Genesis 41:26

The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
seven	שֶׁ֧בַע She.va'	H7651	seven (as the sacred full one) · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
good	הַטֹּבֹ֗ת ha.to.Vot	H2896	good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · definite article + adjective, feminine plural absolute
kine	פָּרֹ֣ת pa.Rot	H6510	a heifer · noun, common feminine plural absolute
seven	שֶׁ֤בַע She.va'	H7651	seven (as the sacred full one) · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
years	שָׁנִים֙ sha.Nim	H8141	a year (as a revolution of time) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
seven	וְשֶׁ֤בַע ve.She.va'	H7651	seven (as the sacred full one) · conjunction + cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
good	הַטֹּבֹ֔ת ha.to.Vot	H2896	good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · definite article + adjective, feminine plural absolute
ears	הַֽשִּׁבֳּלִים֙ ha.shi.bo.Lim	H7641	a stream (as flowing) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
seven	שֶׁ֥בַע She.va'	H7651	seven (as the sacred full one) · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
years	שָׁנִ֖ים sha.Nim	H8141	a year (as a revolution of time) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
dream	חֲל֖וֹם cha.Lom	H2472	a dream · noun, common masculine singular absolute
one	אֶחָ֥ד 'e.Chad	H259	properly · cardinal number, feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 41:2 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.
Genesis 41:47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.
Genesis 41:5 And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.
Genesis 41:29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
Genesis 41:53 And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.
Exodus 12:11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is…
1 Corinthians 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 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, Zac 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 many ways Providence has of dispensing its gifts; yet, whatever the second causes are, our dependence is still the same upon the first Cause, who makes every creature that to us that it is, be it rain or…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 41:25

JOSEPH INTERPRETS PHARAOH'S DREAMS. (Gen 41:25-36) Joseph said, . . . The dream . . . is one--They both pointed to the same event--a remarkable dispensation of seven years of unexampled abundance, to be followed by a similar period of unparalleled dearth. The repetition of the dream in two different forms was designed to show the absolute certainty and speedy arrival of this public crisis; the interpretation was accompanied by several suggestions of practical wisdom for meeting so great an emergency as was impending.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 41:25

God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do - Joseph thus shows the Egyptian king that though the ordinary cause of plenty or want is the river Nile, yet its inundations are under the direction of God: the dreams are sent by him, not only to signify beforehand the plenty and want, but to show also that all these circumstances, however fortuitous they may appear to man, are under the direction of an overruling Providence.

John Gill on Genesis 41:26

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.

The Church Fathers

However, I do not think that this dream is demonstrated to one or two, but to all; because the seven fat years of this world, rich with secular abundance, are absorbed by those ages which are yet to come, in which there will be perpetual rest and observance of the spiritual law, which Ephraem holds dear to God and fruitful for the three patriarchs. A good cow, not one with a distended body but abundant in spiritual milk and grace, on whose beauty God says He will sit, as it is written: Ephraem, the learned cow, loves victory. But I passed over the beauty of her neck. Therefore, our head should not be fattened by the oil of sinners, nor should false fruits delight us, lest it be said of us: You have sown wickedness and harvested iniquity. I am not moved by her thin and rotten ears of grain, for even David was better when he wasted away like a spider's web; and a contrite spirit is a sacrifice to God; and those who have been oppressed by the spirit of evil in this world will be saved by a more excellent one.
— Ambrose of Milan, On Joseph the Patriarch

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Divination — Of false prophets (Deut. 18:10, 14; Micah 3:6, 7, 11), of necromancers (1 Sam. 28:8), of the Philistine priests and diviners (1 Sam. 6:2), of Balaam (Josh. 13:22). Three kinds of divination are…
Famine — The first mentioned in Scripture was so grievous as to compel Abraham to go down to the land of Egypt (Gen. 26:1). Another is mentioned as having occurred in the days of Isaac, causing him to go to…
Kine — (Heb. sing. parah, i.e., “fruitful”), mentioned in Pharaoh’s dream (Gen. 41: 18). Here the word denotes “buffaloes,” which fed on the reeds and sedge by the river’s brink.
Pharaoh — The official title borne by the Egyptian kings down to the time when that country was conquered by the Greeks. (See EGYPT.) The name is a compound, as some think, of the words Ra, the “sun” or…
Egypt · History of Israel in: Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams — History of Israel in: Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams
Government · Paternal functions of — Paternal functions of
Heathen · .Pharaoh — .Pharaoh
Joseph · .Of Pharaoh — .Of Pharaoh
Kine (Bovine) · Pharaoh’s dream of — Pharaoh’s dream of
Ox, The · Kine illustrative: (well favoured,) of years of plenty — Kine illustrative: (well favoured,) of years of plenty
Prisoners · Joseph — Joseph
Promotion · .Joseph, from impri — .Joseph, from impri

Genesis 41:26

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 41:17-32

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 41:25

Adam Clarke on Genesis 41:25

John Gill on Genesis 41:26

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 41:26

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 41:17-32

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 41:25

Adam Clarke on Genesis 41:25

John Gill on Genesis 41:26

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 41:17-31

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 41:14-36

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 41:25-32