This proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants: proposal translates a Hebrew term for “word” or “matter,” and in this context it refers to the plan Joseph had set out to save Egypt during the coming famine. Seemed good to is literally “was good in the eyes of.” Servants refers to the king’s officials, highly placed civil servants, and court officials.

In translation This proposal seemed good to … may be rendered in a number of ways; some examples from the Pacific area are “The king and all his servants admired this idea”; “The king and all his officers heard this talk of Joseph’s and they agreed to it”; “The king and his senior officials said to each other, ‘That is a good idea of Joseph’s.’”

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 .