The displaced
problem of the plural “dreams”
One final consideration is the tension
in v. 8b adduced by Weimar to consider this passage as redactional, i.e. the
plural term dreams used after only one dream had been recounted. By considering
v. 8b redactional this problem seems to be resolved, although when the second
dream in its entirety is also considered redactional, the problem arises once
again, only this time as it pertains to the plural dreams used in Gen 37,19–20.
19 וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־אָחִ֑יו הִנֵּ֗ה בַּ֛עַל הַחֲלֹמ֥וֹת הַלָּזֶ֖ה
בָּֽא׃20 וְעַתָּ֣ה׀ לְכ֣וּ וְנַֽהַרְגֵ֗הוּ וְנַשְׁלִכֵ֙הוּ֙
בְּאַחַ֣ד הַבֹּר֔וֹת וְאָמַ֕רְנוּ חַיָּ֥ה רָעָ֖ה אֲכָלָ֑תְהוּ וְנִרְאֶ֕ה
מַה־יִּהְי֖וּ חֲלֹמֹתָֽיו׃
19 They said to one another, “Here
comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the
pits; then we shall say that a wild beast has devoured him, and we shall see
what will become of his dreams”.
If Joseph had only one dream in the
original narrative, how can the use of dreams in the plural be explained here?
In my opinion there is no need to advert to any diachronic explanation of the
passages. This because the plural is sometimes used in Hebrew for a single
event or idea in order to express something about that event or idea, such as
individual components from which the action or idea is composed. In the case of
Gen 37,19–20, the use of dreams in the plural can be understood as a plural of
composition, or plural of internal multiplication, in reference to the parts of
the dream. This makes sense in that Joseph’s first dream (37,7) consists in
three distinct actions. In this case the passage would indicate that the
brothers conspired against Joseph for what the dream constituents represented.
The same phenomenon is encountered in Dan 2,1–2, where Nebuchadnezzar has one
dream, yet the term used in these verses in reference to his dream is found in
the plural. Analogously, see Gen 46,2; Ezek 1,1; 8,3; 40,2; 43,3, where מָרְאֹת
(plural, visions) is used in reference to a single theophany. (Matthew C.
Genung, The Composition of Genesis 37 [Forschungen zum Alten Testament 2.
Reihe 95; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017], 133-34)
