Genesis 41:17

Summary

Pharaoh begins to narrate his dream to Joseph, stating that he was standing on the bank of the river (the Nile). The verse opens the direct speech in which Pharaoh recounts the vision he had.

Key words

• y.da.Ber ("he spoke", H1696G) — piel verb with narrative vav, marking the sequential action "and he spoke" that introduces the following direct speech.
• cha.lo.M + i ("dream" + "my", H2472 + H9020) — construct noun with pronominal suffix, literally "in the dream of me," i.e., "in my dream."
• hi. + Ni ("if [was]" + "I", H2005 + H9040) — the interjection combined with the first-person suffix forms the expression often rendered "behold, I," introducing Pharaoh's self-description within the dream.
• 'o.Med ("standing", H5975G) — qal participle, masculine singular, describing an ongoing state ("the one standing") rather than a completed action, giving the dream a present, vivid quality.
• se.Fat ("bank of", H8193J) — feminine singular noun in construct form, linking to ha-y.'Or ("the River") to form "bank of the River."

What the text says

The verse follows a narrative structure introduced by the vav-consecutive on y.da.Ber ("he spoke"), which moves the story forward from the previous scene to Pharaoh's direct address to Joseph. The preposition 'el ("to") plus yo.Sef ("Joseph") identifies the addressee before the content of the speech begins.

The reported speech opens with ba-cha.lo.mi ("in my dream"), using the construct noun cha.lo.M with the first-person suffix i to anchor the following description within the frame of the dream. The phrase hi.n.Ni ("behold, I" or "if [was] I") functions as a presentative expression, drawing attention to Pharaoh's position in the dream before the participle 'o.Med ("standing") describes his stance. Because 'o.Med is a participle rather than a finite past-tense verb, the Hebrew conveys a durative, scene-like quality — Pharaoh is depicted as continuously standing, not merely having stood once. The location is specified by the construct chain se.Fat ha-y.'Or ("bank of the River"), with y.'Or functioning here as a proper name for the river (the Nile in context), rather than a generic term for "river."

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the opening with λέγων ("saying"), making the transition into direct speech explicit, where the Hebrew simply continues with hi.n.Ni without an equivalent introductory verb of saying beyond y.da.Ber. The Vulgate's Narravit... quod viderat ("he narrated what he had seen") summarizes the act of dream-telling in indirect style, differing from the Hebrew's direct quotation beginning at ba-cha.lo.mi. The LXX also uses ᾤμην ("I thought/supposed") for the participle 'o.Med ("standing"), introducing a verb of perception not present in the Hebrew participial construction.