Genesis 41:33

Summary

The verse records advice directed at Pharaoh: he should identify a discerning and wise man and place that man in authority over the land of Egypt. The sentence uses two consecutive jussive-type verb forms expressing recommendation rather than simple narration.

Key words

• ye.Re' ("let him see", H7200J) — qal jussive of the root meaning "to see," here functioning as "let him look out for / select"; the jussive mood marks this as a proposal or recommendation, not a statement of fact.
• na.Von ("discerning", H995) — niphal participle, masculine singular; describes a quality possessed by the man being sought, grammatically parallel to cha.Kham.
• cha.Kham ("wise", H2450) — adjective, masculine singular, joined to na.Von by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002), forming a doubled description of the ideal candidate.
• vi.shi.Te.hu ("and let him set him", H7896G + H9033) — qal imperfect with prefixed vav, carrying the pronominal suffix "him" (referring back to the man just described); continues the sequence of action begun by ye.Re', expressing purpose or result ("so that he may set him").
• 'E.retz mitz.Ra.yim ("land of Egypt", H776G + H4714G) — construct chain, "land of" bound to "Egypt," designating the territory over which the man is to be placed.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with ve.'a.Tah ("and therefore/now"), a transitional marker linking this statement to what precedes it. The subject Par.'oh ("Pharaoh", H6547H) appears after the verb ye.Re', following the normal verb-subject order in Hebrew narrative and directive speech. The construction ye.Re' Par.'oh 'ish... literally reads "let Pharaoh see a man," where "see" functions in the sense of "seek out" or "select." The object of this selection, 'ish ("a man", H376G), is qualified by two terms in parallel: the niphal participle na.Von ("discerning") and the adjective cha.Kham ("wise"), joined by ve. Both terms describe qualities sought in the same individual.

The second verb, vi.shi.Te.hu, is an imperfect form with a prefixed vav, attached to the pronominal suffix hu ("him"). This verb continues the action of the first: once such a man is found, the next step is that he be "set" or "placed" over the land. The prepositional phrase 'al 'E.retz mitz.Ra.yim ("over the land of Egypt") specifies the scope of this appointment, using the construct form 'E.retz bound to mitz.Ra.yim.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders Par.'oh explicitly as "rex" ("king"), a clarifying addition not present as a separate lexical item in the Hebrew, where Par.'oh stands alone as a title/name. The LXX (Swete) uses σκέψαι ("consider/look for") for ye.Re', matching the sense of "seeking out" implicit in the Hebrew verb "to see" in this context.