41:14 Then Pharaoh summoned 9 Joseph. So they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; he shaved himself, changed his clothes, and came before Pharaoh. 41:15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, 10 and there is no one who can interpret 11 it. But I have heard about you, that 12 you can interpret dreams.” 13 41:16 Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “It is not within my power, 14 but God will speak concerning 15 the welfare of Pharaoh.” 16
41:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing 17 by the edge of the Nile. 41:18 Then seven fat and fine-looking cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. 18 41:19 Then 19 seven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had never seen such bad-looking cows 20 as these in all the land of Egypt! 41:20 The lean, bad-looking cows ate up the seven 21 fat cows.
1 tn Heb “and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he, each according to the interpretation of his dream we dreamed.”
2 tn Or “slave.”
3 tn Heb “a servant to the captain of the guards.” On this construction see GKC 419-20 §129.c.
4 tn The words “our dreams” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 tn Heb “and he interpreted for us our dreams, each according to his dream he interpreted.”
6 tn Heb “interpreted.”
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the baker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “and Pharaoh sent and called,” indicating a summons to the royal court.
10 tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”
11 tn Heb “there is no one interpreting.”
12 tn Heb “saying.”
13 tn Heb “you hear a dream to interpret it,” which may mean, “you only have to hear a dream to be able to interpret it.”
14 tn Heb “not within me.”
15 tn Heb “God will answer.”
16 tn 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).
17 tn 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.
18 tn Heb “and look, from the Nile seven cows were coming up, fat of flesh and attractive of appearance, and they grazed in the reeds.”
19 tn Heb “And look.”
20 tn The word “cows” is supplied here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
21 tn Heb “the seven first fat cows.”