Parashat Miketz begins with an account of Pharaoh's dreams that, in his mind, urgently required interpretation. He dreams first of seven lean, emaciated cows devouring seven large, hardy cows, and then beholds a similar vision of seven beaten sheaves of grain consuming seven fresh, healthy sheaves. The Torah tells that when Pharaoh awoke, "his spirit was agitated" (41:8); so troubled he was by these dreams that he immediately summoned his advisors and magicians in an attempt to uncover the dream's meaning. Only once he invited Yosef to interpret the dream did the Pharaoh feel that the dream's true meaning had been revealed.
What about Pharaoh's dream caused him such grief, and why did only Yosef's interpretation satisfy him?
Rav Shimon Schwab suggests that Pharaoh, to his credit, understood the symbolic significance of the meek and feeble overpowering the strong and mighty. Egypt was the unquestioned superpower of its day, the strongest empire with the most stable economy and most impressive cultural achievements. Perhaps most importantly, Egypt enjoyed the constant supply of water provided by the Nile River, which would regularly overflow its banks and fill the streams and brooks dug all around it, allowing for easy and reliable irrigation. (See Rashi to the first verse of Parashat Miketz.) Egypt always felt confident in its power and stability as a result of this water supply. Many centuries later, the prophet Yechezkel mocks the Pharaoh for his arrogant self-confidence in the Nile's waters: "Thus said the Lord God: I am going to deal with you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, mighty monster, sprawling in its channels, who said, my Nile is my own; I made if for myself" (29:3). Yechzekel then conveys God's warning to Pharaoh: "I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your channels cling to your scales; I will haul you up from your channels… And I will fling you into the desert" (29:4-5).
The dream of the cows and sheaves indicated to Pharaoh that his strength and power would soon diminish. Like the sturdy cows and healthy sheaves, he is now threatened by a force he always felt capable of controlling and subduing. This is why Pharaoh awoke in panic. He was suddenly shown that his strength and power mean nothing, that regardless of one's stature and might, he can easily fall prey to even those far weaker than he. Pharaoh was frightened and begged his advisors to tell him precisely who or what threatens him and how to confront the danger.
But Pharaoh could not accept any of the interpretations. Chazal (cited by Rashi to 41:8) claim that Pharaoh's advisors suggested that the dream indicated the birth and subsequent death of seven daughters. But Pharaoh understood that the true interpretation involved the particular message of the weak overpowering the mighty, the feeble destroying the stalwart. He therefore accepted and found comfort only in Yosef's interpretation, which spoke of Egypt's legendary agriculture crumbling into pieces by the ravages of famine. Yosef pinpointed precisely the danger confronting the empire and informed Pharaoh specifically how he should prepare, thereby raising himself to the position of viceroy, and saving Egypt and the entire region from starvation.