Genesis 12:18

12:18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this ¹  you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife?

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?” ² 

Genesis 40:14

40:14 But remember me ³  when it goes well for you, and show ⁴  me kindness. ⁵  Make mention ⁶  of me to Pharaoh and bring me out of this prison, ⁷ 

Genesis 40:17

40:17 In the top basket there were baked goods of every kind for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them from the basket that was on my head.”

Genesis 40:19

40:19 In three more days Pharaoh will decapitate you ⁸  and impale you on a pole. Then the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

Genesis 41:7

41:7 The thin heads swallowed up the seven healthy and full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up and realized it was a dream. ⁹ 

Genesis 41:10

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.

Genesis 41:15

41:15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, ¹⁰  and there is no one who can interpret ¹¹  it. But I have heard about you, that ¹²  you can interpret dreams.” ¹³ 

Genesis 41:32-33

41:32 The dream was repeated to Pharaoh ¹⁴  because the matter has been decreed ¹⁵  by God, and God will make it happen soon. ¹⁶ 

41:33 “So now Pharaoh should look ¹⁷  for a wise and discerning man ¹⁸  and give him authority ¹⁹  over all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:38-39

41:38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, ²⁰  one in whom the Spirit of God is present?” ²¹  41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning ²²  as you are!

Genesis 42:15

42:15 You will be tested in this way: As surely as Pharaoh lives, ²³  you will not depart from this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

Genesis 45:21

45:21 So the sons of Israel did as he said. ²⁴  Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had instructed, ²⁵  and he gave them provisions for the journey.

Genesis 47:23

47:23 Joseph said to the people, “Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate ²⁶  the land.

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¹ tn The demonstrative pronoun translated “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to me?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

² tn Heb “why are your faces sad today?”

³ tn Heb “but you have remembered me with you.” The perfect verbal form may be used rhetorically here to emphasize Joseph’s desire to be remembered. He speaks of the action as already being accomplished in order to make it clear that he expects it to be done. The form can be translated as volitional, expressing a plea or a request.

⁴ tn This perfect verbal form with the prefixed conjunction (and the two that immediately follow) carry the same force as the preceding perfect.

⁵ tn Heb “deal with me [in] kindness.”

⁶ tn The verb זָכַר (zakhar) in the Hiphil stem means “to cause to remember, to make mention, to boast.” The implication is that Joseph would be pleased for them to tell his story and give him the credit due him so that Pharaoh would release him. Since Pharaoh had never met Joseph, the simple translation of “cause him to remember me” would mean little.

⁷ tn Heb “house.” The word “prison” has been substituted in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “Pharaoh will lift up your head from upon you.” Joseph repeats the same expression from the first interpretation (see v. 13), but with the added words “from upon you,” which allow the statement to have a more literal and ominous meaning – the baker will be decapitated.

⁹ tn Heb “And look, a dream.”

sn Pharaoh’s two dreams, as explained in the following verses, pertained to the economy of Egypt. Because of the Nile River, the land of Egypt weathered all kinds of famines – there was usually grain in Egypt, and if there was grain and water the livestock would flourish. These two dreams, however, indicated that poverty would overtake plenty and that the blessing of the herd and the field would cease.

¹⁰ tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”

¹¹ tn Heb “there is no one interpreting.”

¹² tn Heb “saying.”

¹³ 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.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “and concerning the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh two times.” The Niphal infinitive here is the object of the preposition; it is followed by the subjective genitive “of the dream.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “established.”

¹⁶ tn The clause combines a participle and an infinitive construct: God “is hurrying…to do it,” meaning he is going to do it soon.

¹⁷ tn Heb “let Pharaoh look.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.

¹⁸ tn Heb “a man discerning and wise.” The order of the terms is rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁹ tn Heb “and let him set him.”

²⁰ 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.

²¹ tn The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”

²² tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

²³ tn Heb “[By] the life of Pharaoh.”

sn As surely as Pharaoh lives. Joseph uses an oath formula to let the brothers know the certainty of what he said. There is some discussion in the commentaries on swearing by the life of Pharaoh, but since the formulation here reflects the Hebrew practice, it would be hard to connect the ideas exactly to Egyptian practices. Joseph did this to make the point in a way that his Hebrew brothers would understand. See M. R. Lehmann, “Biblical Oaths,” ZAW 81 (1969): 74-92.

²⁴ tn Heb “and the sons of Israel did so.”

²⁵ tn Heb “according to the mouth of Pharaoh.”

²⁶ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive is equivalent to a command here.