41:8 In the morning he 1 was troubled, so he called for 2 all the diviner-priests 3 of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, 4 but no one could interpret 5 them for him. 6
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.
7 tn Heb “like this,” but the referent could be misunderstood to be a man like that described by Joseph in v. 33, rather than Joseph himself. For this reason the proper name “Joseph” has been supplied in the translation.
8 tn The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”
9 tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.