MeKaytz - Plausibility Quotient?

Pharoah, the king of perhaps the greatest superpower country in that era, tells Joseph – a Hebrew slave and the former prisoner – about his two dreams and Joseph offers a compelling interpretation, as well as some advice on how to handle the dream’s forecast of future events. Pharoah reacts by stating: “Can we find someone like this, in whom resides the spirit of God?” … Since God has caused you to know all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you. You shall be over my house and according to you all my people shall be ruled; only in the throne will I be greater than you.” (41:38-40).

I find Pharoah’s reaction hard to fathom. Yes, the dream interpretation and the advice may have seemed quite fitting, even wise. But would anyone – let alone a formidable ruler like Pharoah – turn around and immediately appoint a total stranger to be prime minister? There’s no background check, no apprenticeship, no offer of a cushy post as ‘top advisor’ – instead, Pharoah installs Joseph as almost a political rival. How can that be?

Some Biblical commentators suggest that Joseph’s interpretation was so spot-on, it demonstrated that he knew more about the dreams then Pharoah initially revealed. Noticing this, Pharoah understood that Joseph was Divinely inspired and put him in the best post to capitalize on his Godly connection. And then there’s a midrashic story (Talmud Sotah, 36B) that posits that Pharoah subjected Joseph to a leadership assessment test, in which he challenged Joseph to prove his mastery of different languages. In the course of the test, Joseph not only demonstrated mastery of the 70 known languages but also showed his knowledge of Hebrew, which Pharoah could not master. To cover up the fact that he was bested in this situation, Pharoah offered Joseph the top position on condition that he swear not to reveal the results of the language test to anyone else.

The explanations are interesting. But I have a difficult time connecting either one to the text in the Torah portion. So, for me, the question persists.