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Genesis 41:38

in Genesis 41

So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of God abides?”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the spirit of God is?

KJV

And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?

This verse in Genesis 41

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

In whom the Spirit of God is? - רוח אלהים ruach Elohim, the identical words used Gen 1:2; and certainly to be understood here as in the preceding place. If the Egyptians were idolaters, they acknowledged Joseph’s God; and it is not to be supposed that they only became acquainted with him on this occasion.

This site's exposition

This proposal pleased Pharaoh

on Genesis 41:37-40

The plan pleases Pharaoh and all his officials, and the king asks whether anyone can be found in whom the Spirit of God abides. Clarke notes that the Hebrew behind that phrase is the pair of words used at Genesis 1:2, now in an Egyptian king's mouth. Pharaoh hands over his house and the rule of his people and keeps the throne. The man came out of a dungeon that morning.

This site's exposition

Can we find anyone like this man

Pharaoh puts the question to his officials, and the answer is in the question. Babylon's king speaks of Daniel in similar terms at Daniel 4:8, and Numbers 27:18 describes Joshua in nearly the same words. Egypt's king sees the Spirit of God in a Hebrew servant.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And Pharaoh said unto his servants,....

The words behind it

11 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.

  • וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • פַּרְעֹ֖הPharaoh

    parohH6547 →274 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • עֲבָדָ֑יוservants his

    ʾavadavH5650 →799 times

  • הֲנִמְצָ֣א¿ has he been found

    hanimtza'H4672 →455 times

  • כָזֶ֔הlike this one

    khazehH2088 →1180 times

  • אִ֕ישׁa man

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֛רwhom

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • ר֥וּחַ[the] spirit of

    ruachH7307 →378 times

  • אֱלֹהִ֖יםGod

    ʾelohimH430 →2601 times

  • בּֽוֹ׃[is] in <the> him

    bo

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

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Job 32:8

    But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.

    it leads to

    • Job 33:4

      The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

    • Job 38:36

      Who has put wisdom in the heart or given understanding to the mind?

    • 2 Timothy 3:16

      All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

    • Proverbs 2:6

      For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

    • James 1:5

      Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

  • Through

    Numbers 27:18

    And the LORD replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man with the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 34:9

      Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

    • Numbers 27:23

      and laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD had instructed through Moses.

    • Deuteronomy 31:7–8

      Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to…

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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.