Genesis 41:11

 Genesis 41:11

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

a. NASB 1995: “We had a dream ]on the same night, [fn]he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: “we each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified: We dreamed a dream in the same night, he and I; we dreamed each of us according to [the significance of] the interpretation of his dream.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

e. ESV: We dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation.  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

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

a. [And we] dreamed 2492 châlam, khaw-lam'; a primitive root; properly, to bind firmly, i.e. (by implication) to be (causatively to make) plump; also (through the figurative sense of dumbness) to dream:—(cause to) dream(-er), be in good liking, recover.]

b. [a] dream [Strong: 2472 chălôwm, khal-ome'; or (shortened) חֲלֹם chălôm; from H2492; a dream:—dream(-er).]

c. [in] one [Strong: 259 ʼechâd, ekh-awd'; a numeral from H258; properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first:—a, alike, alone, altogether, and, any(-thing), apiece, a certain, (dai-) ly, each (one), eleven, every, few, first, highway, a man, once, one, only, other, some, together,]

d. night [Strong: 3915 layil, lah'-yil; or (Isaiah 21:11) לֵיל lêyl; also לַיְלָה laylâh; from the same as H3883; properly, a twist (away of the light), i.e. night; figuratively, adversity:—(mid-)night (season).]

e. i [Strong: 589 ʼănîy, an-ee'; contracted from H595; I:—I, (as for) me, mine, myself, we, × which, × who.]

f. [and] he [Strong:. 1931 hûwʼ, hoo; of which the feminine (beyond the Pentateuch) is הִיא hîyʼ; he a primitive word, the third person pronoun singular; he (she or it); only expressed when emphatic or without a verb; also (intensively) self, or (especially with the article) the same; sometimes (as demonstrative) this or that; occasionally (instead of copula) as or are:—he, as for her, him(-self), it, the same, she (herself), such, that (...it), these, they, this, those, which (is), who.]

g. [we] dreamed 2492 châlam, khaw-lam'; a primitive root; properly, to bind firmly, i.e. (by implication) to be (causatively to make) plump; also (through the figurative sense of dumbness) to dream:—(cause to) dream(-er), be in good liking, recover.]

h. [each] man [Strong: 376 ʼîysh, eesh; contracted for H582 (or perhaps rather from an unused root meaning to be extant); a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation):—also, another, any (man), a certain, champion, consent, each, every (one), fellow, (foot-, husband-) man, (good-, great, mighty) man, he, high (degree), him (that is), husband, man(-kind), none, one, people, person, steward, what (man) soever, whoso(-ever), worthy.]

i. [according to the] interpretation [Strong: 6623 pithrôwn, pith-rone'; or פִּתְרֹן pithrôn; from H6622; interpretation (of a dream):—interpretation.]

j. [of his] dream [Strong: 2472 chălôwm, khal-ome'; or (shortened) חֲלֹם chălôm; from H2492; a dream:—dream(-er).]

1). In accordance with his goodness, for God is a good and merciful God, God was giving Pharaoh a means of averting a disaster for Egypt through the dreams and giving Joseph the interpretation of the dreams. Henry Morris writes in his book The Genesis Record, it was not “for the purpose of embarrassing or dethroning the king of Egypt. As a matter of fact his own control over the country was destined to be strengthened by these events; but the underlying purpose of it all had to do rather with God’s plan for Israel. Therefore not only did God give Joseph the true interpretation of the dreams, but also an effective plan of action for Pharaoh.”

2). God giving dreams and their interpretation here is an example of the gifts of the Spirit, in particular, the word of wisdom, one of the gifts of the Spirit in operation. Kenneth E. Hagin writes in “Concerning Spiritual Gifts”: “The difference between the two gifts, the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom is that the revelation which the word of knowledge brings is always present tense or something which happened in the past. The word of wisdom always speaks of the future.” Here a 14 year plan to avert a disaster that would have come upon the known world. All the nations around Egypt suffered from this famine (Genesis 41:57), that was allowed by God to happen. He did not cause it, but in his goodness, mercy, and grace provided a means to endure through it.