less lean; and when he had awakened and gone to sleep a second time, he had a second vision appear to him; for he thought that seven ears of wheat sprang up from one root, equal in magnitude, and that they grew and flourished, and rose up to a height with great vigour; and then that seven other ears, thin and weak, grew up near them, and the root with good ears was devoured by the weak ears when they too had grown up.

Seeing this sight he remained sleepless all the rest of the night, for cares stinging and wounding him kept him awake, and at dawn he sent for the sophists and related his dream; and as none of them was able, by any probable conjectures, to trace out the truth, the chief butler came forward and said,