Genesis 12:15

12:15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife ¹  was taken ²  into the household of Pharaoh, ³ 

Genesis 40:7

40:7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?” ⁴ 

Genesis 41:38

41:38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, ⁵  one in whom the Spirit of God is present?” ⁶ 

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¹ tn Heb “and the woman.” The word also means “wife”; the Hebrew article can express the possessive pronoun (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §86). Here the proper name (Abram) has been used in the translation instead of a possessive pronoun (“his”) for clarity.

² tn The Hebrew term וַתֻּקַּח (vattuqqakh, “was taken”) is a rare verbal form, an old Qal passive preterite from the verb “to take.” It is pointed as a Hophal would be by the Masoretes, but does not have a Hophal meaning.

³ tn The Hebrew text simply has “house of Pharaoh.” The word “house” refers to the household in general, more specifically to the royal harem.

⁴ tn Heb “why are your faces sad today?”

⁵ tn Heb “like this,” but the referent could be misunderstood to be a man like that described by Joseph in v. 33, rather than Joseph himself. For this reason the proper name “Joseph” has been supplied in the translation.

⁶ tn The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”