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 41:39

41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning ⁴  as you are!

Genesis 41:8

41:8 In the morning he ⁵  was troubled, so he called for ⁶  all the diviner-priests ⁷  of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, ⁸  but no one could interpret ⁹  them for him. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 3:6

3:6 When ¹¹  the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, ¹²  was attractive ¹³  to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, ¹⁴  she took some of its fruit and ate it. ¹⁵  She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. ¹⁶ 

Genesis 41:24

41:24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. So I told all this ¹⁷  to the diviner-priests, but no one could tell me its meaning.” ¹⁸ 

[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.”

[41:39]  ⁴ tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “his spirit.”

[41:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.

[41:8]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term חַרְטֹם (khartom) is an Egyptian loanword (hyr-tp) that describes a class of priests who were skilled in such interpretations.

[41:8]  ¹⁰ 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).

[41:8]  ¹¹ tn “there was no interpreter.”

[41:8]  ¹² tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And the woman saw.” The clause can be rendered as a temporal clause subordinate to the following verb in the sequence.

[3:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “that the tree was good for food.” The words “produced fruit that was” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[3:6]  ¹² tn The Hebrew word תַּאֲוָה (ta’avah, translated “attractive” here) actually means “desirable.” This term and the later term נֶחְמָד (nekhmad, “desirable”) are synonyms.

[3:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “that good was the tree for food, and that desirable it was to the eyes, and desirable was the tree to make one wise.” On the connection between moral wisdom and the “knowledge of good and evil,” see the note on the word “evil” in 2:9.

[3:6]  ¹⁴ tn The pronoun “it” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied (here and also after “ate” at the end of this verse) for stylistic reasons.

[3:6]  ¹⁵ sn This pericope (3:1-7) is a fine example of Hebrew narrative structure. After an introductory disjunctive clause that introduces a new character and sets the stage (3:1), the narrative tension develops through dialogue, culminating in the action of the story. Once the dialogue is over, the action is told in a rapid sequence of verbs – she took, she ate, she gave, and he ate.

[41:24]  ¹³ tn The words “all this” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and there was no one telling me.”