Genesis 41:15-25

15 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one that can interpret it; but I have heard say of thee that thou canst hear dreams to interpret them.

16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me; God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river;

18 and, behold, there came up out of the river seven cows, fat-fleshed and beautiful in appearance; and they fed in a meadow.

19 And, behold, seven other cows came up after them, lean and very ugly in appearance, and thin, such as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt for ugliness.

20 And the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows;

21 and when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

22 And I also saw in my dream, and, behold, seven heads came up in one stalk, full and beautiful;

23 and, behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them.

24 And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads; and I told this unto the magicians, but there was no one that could declare it to me.

25 Then Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God has showed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

Genesis 41:15-25 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.