17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep 2 the covenantal requirement 3 I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
41:1 At the end of two full years 5 Pharaoh had a dream. 6 As he was standing by the Nile,
41:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing 7 by the edge of the Nile.
1 tn The Hebrew verb is בָּנָה (banah, “to make, to build, to construct”). The text states that the
2 tn The imperfect tense could be translated “you shall keep” as a binding command; but the obligatory nuance (“must”) captures the binding sense better.
3 tn Heb “my covenant.” The Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) can refer to (1) the agreement itself between two parties (see v. 7), (2) the promise made by one party to another (see vv. 2-3, 7), (3) an obligation placed by one party on another, or (4) a reminder of the agreement. In vv. 9-10 the word refers to a covenantal obligation which God gives to Abraham and his descendants.
3 tn Heb “What are these?”
4 tn Heb “two years, days.”
5 tn Heb “was dreaming.”
5 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.