Genesis 41:15

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Pharaoh	פַּרְעֹה֙ par.'Oh	H6547	Paroh · noun, masculine singular absolute
said	וַיֹּ֤אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Joseph	יוֹסֵ֔ף yo.Sef	H3130	Joseph · proper noun, a man's name
dreamed	חָלַ֔מְתִּי cha.Lam.ti	H2492	properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
dream	חֲל֣וֹם cha.Lom	H2472	a dream · noun, common masculine singular absolute
interpret	וּפֹתֵ֖ר u.fo.Ter	H6622	to open up · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
heard	שָׁמַ֤עְתִּי sha.Ma'.ti	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
say	לֵאמֹ֔ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
understand	תִּשְׁמַ֥ע tish.Ma'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
dream	חֲל֖וֹם cha.Lom	H2472	a dream · noun, common masculine singular absolute
interpret	לִפְתֹּ֥ר lif.Tor	H6622	to open up · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Daniel 5:16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to m…
Daniel 5:12 Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of…
Genesis 41:9-13 Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:
Psalms 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 41:9-16

Here is, 1. The recommending of Joseph to Pharaoh for an interpreter. The chief butler did it more in compliment to Pharaoh, to oblige him, than in gratitude to Joseph, or in compassion for his case. He makes a fair confession (Gen 41:9): "I remember my faults this day, in forgetting Joseph." Note, It is best to remember our duty, and to do it in its time; but, if we have neglected that, it is next best to remember our faults, and repent of them, and do our duty at last; better late than never. Some think he means his faults against Pharaoh, for which he was imprisoned; and then he would insinuate that, though Pharaoh had forgiven him, he had not forgiven himself. The story he had to tell wa…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 41:15

Pharaoh said, . . . I have dreamed a dream--The king's brief statement of the service required brought out the genuine piety of Joseph; disclaiming all merit, he ascribed whatever gifts or sagacity he possessed to the divine source of all wisdom, and he declared his own inability to penetrate futurity; but, at the same time, he expressed his confident persuasion that God would reveal what was necessary to be known.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 41:14

They brought him hastily out of the dungeon - Pharaoh was in perplexity on account of his dreams; and when he heard of Joseph, he sent immediately to get him brought before him. He shaved himself - having let his beard grow all the time he was in prison, he now trimmed it, for it is not likely that either the Egyptians or Hebrews shaved themselves in our sense of the word: the change of raiment was, no doubt, furnished out of the king's wardrobe; as Joseph, in his present circumstances, could not be supposed to have any changes of raiment.

John Gill on Genesis 41:15

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,...., Immediately, upon his being introduced to him: I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it; that he could yet meet with; none of his magicians or wise men, who made great pretensions to skill in such matters: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it; it had been reported to him, particularly by the chief butler, that when he heard a dream told him, he had such knowledge and understanding, that he could interpret it, tell the meaning of it, what it portended, and what would be the events signified by it.

The Church Fathers

Notice how Pharaoh was ashamed to say openly, "None of my sages can interpret the dream." Instead, what? "I had a dream, and there is no one to interpret it; but I have heard them say of you that once you hear of a dream you interpret it." Consider in this case too, I ask you, Joseph's good sense and discretion in the way he replies to Pharaoh: "Don't suspect," he says, "that I utter anything of myself or interpret them by human wisdom. There is, in fact, no way of coming to knowledge of them without revelation from on high. So be aware that without God it is not possible for me to give you a reply." Without God, the text says, Pharaoh will not be given the right solution. So, now that you know that the Lord of all is the one who gives this revelation, don't look for something from human beings (he is saying) that God alone has it in his power to bring to light.See how through his reply Joseph brings Pharaoh to the realization of the limitations of the sages attending him and the power of the Lord. "Since, then, you have learned from me that these utterances of mine spring not from human wisdom or from my own reasoning, tell me what God has communicated to you."
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 63.14-15

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Famine — The first mentioned in Scripture was so grievous as to compel Abraham to go down to the land of Egypt (Gen. 26:1). Another is mentioned as having occurred in the days of Isaac, causing him to go to…
Kine — (Heb. sing. parah, i.e., “fruitful”), mentioned in Pharaoh’s dream (Gen. 41: 18). Here the word denotes “buffaloes,” which fed on the reeds and sedge by the river’s brink.
Pharaoh — The official title borne by the Egyptian kings down to the time when that country was conquered by the Greeks. (See EGYPT.) The name is a compound, as some think, of the words Ra, the “sun” or…
Egypt · History of Israel in: Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams — History of Israel in: Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams
Heathen · .Pharaoh — .Pharaoh
Joseph · .Of Pharaoh — .Of Pharaoh
Prisoners · Joseph — Joseph
Promotion · .Joseph, from impri — .Joseph, from impri

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 41:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 41:9-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 41:15

Adam Clarke on Genesis 41:14

John Gill on Genesis 41:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 41:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 41:9-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 41:15

Adam Clarke on Genesis 41:14

John Gill on Genesis 41:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 41:15

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 41:14-36

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 41:14-15