bore what happened with self-restraint and governed himself. In classical rabbinic interpretation The parashah is discussed in these rabbinic sources from the era of the Mishnah and the Talmud: Genesis chapter 41 The Gemara noted that the words "two years of days (, yamim)" in means two years. A Midrash asked what was so exceptional about the report of , "Pharaoh dreamed", as all people dream. The Midrash answered that while it is true that all people dream, a king's dream affects the whole world. The Gemara taught that a dream is a sixtieth part of prophecy. Rabbi Ḥanan taught that even if the Master of Dreams (an angel, in a dream that truly foretells the future) tells a person that on the next day the person will die, the person should not desist from prayer, for as says, "For in the multitude of dreams are vanities and also many words, but fear God." (Although a dream may seem reliably to predict the future, it will not necessarily come true; one must place one's trust in God.) Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Jonathan that a person is shown in a dream only what is suggested by the person's own thoughts (while awake), as says, "As for you, Oh King, your thoughts came into your mind upon your bed", and says, "That you may know the thoughts of the heart." When Samuel had a bad dream, he used to quote , "The dreams speak falsely." When he had a good dream, he used to question whether dreams speak falsely, seeing as in , God says, "I speak with him in a dream?" Rava pointed out the potential contradiction between and . The Gemara resolved the contradiction, teaching that , "I speak with him in a dream?" refers to dreams that come through an angel, whereas , "The dreams speak falsely", refers to dreams that come through a demon. Rabbi Joḥanan taught that the wicked stand over their gods, as says, "And Pharaoh dreamed, and, behold, he stood over the river." (The Egyptians worshipped the Nile as a god.) But God stands over them, as says, "and, behold, the Lord stood over him." (Thus, idolaters must stand over and protect their idols, but God protects God's people.) A Midrash taught that in the words of , "And, behold, there came up out of the river seven cows",