Genesis 41:8-15

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  41:9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures. ⁷  41:10 Pharaoh was enraged with his servants, and he put me in prison in the house of the captain of the guards – me and the chief baker. 41:11 We each had a dream one night; each of us had a dream with its own meaning. ⁸  41:12 Now a young man, a Hebrew, a servant ⁹  of the captain of the guards, ¹⁰  was with us there. We told him our dreams, ¹¹  and he interpreted the meaning of each of our respective dreams for us. ¹²  41:13 It happened just as he had said ¹³  to us – Pharaoh ¹⁴  restored me to my office, but he impaled the baker.” ¹⁵ 

41:14 Then Pharaoh summoned ¹⁶  Joseph. So they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; he shaved himself, changed his clothes, and came before Pharaoh. 41:15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, ¹⁷  and there is no one who can interpret ¹⁸  it. But I have heard about you, that ¹⁹  you can interpret dreams.” ²⁰ 

[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.

[41:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “sins, offenses.” He probably refers here to the offenses that landed him in prison (see 40:1).

[41:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he, each according to the interpretation of his dream we dreamed.”

[41:12]  ⁹ tn Or “slave.”

[41:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a servant to the captain of the guards.” On this construction see GKC 419-20 §129.c.

[41:12]  ¹¹ tn The words “our dreams” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:12]  ¹² tn Heb “and he interpreted for us our dreams, each according to his dream he interpreted.”

[41:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “interpreted.”

[41:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[41:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the baker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[41:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and Pharaoh sent and called,” indicating a summons to the royal court.

[41:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”

[41:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “there is no one interpreting.”

[41:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “saying.”

[41:15]  ²⁰ 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.”