Genesis 41:1

1 Two years passed and Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile River.

Genesis 41:1 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 41:1

And it came to pass at the end of two full years
It is not a clear case, as Aben Ezra observes, from whence these years are to be reckoned, whether from the time of Joseph's being put into prison, or from the time that the chief butler was taken out of it; the latter seems more probable, and better connects this and the preceding chapter: that Pharaoh dreamed, and, behold, he stood by the river;
it seemed to him, in his dream, as if he stood near the river Nile, or some canal or flow of water cut out of that river.

Genesis 41:1 In-Context

1 Two years passed and Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile River.

2 Seven cows came up out of the Nile, all shimmering with health, and grazed on the marsh grass.

3 Then seven other cows, all skin and bones, came up out of the river after them and stood by them on the bank of the Nile.

4 The skinny cows ate the seven healthy cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.

5 He went back to sleep and dreamed a second time: Seven ears of grain, full-bodied and lush, grew out of a single stalk.