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
47:26 So Joseph made it a statute, 9 which is in effect 10 to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.
1 tn Heb “his spirit.”
2 tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.
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.
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).
5 tn “there was no interpreter.”
6 tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 tn The words “all this” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “and there was no one telling me.”
9 tn On the term translated “statute” see P. Victor, “A Note on Hoq in the Old Testament,” VT 16 (1966): 358-61.
10 tn The words “which is in effect” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.