Genesis 41:1-2

Joseph’s Rise to Power

41:1 At the end of two full years ¹  Pharaoh had a dream. ²  As he was standing by the Nile, 41:2 seven fine-looking, fat cows were coming up out of the Nile, ³  and they grazed in the reeds.

Genesis 41:17-18

41:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing ⁴  by the edge of the Nile. 41:18 Then seven fat and fine-looking cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. ⁵ 

[41:1]  ¹ tn Heb “two years, days.”

[41:1]  ² tn Heb “was dreaming.”

[41:2]  ³ tn Heb “And look, he was standing by the Nile, and look, from the Nile were coming up seven cows, attractive of appearance and fat of flesh.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to see the dream through Pharaoh’s eyes.

[41:17]  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.

[41:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “and look, from the Nile seven cows were coming up, fat of flesh and attractive of appearance, and they grazed in the reeds.”