translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: GEN

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “two years, days.”


text: Heb “was dreaming.”


text: Heb “And look, he was standing by the Nile, and look, from the Nile were coming up seven cows, attractive of appearance and fat of flesh.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה ( hinneh , “look”), the narrator invites the audience to see the dream through Pharaoh’s eyes.


text: Heb “And look, seven other cows were coming up after them from the Nile, bad of appearance and thin of flesh.”


text: Heb “the Nile.” This has been replaced by “the river” in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “coming up.”


text: Heb “fat.”


text: Heb “And look.”


text: Heb “And look, a dream.” sn Pharaoh’s two dreams, as explained in the following verses, pertained to the economy of Egypt. Because of the Nile River, the land of Egypt weathered all kinds of famines – there was usually grain in Egypt, and if there was grain and water the livestock would flourish. These two dreams, however, indicated that poverty would overtake plenty and that the blessing of the herd and the field would cease.


text: Heb “his spirit.”


text: Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.


text: The Hebrew term חַרְטֹם ( khartom ) is an Egyptian loanword ( hyr-tp ) that describes a class of priests who were skilled in such interpretations.


text: The Hebrew text has the singular (though the Samaritan Pentateuch reads the plural). If retained, the singular must be collective for the set of dreams. Note the plural pronoun “them,” referring to the dreams, in the next clause. However, note that in v. 15 Pharaoh uses the singular to refer to the two dreams. In vv. 17-24 Pharaoh seems to treat the dreams as two parts of one dream (see especially v. 22 ).


text: “there was no interpreter.”


text: Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “sins, offenses.” He probably refers here to the offenses that landed him in prison (see 40:1 ).


text: Heb “and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he, each according to the interpretation of his dream we dreamed.”


text: Or “slave.”


text: Heb “a servant to the captain of the guards.” On this construction see GKC 419-20 §129. c .


text: The words “our dreams” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “and he interpreted for us our dreams, each according to his dream he interpreted.”


text: Heb “interpreted.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “him”; the referent (the baker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “and Pharaoh sent and called,” indicating a summons to the royal court.


text: Heb “dreamed a dream.”


text: Heb “there is no one interpreting.”


text: Heb “saying.”


text: Heb “you hear a dream to interpret it,” which may mean, “you only have to hear a dream to be able to interpret it.”


text: Heb “not within me.”


text: Heb “God will answer.”


text: The expression שְׁלוֹם פַּרְעֹה ( shÿlom par ’ oh ) is here rendered “the welfare of Pharaoh” because the dream will be about life in his land. Some interpret it to mean an answer of “peace” – one that will calm his heart, or give him the answer that he desires (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT).


text: Heb “In my dream look, I was standing.” The use of the particle הִנֵּה ( hinneh , “look”) here (and also in vv. 18, 19, 22, 23 ) invites the hearer (within the context of the narrative, Joseph; but in the broader sense the reader or hearer of the Book of Genesis) to observe the scene through Pharaoh’s eyes.


text: Heb “and look, from the Nile seven cows were coming up, fat of flesh and attractive of appearance, and they grazed in the reeds.”


text: Heb “And look.”


text: The word “cows” is supplied here in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “the seven first fat cows.”


text: Heb “when they went inside them.”


text: Heb “it was not known.”


text: Heb “and I saw in my dream and look.”


text: The words “all this” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “and there was no one telling me.”


text: Heb “the dream of Pharaoh is one.”


text: Heb “declared.”


text: The active participle here indicates what is imminent.


text: Heb “one dream it is.”


text: Heb “are.” Another option is to translate, “There will be seven years of famine.”


text: Heb “it is the word that I spoke.”


text: The perfect with the vav consecutive continues the time frame of the preceding participle, which has an imminent future nuance here.


text: The Hebrew verb כָּלָה ( kalah ) in the Piel stem means “to finish, to destroy, to bring an end to.” The severity of the famine will ruin the land of Egypt.


text: Heb “known.”


text: Or “heavy.”


text: Heb “and concerning the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh two times.” The Niphal infinitive here is the object of the preposition; it is followed by the subjective genitive “of the dream.”


text: Heb “established.”


text: The clause combines a participle and an infinitive construct: God “is hurrying…to do it,” meaning he is going to do it soon.


text: Heb “let Pharaoh look.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.


text: Heb “a man discerning and wise.” The order of the terms is rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “and let him set him.”


text: The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. The Samaritan Pentateuch has a jussive form here, “and let [Pharaoh] do.”


text: Heb “and let him appoint.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.


text: Heb “appointees.” The noun is a cognate accusative of the preceding verb. Since “appoint appointees” would be redundant in English, the term “officials” was used in the translation instead.


text: Heb “and he shall collect a fifth of the land of Egypt.” The language is figurative (metonymy); it means what the land produces, i.e., the harvest.


text: Heb “all the food.”


text: Heb “under the hand of Pharaoh.”


text: Heb “[for] food in the cities.” The noun translated “food” is an adverbial accusative in the sentence.


text: The perfect with vav ( ו ) consecutive carries the same force as the sequence of jussives before it.


text: Heb “and the land will not be cut off in the famine.”


text: Heb “and the matter was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.”


text: Heb “like this,” but the referent could be misunderstood to be a man like that described by Joseph in v. 33 , rather than Joseph himself. For this reason the proper name “Joseph” has been supplied in the translation.


text: The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”


text: Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “and at your mouth (i.e., instructions) all my people will kiss.” G. J. Wenham translates this “shall kowtow to your instruction” ( Genesis [WBC], 2:395). Although there is some textual support for reading “will be judged, ruled by you,” this is probably an attempt to capture the significance of this word. Wenham lists a number of references where individuals have tried to make connections with other words or expressions – such as a root meaning “order themselves” lying behind “kiss,” or an idiomatic idea of “kiss” meaning “seal the mouth,” and so “be silent and submit to.” See K. A. Kitchen, “The Term Nsq in Genesis 41:40 ,” ExpTim 69 (1957): 30; D. S. Sperling, “ Genesis 41:40 : A New Interpretation,” JANESCU 10 (1978): 113-19.


text: Heb “only the throne, I will be greater than you.”


text: The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is descriptive of a present action. Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, in which case Pharaoh describes a still future action as if it had already occurred in order to emphasize its certainty. In this case one could translate “I have placed” or “I will place.” The verb נָתַן ( natan ) is translated here as “to place in authority [over].”


text: The Hebrew word שֵׁשׁ ( shesh ) is an Egyptian loanword that describes the fine linen robes that Egyptian royalty wore. The clothing signified Joseph’s rank.


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “and he caused him to ride in the second chariot which was his.”


text: The verb form appears to be a causative imperative from a verbal root meaning “to kneel.” It is a homonym of the word “bless” (identical in root letters but not related etymologically).


text: Heb “apart from you.”


text: Heb “no man,” but here “man” is generic, referring to people in general.


text: The idiom “lift up hand or foot” means “take any action” here.


text: Heb “and he passed through.”


text: Heb “a son of thirty years.”


text: Heb “when he stood before.”


text: Heb “went out from before.”


text: Heb “and he passed through all the land of Egypt”; this phrase is interpreted by JPS to mean that Joseph “emerged in charge of the whole land.”


text: Heb “brought forth by handfuls.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “all the food.”


text: Heb “of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt and placed food in the cities.”


text: Heb “and Joseph gathered grain like the sand of the sea, multiplying much.” To emphasize the vast amount of grain he stored up, the Hebrew text modifies the verb “gathered” with an infinitive absolute and an adverb.


text: Heb “before the year of the famine came.”


text: Heb “gave birth for him.”


text: The word “saying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Or “for.”


text: Heb “began to arrive.”


text: Heb “to all Egypt.” The name of the country is used by metonymy for the inhabitants.


text: Or “over the entire land”; Heb “over all the face of the earth.” The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-temporal to the next clause.


label: NET textual note

text: The MT reads “he opened all that was in [or “among”] them.” The translation follows the reading of the LXX and Syriac versions.


text: Heb “all the earth,” which refers here (by metonymy) to the people of the earth. Note that the following verb is plural in form, indicating that the inhabitants of the earth are in view.