Genesis 41:7-8

41:7 The thin heads swallowed up the seven healthy and full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up and realized it was a dream. ¹ 

41:8 In the morning he ²  was troubled, so he called for ³  all the diviner-priests ⁴  of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, ⁵  but no one could interpret ⁶  them for him. ⁷ 

[41:7]  ¹ tn Heb “And look, a dream.”

[41:8]  ² tn Heb “his spirit.”

[41:8]  ³ tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.

[41:8]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn “there was no interpreter.”

[41:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.