One final insight into dream interpretations relates to how Joseph was able to tie together the various symbols in the dreams—time, physical objects, and numerical allusions—to create a unified interpretation. The Hebrew word the Torah uses to describe a dream interpreter in these stories is “poter” (רֵתֹפּ ו). The same letters arranged differently spell “one who sews” or “one who ties together” (רֵפֹוּת). Joseph was able to take diverse symbols in a dream and rearrange them, sewing them together to create a unified garment or interpretation. When Jacob blesses Joseph at the end of his life, he begins the blessing with “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall.”
The Hebrew word for fruitful is “porat” (תָרֹפּ ו) containing the same letters as to interpret and to sew!
