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33 “So now Pharaoh should look[a] for a wise and discerning man[b] and give him authority[c] over all the land of Egypt. 34 Pharaoh should do[d] this—he should appoint[e] officials[f] throughout the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt[g] during the seven years of abundance. 35 They should gather all the excess food[h] during these good years that are coming. By Pharaoh’s authority[i] they should store up grain so the cities will have food,[j] and they should preserve it.[k]

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 41:33 tn Heb “let Pharaoh look.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.
  2. Genesis 41:33 tn Heb “a man discerning and wise.” The order of the terms is rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  3. Genesis 41:33 tn Heb “and let him set him.”
  4. Genesis 41:34 tn The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. Smr has a jussive form here, “and let [Pharaoh] do.”
  5. Genesis 41:34 tn Heb “and let him appoint.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.
  6. Genesis 41:34 tn Heb “appointees.” The noun is a cognate accusative of the preceding verb. Since “appoint appointees” would be redundant in English, the term “officials” was used in the translation instead.
  7. Genesis 41:34 tn Heb “and he shall collect a fifth of the land of Egypt.” The language is figurative (metonymy); it means what the land produces, i.e., the harvest.
  8. Genesis 41:35 tn Heb “all the food.”
  9. Genesis 41:35 tn Heb “under the hand of Pharaoh.”
  10. Genesis 41:35 tn Heb “[for] food in the cities.” The noun translated “food” is an adverbial accusative in the sentence.
  11. Genesis 41:35 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same force as the sequence of jussives before it.