Genesis 41:11

41:11 We each had a dream one night; each of us had a dream with its own meaning. ¹ 

Genesis 37:6

37:6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ² 

Genesis 37:5

37:5 Joseph ³  had a dream, ⁴  and when he told his brothers about it, ⁵  they hated him even more. ⁶ 

Genesis 41:1

Joseph’s Rise to Power

41:1 At the end of two full years ⁷  Pharaoh had a dream. ⁸  As he was standing by the Nile,

Genesis 41:5

41:5 Then he fell asleep again and had a second dream: There were seven heads of grain growing ⁹  on one stalk, healthy ¹⁰  and good.

Genesis 37:9

37:9 Then he had another dream, ¹¹  and told it to his brothers. “Look,” ¹²  he said. “I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

Genesis 28:12

28:12 and had a dream. ¹³  He saw ¹⁴  a stairway ¹⁵  erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it

Genesis 40:8

40:8 They told him, “We both had dreams, ¹⁶  but there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph responded, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell them ¹⁷  to me.”

Genesis 41:15

41:15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, ¹⁸  and there is no one who can interpret ¹⁹  it. But I have heard about you, that ²⁰  you can interpret dreams.” ²¹ 

Genesis 42:9

42:9 Then Joseph remembered ²²  the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see if our land is vulnerable!” ²³ 

Genesis 37:10

37:10 When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, “What is this dream that you had? ²⁴  Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?” ²⁵ 

Genesis 40:5

40:5 Both of them, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream ²⁶  the same night. ²⁷  Each man’s dream had its own meaning. ²⁸ 

[41:11]  ¹ tn Heb “and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he, each according to the interpretation of his dream we dreamed.”

[37:6]  ² tn Heb “hear this dream which I dreamed.”

[37:5]  ³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”

[37:5]  ⁵ 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.

[37:5]  ⁶ tn The construction uses a hendiadys, “they added to hate,” meaning they hated him even more.

[41:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “two years, days.”

[41:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “was dreaming.”

[41:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “coming up.”

[41:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “fat.”

[37:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “And he dreamed yet another dream.”

[37:9]  ⁷ 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.

[28:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “and dreamed.”

[28:12]  ⁸ 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 Lord himself” (Narrative Art in Genesis [SSN], 51-52).

[28:12]  ⁹ 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.

[40:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “a dream we dreamed.”

[40:8]  ⁹ tn The word “them” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”

[41:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “there is no one interpreting.”

[41:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “saying.”

[41:15]  ¹² tn Heb “you hear a dream to interpret it,” which may mean, “you only have to hear a dream to be able to interpret it.”

[42:9]  ¹⁰ sn You are spies. Joseph wanted to see how his brothers would react if they were accused of spying.

[42:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to see the nakedness of the land you have come.”

[37:10]  ¹¹ sn The question What is this dream that you had? expresses Jacob’s dismay at what he perceives to be Joseph’s audacity.

[37:10]  ¹² tn Heb “Coming, will we come, I and your mother and your brothers, to bow down to you to the ground?” The verb “come” is preceded by the infinitive absolute, which lends emphasis. It is as if Jacob said, “You don’t really think we will come…to bow down…do you?”

[40:5]  ¹² tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”

[40:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “a man his dream in one night.”

[40:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a man according to the interpretation of his dream.”