Genesis 41:8

41:8 In the morning he ¹  was troubled, so he called for ²  all the diviner-priests ³  of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, ⁴  but no one could interpret ⁵  them for him. ⁶ 

Genesis 46:31

46:31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, ⁷  ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me.

Genesis 47:19

47:19 Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become ⁸  Pharaoh’s slaves. ⁹  Give us seed that we may live ¹⁰  and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” ¹¹ 

[41:8]  ¹ tn Heb “his spirit.”

[41:8]  ² tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.

[41:8]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn “there was no interpreter.”

[41:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[46:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “tell Pharaoh and say to him.”

[47:19]  ¹³ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.

[47:19]  ¹⁴ sn Pharaoh’s slaves. The idea of slavery is not attractive to the modern mind, but in the ancient world it was the primary way of dealing with the poor and destitute. If the people became slaves of Pharaoh, it was Pharaoh’s responsibility to feed them and care for them. It was the best way for them to survive the famine.

[47:19]  ¹⁵ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.

[47:19]  ¹⁶ tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.