Yosef told his brothers that he was 1. a “father”, or Administrator, to the king, 2. a Adon, or Master, to the king’s house, 3. and a Moshel, or Ruler, to all of Egypt. Previously, the brothers had reported to their father Yaakov about “the Adon of the land”, not the “moshel”. And when they actually conveyed back this message to Yaakov they said that Yosef was Moshel to all of Egypt. What are these terms, and what do they mean and signify?
We suggested that an Adon is the titular head of the government, a prime minister or president. A Moshel is the one who actually wields power over men, a strongman or army general. Often the two functions are separate; the president is head of the country, but the strongman is the real power. Yosef was not only prime minister, the “Adon of Paroh’s house” – i.e. chief among his ministers, but was also the shogun who controlled everyone in the country.
In his dreams, Yosef foretold how everyone would bow to him, titular head of the government. He became the power-chief too. So he sent a message to his father that he was prime minister and controlled the entire populace as well. The brothers, however, only said that Yosef was the power-boss; moshel, – not prime minister too. Maybe that was part of the reason why Yaakov didn’t believe them, because that’s not what the dreams foretold!
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