Discovery BoxGenesis 41:16-25 
Context41:16 Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “It is not within my power, 1 but God will speak concerning 2 the welfare of Pharaoh.” 3
41:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing 4 by the edge of the Nile. 41:18 Then seven fat and fine-looking cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. 5 41:19 Then 6 seven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had never seen such bad-looking cows 7 as these in all the land of Egypt! 41:20 The lean, bad-looking cows ate up the seven 8 fat cows. 41:21 When they had eaten them, 9 no one would have known 10 that they had done so, for they were just as bad-looking as before. Then I woke up. 41:22 I also saw in my dream 11 seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, full and good. 41:23 Then 12 seven heads of grain, withered and thin and burned with the east wind, were sprouting up after them. 41:24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. So I told all this 13 to the diviner-priests, but no one could tell me its meaning.” 14
41:25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both dreams of Pharaoh have the same meaning. 15 God has revealed 16 to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 17
Genesis 41:38-39
Context41:38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, 18 one in whom the Spirit of God is present?” 19 41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning 20 as you are!
1 tn Heb “not within me.”
2 tn Heb “God will answer.”
3 tn The expression שְׁלוֹם פַּרְעֹה (shÿlom par’oh) is here rendered “the welfare of Pharaoh” because the dream will be about life in his land. Some interpret it to mean an answer of “peace” – one that will calm his heart, or give him the answer that he desires (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT).
4 tn Heb “In my dream look, I was standing.” The use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here (and also in vv. 18, 19, 22, 23) invites the hearer (within the context of the narrative, Joseph; but in the broader sense the reader or hearer of the Book of Genesis) to observe the scene through Pharaoh’s eyes.
5 tn Heb “and look, from the Nile seven cows were coming up, fat of flesh and attractive of appearance, and they grazed in the reeds.”
6 tn Heb “And look.”
7 tn The word “cows” is supplied here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “the seven first fat cows.”
9 tn Heb “when they went inside them.”
10 tn Heb “it was not known.”
11 tn Heb “and I saw in my dream and look.”
12 tn Heb “And look.”
13 tn The words “all this” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
14 tn Heb “and there was no one telling me.”
15 tn Heb “the dream of Pharaoh is one.”
16 tn Heb “declared.”
17 tn The active participle here indicates what is imminent.
18 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.
19 tn The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”
20 tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
