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Genesis 41:11

in Genesis 41

One night both the chief baker and I had dreams, and each dream had its own meaning.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.

KJV

And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.

This verse in Genesis 41

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Today I recall my failures

on Genesis 41:9-13

The cupbearer speaks at last, and his first words are about his own failures. He describes Joseph as a young Hebrew serving the captain of the guard, words that put him at the bottom of every ladder in Egypt. Two years of silence end on the day Joseph becomes useful.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he,.... In one and the same night: we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream; they both dreamed exactly what should befall them, as it was interpreted to them; the dreams, the interpretation of them, and the events, answered to each other.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults--This public acknowledgment of the merits of the young Hebrew would, tardy though it was, have reflected credit on the butler had it not been obviously made to ingratiate himself with his royal master.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

I have previously explained this. 33 I.E. explains the meaning of each man according to the interpretation of his dreams in his comments on Gen.:5.
Ibn Ezra: Spain, 1089–1167 · Ibn Ezra on Genesis 41:11:1, via Sefaria, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
He interpreted it in accordance with the dream and consistent with its contents. Thus the words of Rashi.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Genesis 41:12:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
I believe that Pharaoh is an adjective. What I.E. means by “adjective” is an adjectival noun, a descriptive term like melekh (king). Cf.
Ibn Ezra: Spain, 1089–1167 · Ibn Ezra on Genesis 41:10:1, via Sefaria, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַנַּֽחַלְמָ֥הand we dreamed !

    vanachalmahH249229 times

  • חֲל֛וֹםa dream

    chalomH247265 times

  • בְּלַ֥יְלָהin a night

    belaylahH3915233 times

  • אֶחָ֖דone

    ʾechadH259971 times

  • אֲנִ֣יI

    ʾaniH589874 times

  • וָה֑וּאand he

    vahu'H19311879 times

  • אִ֛ישׁeach

    ʾishH3761663 times

  • כְּפִתְר֥וֹןaccording to [the] interpretation of

    kefitronH66235 times

  • חֲלֹמ֖וֹdream his

    chalomoH247265 times

  • חָלָֽמְנוּ׃we dreamed

    chalamenuH249229 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Genesis

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dream — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dream — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.