Text -- Genesis 41:1-27 (NET)

Joseph’s Rise to Power

41:1 At the end of two full years Pharaoh had a dream. As he was standing by the Nile, 41:2 seven fine-looking, fat cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. 41:3 Then seven bad-looking, thin cows were coming up after them from the Nile, and they stood beside the other cows at the edge of the river. 41:4 The bad-looking, thin cows ate the seven fine-looking, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. 41:5 Then he fell asleep again and had a second dream: There were seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, healthy and good. 41:6 Then seven heads of grain, thin and burned by the east wind, were sprouting up after them. 41:7 The thin heads swallowed up the seven healthy and full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up and realized it was a dream. 41:8 In the morning he was troubled, so he called for all the diviner-priests of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him. 41:9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures. 41:10 Pharaoh was enraged with his servants, and he put me in prison in the house of the captain of the guards– me and the chief baker. 41:11 We each had a dream one night; each of us had a dream dream with its own meaning. 41:12 Now a young man, a Hebrew, a servant of the captain of the guards, was with us there. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted the meaning of each of our respective dreams for us. 41:13 It happened just as he had said to us– Pharaoh restored me to my office, but he impaled the baker.” 41:14 Then Pharaoh summoned 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, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard about you, that you can interpret dreams.” 41:16 Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “It is not within my power, but God will speak concerning the welfare of Pharaoh.” 41:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing 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. 41:19 Then seven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had never seen such bad-looking cows as these in all the land of Egypt! 41:20 The lean, bad-looking cows ate up the seven fat cows. 41:21 When they had eaten them, no one would have known that they had done so, for they were just as bad-looking as before. Then I woke up. 41:22 I also saw in my dream seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, full and good. 41:23 Then seven heads of grain, withered and thin and burned with the east wind, were sprouting up after them. 41:24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. So I told all this to the diviner-priests, but no one could tell me its meaning.” 41:25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both dreams of Pharaoh have the same meaning. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 41:26 The seven good cows represent seven years, and the seven good heads of grain represent seven years. Both dreams have the same meaning. 41:27 The seven lean, bad-looking cows that came up after them represent seven years, as do the seven empty heads of grain burned with the east wind. They represent seven years of famine.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Gen 41:1

¹ tn Heb “two years, days.”

² tn Heb “was dreaming.”

NET Notes: Gen 41:2

¹ tn 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.

NET Notes: Gen 41:3

¹ tn Heb “And look, seven other cows were coming up after them from the Nile, bad of appearance and thin of flesh.”

² tn Heb “the Nile.” This has been replaced by “the river” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Gen 41:5

¹ tn Heb “coming up.”

² tn Heb “fat.”

NET Notes: Gen 41:6

¹ tn Heb “And look.”

NET Notes: Gen 41:7

¹ tn 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.

NET Notes: Gen 41:8

¹ tn Heb “his spirit.”

² tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.

³ tn The Hebrew term חַרְטֹם (khartom) is an Egyptian loanword (hyr-tp) that describes a class of priests who were skilled in such interpretations.

⁴ tn 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).

⁵ tn “there was no interpreter.”

⁶ tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Gen 41:9

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

NET Notes: Gen 41:11

¹ tn Heb “and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he, each according to the interpretation of his dream we dreamed.”

NET Notes: Gen 41:12

¹ tn Or “slave.”

² tn Heb “a servant to the captain of the guards.” On this construction see GKC 419-20 §129.c.

³ tn The words “our dreams” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn Heb “and he interpreted for us our dreams, each according to his dream he interpreted.”

NET Notes: Gen 41:13

¹ tn Heb “interpreted.”

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the baker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Gen 41:14

¹ tn Heb “and Pharaoh sent and called,” indicating a summons to the royal court.

NET Notes: Gen 41:15

¹ tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”

² tn Heb “there is no one interpreting.”

³ tn Heb “saying.”

⁴ 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.”

NET Notes: Gen 41:16

¹ tn Heb “not within me.”

² tn Heb “God will answer.”

³ 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).

NET Notes: Gen 41:17

¹ 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.

NET Notes: Gen 41:18

¹ 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.”

NET Notes: Gen 41:19

¹ tn Heb “And look.”

² tn The word “cows” is supplied here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Gen 41:20

¹ tn Heb “the seven first fat cows.”

NET Notes: Gen 41:21

¹ tn Heb “when they went inside them.”

² tn Heb “it was not known.”

NET Notes: Gen 41:22

¹ tn Heb “and I saw in my dream and look.”

NET Notes: Gen 41:23

¹ tn Heb “And look.”

NET Notes: Gen 41:24

¹ tn The words “all this” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

² tn Heb “and there was no one telling me.”

NET Notes: Gen 41:25

¹ tn Heb “the dream of Pharaoh is one.”

² tn Heb “declared.”

³ tn The active participle here indicates what is imminent.

NET Notes: Gen 41:26

¹ tn Heb “one dream it is.”

NET Notes: Gen 41:27

¹ tn Heb “are.” Another option is to translate, “There will be seven years of famine.”