37:5 Joseph 1 had a dream, 2 and when he told his brothers about it, 3 they hated him even more. 4
41:5 Then he fell asleep again and had a second dream: There were seven heads of grain growing 5 on one stalk, healthy 6 and good.
37:9 Then he had another dream, 10 and told it to his brothers. “Look,” 11 he said. “I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
1 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”
3 sn Some interpreters see Joseph as gloating over his brothers, but the text simply says he told his brothers about it (i.e., the dream). The text gives no warrant for interpreting his manner as arrogant or condescending. It seems normal that he would share a dream with the family.
4 tn The construction uses a hendiadys, “they added to hate,” meaning they hated him even more.
5 tn Heb “coming up.”
6 tn Heb “fat.”
9 tn Heb “and dreamed.”
10 tn Heb “and look.” The scene which Jacob witnessed is described in three clauses introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh). In this way the narrator invites the reader to witness the scene through Jacob’s eyes. J. P. Fokkelman points out that the particle goes with a lifted arm and an open mouth: “There, a ladder! Oh, angels! and look, the
11 tn The Hebrew noun סֻלָּם (sullam, “ladder, stairway”) occurs only here in the OT, but there appears to be an Akkadian cognate simmiltu (with metathesis of the second and third consonants and a feminine ending) which has a specialized meaning of “stairway, ramp.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 34. For further discussion see C. Houtman, “What Did Jacob See in His Dream at Bethel? Some Remarks on Genesis 28:10-22,” VT 27 (1977): 337-52; J. G. Griffiths, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 76 (1964/65): 229-30; and A. R. Millard, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 78 (1966/67): 86-87.
13 tn Heb “And he dreamed yet another dream.”
14 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Look.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons. Both clauses of the dream report begin with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), which lends vividness to the report.