Genesis 41:33

41:33 “So now Pharaoh should look ¹  for a wise and discerning man ²  and give him authority ³  over all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:38

41:38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, ⁴  one in whom the Spirit of God is present?” ⁵ 

Isaiah 19:11

19:11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; ⁶ 

Pharaoh’s wise advisers give stupid advice.

How dare you say to Pharaoh,

“I am one of the sages,

one well-versed in the writings of the ancient kings?” ⁷ 

[41:33]  ¹ tn Heb “let Pharaoh look.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.

[41:33]  ² tn Heb “a man discerning and wise.” The order of the terms is rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:33]  ³ tn Heb “and let him set him.”

[41:38]  ⁴ 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.

[41:38]  ⁵ tn The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”

[19:11]  ⁶ tn Or “certainly the officials of Zoan are fools.” אַךְ (’akh) can carry the sense, “only, nothing but,” or “certainly, surely.”

[19:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “A son of wise men am I, a son of ancient kings.” The term בֶּן (ben, “son of”) could refer to literal descent, but many understand the word, at least in the first line, in its idiomatic sense of “member [of a guild].” See HALOT 138 s.v. בֶּן and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:371. If this is the case, then one can take the word in a figurative sense in the second line as well, the “son of ancient kings” being one devoted to their memory as preserved in their literature.