But after them: that is, “then,” “after that,” or “following those years of plenty.”

All the plenty will be forgotten: all the plenty may be expressed as “the years of good crops” or “the years with plenty to eat.” Be forgotten may need to be expressed actively as “the people will forget….”

Famine will consume the land: this clause is the reason for forgetting the abundant years. The hunger and famine will be so great that people will not remember the time when they had plenty to eat. In many languages famine is called a “hungry time.” Consume, which is literally “eat,” means to destroy or ruin, or to afflict people. The land is not just the ground, soil, or earth, but refers more generally to the people and their country, which suggests both the political realm and its people. Consume the land is an expression that retains the images of the two dreams that the king had. If it is not possible to keep the figure, then an expression such as Good News Translation‘s “will ruin the country” will be useful.

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 .

Seven years of great plenty: plenty translates a word suggesting plenty of food, or more than enough food. In translation great plenty may need to be filled out to say, for example, “There will be seven years of good crops” or “… with plenty to eat.” Many languages have special terms or idioms that refer to “times of plenty,” or “good times.”

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 .

As I told Pharaoh: that is, “as I told you, sir,” or “as I told your majesty.”

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 .

ranslators will note that Revised Standard Version has empty [ears] and Good News Translation has “thin [heads of grain].” The reason for the difference is that the Hebrew word for “thin” has the letter ? “d,” which has been miscopied as ?, “r” (the two letters are very similar in shape in the Hebrew). See 14.14. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends “thin” as in Good News Translation. However, the meanings in this context are almost the same. Because seven … cows and seven … ears together represent seven years of famine, Good News Translation avoids the repetition of are [also] seven years.

For blighted by the east wind, see Gen 41.6.

For famine see 12.10.

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 .

In Joseph’s interpretation of the dreams of the butler and the baker in 40.12, three objects represented three days. Here in the king’s dreams seven objects represent seven years. Joseph explains in verse 29 what will happen during these seven years.

Seven years may need to be expressed as “seven years with plenty of food,” to contrast with the “seven years of famine.”

For the translation of this verse, see 40.12, 18.

The dream is one: that is, “Your dreams both have the same meaning,” or “they both [the seven cows and the seven ears] stand for the same thing.”

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 .

The dream of Pharaoh is one: that is, “The two dreams have the same meaning.” Dream is singular in the Hebrew, but the sense is collective.

God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do: that is, “… showed Pharaoh.” For address forms see Gen 41.9.

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 .

The Septuagint translators supplied a transition between I awoke at the end of verse 21 and I saw at the opening of verse 22 so that verse 22 says “And I fell asleep again and I saw.” Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew text, which Hebrew Old Testament Text Project ranks as a {B}. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends translating the Hebrew text in verse 22 as “Then I fell again to dreaming” or “Then I saw again in my dream….”

In some languages it may be necessary for the translator to make clear that, after the king awoke at the end of verse 21, he had to go to sleep a second time before he could dream again. In such cases the language may require the same kind of transition as that supplied by the Septuagint translators.

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 .