Genesis 41:25-32

41:25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both dreams of Pharaoh have the same meaning. ¹  God has revealed ²  to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ³  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. ⁴  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 ⁵  seven years of famine. 41:28 This is just what I told ⁶  Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 41:29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt. 41:30 But seven years of famine will occur ⁷  after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will devastate ⁸  the land. 41:31 The previous abundance of the land will not be remembered ⁹  because of the famine that follows, for the famine will be very severe. ¹⁰  41:32 The dream was repeated to Pharaoh ¹¹  because the matter has been decreed ¹²  by God, and God will make it happen soon. ¹³ 

Genesis 41:54

41:54 Then the seven years of famine began, ¹⁴  just as Joseph had predicted. There was famine in all the other lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food.

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

² tn Heb “declared.”

³ tn The active participle here indicates what is imminent.

⁴ tn Heb “one dream it is.”

⁵ tn Heb “are.” Another option is to translate, “There will be seven years of famine.”

⁶ tn Heb “it is the word that I spoke.”

⁷ tn The perfect with the vav consecutive continues the time frame of the preceding participle, which has an imminent future nuance here.

⁸ tn 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.

⁹ tn Heb “known.”

¹⁰ tn Or “heavy.”

¹¹ tn 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.”

¹² tn Heb “established.”

¹³ tn The clause combines a participle and an infinitive construct: God “is hurrying…to do it,” meaning he is going to do it soon.

¹⁴ tn Heb “began to arrive.”