Genesis 41

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

Pharaoh's dreams

¹ At the end of two full years Pharaoh dreamed, and there he was, standing by the Nile. ² And there came up out of the Nile seven cows, beautiful in appearance and fat in flesh, and they grazed among the reeds. ³ Then seven other cows came up after them out of the Nile, ugly in appearance and thin in flesh, and stood beside the other cows on the bank of the Nile. ⁴ And the cows that were ugly in appearance and thin in flesh ate up the seven cows that were beautiful in appearance and fat. Then Pharaoh awoke. ⁵ He fell asleep and dreamed a second time, and there were seven ears of grain, plump and good, coming up on one stalk. ⁶ Then seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted after them. ⁷ And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and indeed it was a dream. ⁸ In the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, "I remember my offenses today. ¹⁰ When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, he put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker. ¹¹ We dreamed a dream on the same night, he and I; each of us dreamed a dream with its own interpretation. ¹² A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he gave the interpretation of his dream. ¹³ And as he interpreted to us, so it came about: I was restored to my office, and the other was hanged."

Joseph interprets the dreams

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they hurried him out of the pit. He shaved himself and changed his clothes, and came in before Pharaoh. ¹⁵ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it." ¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me; Elohim will give Pharaoh an answer of peace." ¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the Nile. ¹⁸ And seven cows, fat in flesh and fine in form, came up out of the Nile and grazed among the reeds. ¹⁹ Then seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly in form and thin in flesh. I have never seen such ugly ones in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ And the thin and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows. ²¹ They went into their bellies, yet no one could tell that they had gone in, for they looked as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. ²² I also saw in my dream seven ears of grain, full and good, coming up on one stalk. ²³ Then seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted after them, ²⁴ and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me."

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's dream is one. Elohim has told Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dream is one. ²⁷ The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine. ²⁸ It is as I told Pharaoh: Elohim has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ There are coming seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. ³⁰ But after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will consume the land. ³¹ The plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine that follows, for it will be very severe. ³² And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is firmly decided by Elohim, and Elohim will soon bring it about. ³³ Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this: let him appoint overseers over the land and take a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven years of plenty. ³⁵ Let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, as food in the cities, and let them guard it. ³⁶ The food will be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that will come in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not be cut off by the famine."

Joseph set over Egypt

³⁷ The proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants. ³⁸ And Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of Elohim?" ³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since Elohim has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. ⁴⁰ You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled by your word. Only in the throne will I be greater than you." ⁴¹ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt." ⁴² Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ He had him ride in his second chariot, and they cried out before him, "Abrek!" So he set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh also said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without you no one shall lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt." ⁴⁵ And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah, and he gave him Asenath the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as his wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. ⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁷ During the seven years of plenty the land produced in full handfuls. ⁴⁸ And he gathered up all the food of the seven years that came in the land of Egypt and put the food in the cities. In each city he put the food from the fields around it. ⁴⁹ Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was beyond number.

⁵⁰ Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath the daughter of Potiphera priest of On bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, "For," he said, "Elohim has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house." ⁵² The name of the second he called Ephraim, "For Elohim has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."

⁵³ The seven years of plenty that had been in the land of Egypt came to an end, ⁵⁴ and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph. Whatever he says to you, do it." ⁵⁶ The famine was over all the face of the earth. Then Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine grew severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ And all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

Notes

• 41:16 "It is not in me" is one Hebrew word, bil'aday, "apart from me." Before a king whom the Egyptians honored as divine, Joseph gives the credit to God. "An answer of peace" is literally "the shalom of Pharaoh": an answer for Pharaoh's welfare, one that will set his mind at rest.
• 41:38 Pharaoh says ruach Elohim. Coming from an Egyptian king it may have meant "a divine spirit" or "the spirit of the gods," since Elohim can mean either; but the story has already shown that Joseph's wisdom comes from the one God (verse 16). Later, in Babylon, Daniel is described in similar words (Daniel 4:8; 5:11).
• 41:40 Literally "at your mouth all my people shall kiss." The phrase is uncertain: it may picture the people kissing in homage, that is, submitting to his commands, or come from a similar word meaning "be ordered" or "be supplied." Either way, Joseph's word now governs Egypt.
• 41:43 Abrek is an uncertain word, so we leave it untranslated. It may be Egyptian, perhaps a call like "Attention!" or "Make way!"; some connect it with the Hebrew barakh, "to kneel," hence "Bow the knee!"; others with an Akkadian title for a high official. Joseph rides in "the second chariot," the one used by the second man in the kingdom.
• 41:45 These names are Egyptian, and the meaning of Zaphenath-paneah is debated. Many scholars read it as "the god speaks and he lives" or "the one who furnishes life"; Josephus in the first century, like later Jewish tradition, explained it as "revealer of secrets." Asenath probably means "belonging to Neith," an Egyptian goddess, and Potiphera "the one whom Ra gave." On is the city the Greeks called Heliopolis, a center of the worship of the sun.
• 41:52 Manasseh (Menasheh) sounds like nashani, "He has made me forget" (verse 51), and Ephraim (Efrayim) like hifrani, "He has made me fruitful," from the same root as "be fruitful" in God's blessing (1:28; 35:11). Joseph does not stop loving his family, as the next chapters show; the first name more likely says that the pain of the past no longer rules his life. Both names give the credit to God, who made Joseph fruitful in the very land where he was afflicted.

Genesis 40 · Genesis 42

Open in the study app