Genesis 41:1-36

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dreams

1 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile,

2 and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass.

3 And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.

4 And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke.

5 And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk.

6 And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and ¹blighted by the east wind.

7 And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

8 So in the morning ²his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the ³magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, "I remember my offenses today.

10 When Pharaoh was ⁴angry with his servants ⁵and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard,

11 ⁶we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation.

12 A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, ⁷he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream.

13 And ⁸as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged."

14 ⁹Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they ¹⁰quickly brought him ¹¹out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.

15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. ¹²I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it."

16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, ¹³"It is not in me; ¹⁴God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer."^[a]

17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Behold, ¹⁵in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile.

18 Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass.

19 Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt.

20 And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows,

21 but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke.

22 I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good.

23 Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them,

24 and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And ¹⁶I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me."

25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one; ¹⁷God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.

26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one.

27 The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also ¹⁸seven years of famine.

28 It is as I told Pharaoh; ¹⁹God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do.

29 There will come ²⁰seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt,

30 but after them there will arise ²¹seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. ²²The famine will consume the land,

31 and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe.

32 And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the ²³thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.

33 Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt.

34 Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land^[b] of Egypt during the seven plentiful years.

35 And ²⁴let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.

36 That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine."

Genesis 41:1-36 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 41

In this chapter are related Pharaoh's dreams, which his magicians could not interpret, Ge 41:1-9, upon which the chief butler now remembering Joseph, recommended him to Pharaoh as an interpreter, having had an happy experience of him as such himself, Ge 41:10-13, when Joseph was sent for out of prison; and Pharaoh having related his dreams, he interpreted them of seven years of plenty, and seven years of famine, that should be in the land of Egypt, Ge 41:14-32; and having done, he gave his advice to provide in the years of plenty against the years of famine, and proposed a scheme for doing it, which was approved of by Pharaoh and his ministers, Ge 41:33-37; and Joseph himself was pitched upon as the most proper person to execute it, and was appointed chief over the kingdom next to Pharaoh, who gave him a new name and a wife upon this occasion, Ge 41:38-45; accordingly, in the years of plenty he took a tour throughout the whole land, and gathered and laid up food in vast quantities in every city, Ge 41:46-49; an account is given of two sons born to Joseph, and of their names, Ge 41:50-52; and of the seven years of famine, beginning to come on at the end of the seven years of plenty, which brought great distress on the land of Egypt, and the countries round about, who all came to Joseph to buy corn, Ge 41:53-57.

Cross References

• 1. [Ezekiel 17:10; Ezekiel 19:12]; Hosea 13:15
• 2. Psalms 77:4; Daniel 2:1, 3
• 3. ver. 24; Exodus 7:11, 22; [Daniel 1:20; Daniel 2:2; Daniel 4:7; Matthew 2:1]
• 4. Genesis 40:2, 3
• 5. [Genesis 39:20]
• 6. Genesis 40:5
• 7. See Genesis 40:12-19
• 8. Genesis 40:21, 22
• 9. Psalms 105:20
• 10. [Daniel 2:25]
• 11. [1 Samuel 2:8; Psalms 113:7, 8]
• 12. ver. 12; Daniel 5:16
• 13. Daniel 2:30
• 14. Genesis 40:8; Dan. 2:22, 28, 47
• 15. See ver. 1-7
• 16. ver. 8; [Daniel 4:7]
• 17. [Dan. 2:28, 29, 45; Revelation 4:1]
• 18. [2 Kings 8:1]
• 19. ver. 25
• 20. ver. 47
• 21. ver. 54; Genesis 45:6
• 22. Genesis 47:13
• 23. Numbers 23:19; Isaiah 14:24; Isaiah 46:10, 11
• 24. ver. 48

Footnotes

• [a]. Or (compare Samaritan, Septuagint) Without God it is not possible to give Pharaoh an answer about his welfare
• [b]. Or over the land and organize the land