The seven good kine are seven years ,.... Signify seven years, and these years of plenty, as appears from the antithesis in Genesis 41:26 , and the seven good ears are seven years ; signify the same: the dream is one ; for though the seven good kine were seen in one dream, the seven good ears in another, yet both dreams were one as to signification. read more
And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years ,.... Signify other seven years, and these different from the former, as follows: and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine : or there will be seven years of famine that will answer to them, and are signified by them: Grotius, from the Oneirocritics or interpreters of dreams, observes, that years are signified by kine, and particularly he relates from Achmes, that... read more
This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh ,.... As an interpretation of his dreams: what God is about to do, he sheweth unto Pharaoh : the events of fourteen years with respect to plenty and sterility. read more
Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. Not only a sufficiency but an abundance, even to luxury, as when the Nile rose to sixteen cubits, as Pliny observes F13 Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 9. ; which, though a natural cause, was owing to God, and that it should thus overflow for seven years successively, and cause such a continued plenty, can be ascribed to no other. read more
And there shall arise after them seven years of famine ,.... Which might be occasioned by the river Nile not rising so high as to overflow its banks, as, when it did not rise to more than twelve cubits, a famine ensued, as the above writer says F14 Nat Hist. l. 5. c. 9. ; and it must be owing to the overruling providence of God that this should be the case for seven years running: and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt ; the seven years of plenty being all... read more
Joseph before Pharaoh, or from the prison to the throne. I. THE DREAMS OF THE MONARCH . 1. His midnight visions . Two full years have expired since the memorable birthday of Pharaoh which sent the baker to ignominious execution, but restored the butler to the favor of his royal master. Slumbering upon his bed, the king of Egypt seems to stand among the tall grass upon the banks of the Nile. First seven well-formed and full-fleshed heifers appear to climb up one after the... read more
The tried man is now made ready by long experience for his position of responsibility and honor. He is thirty years old. He can commence his public ministry for the people of God and the world. Pharaoh's dreams, the kine and the ears of corn, like those of the butler and baker, have their natural element in them; but apart from the Spirit of God Joseph would not have dared to give them such an interpretation. Even had his intelligence penetrated the secret, he would not have ventured on a... read more
Proceeding with the interpretation of the dream, Joseph explains to Pharaoh that the seven good kine and the seven full ears point to a succession of seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt which were already coming ( Genesis 41:29 ), after which there should arise seven years of famine , in which all the plenty should be forgotten in the land, and the famine should consume , or make an end of, the land ( Genesis 41:30 ), and the plenty should not be known in... read more
- Joseph Was Exalted1. יאר ye'or, “river, canal,” mostly applied to the Nile. Some suppose the word to be Coptic.2. אחוּ 'āchû, “sedge, reed-grass, marsh-grass.” This word is probably Coptic.8. חרטמים charṭumı̂ym, ἐξηγηταὶ exēgētai, ἱερογραμματεῖς hierogrammateis, “sacred scribes, hieroglyphs.” חרט chereṭ “stylus,” a graving tool.43. אברך 'abrēk “bend the knee.” In this sense it is put for הברך habrēk imperative hiphil of ברך bārak. Those who take the word to be Coptic render it... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 41:17-32
Here, I. Pharaoh relates his dream. He dreamt that he stood upon the bank of the river Nile, and saw the kine, both the fat ones and the lean ones, come out of the river. For the kingdom of Egypt had no rain, as appears, Zech. 14:18; but the plenty of the year depended upon the overflowing of the river, and it was about one certain time of the year that it overflowed. If it rose to fifteen or sixteen cubits, there was plenty; if to twelve or thirteen only, or under, there was scarcity. See how... read more