So in the morning his spirit was troubled: this is a literal rendering of the Hebrew, which may also be expressed as “He was upset,” “… disturbed,” or “… worried.” A similar thought is expressed when the king’s officials awoke from their dreams in 40.6.
Sent and called: that is, “sent someone to bring,” or “sent word for them to come.”
Magicians … wise men: magicians refers to a class of Egyptian priests who had special powers and knowledge. The Hebrew term is found only in passages related to Egypt; for example, Exo 7.11, 22; 8.18-19; 9.11. Most English translations call them “magicians,” but Revised English Bible prefers “dream-interpreters.” Interpreting dreams, however, was probably only one of their functions. A magician is a person skilled in magic or the control of secret forces in nature. If the translator finds that it is not suitable to use the local term for sorcerer or shaman, it may be best to follow Revised English Bible, or to say “priest,” as in some translations. Wise men refers to another class of Egyptian priests or people with special knowledge or wisdom. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible explains the relation of these two groups in its footnote: “These ‘priests’ (magicians) were the head ‘reader priests’ according to Egyptian terminology. They are here the highest in the hierarchy. The ‘wise men’ are the top level civil servants educated in the scribal schools. These two groups were the scholars of their day and were responsible to answer the Pharaoh’s questions.” In some languages wise men is expressed as “men who know things” or “the knowing ones.”
Some interpreters understand all before magicians and before wise men to mean “all kinds of….” It may also refer to the main ones or those who were highest in the hierarchy. However, most translations take all to refer to the entire group of such persons.
Pharaoh told them his dream: that is, he described it, he told them what he saw. Dream is singular in the Hebrew, as shown by Revised Standard Version, but translators may need to make it plural as in Good News Translation.
Who could interpret it to Pharaoh: Revised Standard Version footnote shows that the Hebrew has “them” in place of it. The term dream, which the pronoun refers back to, is singular in the Hebrew but is understood in a collective sense, as Hebrew Old Testament Text Project says: “all the things he had dreamt.” We may translate, for example, “but no one could explain the meaning of the things the king [Pharaoh] had dreamed.”
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 .