Though Joseph declared ‘interpretation of dream belong to God’ (Genesis 40:8; 41:16) what Joseph supposedly presented as interpretation from God brings reproach on God Himself because it implies God is responsible for famine which would mean natural calamities are caused by God. (Genesis 41:32) Why should God spread untruth about Himself? Things happen as part of a flow of events due to various factors and forces acting together. (Ecclesiastes 9:11) Truthfulness of this is well attested by what is happening in our own bodies. If we choose food habits that would make us fall sick, we will become sick which is like a miniature natural calamity in the physical world called our bodies. This concept is well-known by the term doctors use—Lifestyle Diseases which include atherosclerosis, heart-disease, and stroke; obesity and type 2 diabetes; and diseases associated with smoking and alcohol and drug abuse… etc. Link between reckless and greedy exploitation of nature after Industrial Revolution and present day climate changes is another proof of its macro aspect.
Other details given about Joseph too cast doubt on the historicity of this character. Being loved by father more than other sons fosters enmity among other them to the point that “they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.” (Genesis 37:3, 4) Joseph knew his brothers’ hatred—still revealed his inflammatory dream to his brothers (Genesis 37:5-8) which is unlikely to happen in real life. After seeing their “hatred increased all the more,” Joseph revealed to his brothers his second dream also which is extremely inflammatory (Genesis 37:9) which is again highly unlikely to happen in real life. Giving inflammatory dream to innocent ones is like praising Job with the intention of attracting trouble from Satan … a thing that doesn’t befit all-wise God which is the proof that such accounts are poor human imagination.
Interestingly, what began as an invented story of Joseph climaxes in something that puts a feather on the crown of unlikelihood. No passenger would feel ungrateful to a brave pilot who saved all passengers from a great plane tragedy. Yet we find Israelites who were saved from Egyptian slavery through such great feats such as ten plagues and parting of Red Sea …etc. building a Golden Calf and declaring to that single calf ‘You are our gods, who brought us up out of Egypt.’ (Deuteronomy Chapter 32)