The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears: the image of grain eating grain is again from the strange and unreal world of dreams. If in translation it is not possible to speak of grain swallowing or eating grain, it may be possible to shift to a simile and say, for example, “Then the thin heads of grain made the seven healthy heads disappear, like a person eating food.”

And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream: that is, “When the king woke up he realized he had been dreaming.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .