Genesis 40:6

Summary

The verse describes Joseph entering the presence of two prisoners in the morning and observing their emotional state. The Hebrew text uses a vivid construction to convey that Joseph directly perceived their downcast appearance.

Key words

• vayyavo ("he came", H0935) — qal verb in narrative form (vav + prefix conjugation), marking the next event in the story sequence.
• Yosef ("Joseph", H3130) — proper noun, subject of the first clause.
• boqer ("morning", H1242) — masculine singular noun, here forming a temporal phrase with the preceding preposition.
• vayyar ("he saw", H7200) — qal narrative verb, introducing Joseph's act of perception.
• zo'afim ("looking dejected", H2196) — qal participle, masculine plural, describing an ongoing state rather than a completed action.

What the text says

The verse is built from two narrative clauses joined by vav-consecutive verbs: vayyavo ("he came") and vayyar ("he saw"), both typical of Hebrew storytelling sequence, where each new verb form pushes the narrative forward in time. The first clause places Joseph physically among "them" ('aleihem, "to them", H0413 + suffix) at a specified time, baboqer ("in the morning", H1242 with article). The second clause shifts to Joseph's perception: he "saw" the object marked by 'otam (H0853 + suffix), the direct object marker followed by the pronominal suffix "them."

What follows is grammatically distinctive: vehinam zo'afim ("and behold, they [were] dejected"). The particle hinam (H2005 + suffix H9048) is a presentative form — often translated "behold" — that does not simply report a fact but frames it as something Joseph directly perceived at that moment. Combined with the participle zo'afim ("looking dejected", H2196), which expresses a continuing state rather than a single completed action, the clause conveys that Joseph's gaze fell upon an ongoing condition already in progress when he arrived — the men were dejected, and Joseph found them so. This nuance, the vividness of hinneh plus a participle, is not preserved in translations that render the clause as a flat statement ("they were sad/distraught").

Differences between versions

The Hebrew zo'afim ("looking dejected", H2196) is rendered in the LXX as tetaragmenoi ("troubled/disturbed"), a term suggesting agitation rather than sadness. The Vulgate uses tristes ("sad"), closer to grief or sorrow. Both versions smooth out the Hebrew's presentative construction (hinam, "behold, they..."), converting the vivid direct-perception clause into a simple descriptive statement ("and they were troubled" / "and had seen them sad").