n¹ 1-36. Prediction. n² 37-57. Fulfillment.
n¹ o 1-4. Dream of the kine.
p 5-7. Dream of the ears.
q 8-16. Interpretation sought.
o 17-21-. Dream of the kine.
p -21-24. Dream of the ears.
q 25-36. Interpretation given.
1715 B.C.Genesis 41)
1 And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the Nile river.
2 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favored kine (the cow was the emblem of Isis. In the Egyptian "Book of he Dead", Osiris is represented as a bull, accompanied by seven cows-British Museum. This was the basis of the dream and gave it such significance and mystery) and fat-fleshed; and they fed in a meadow (= among the rushes, or reeds, 'ahu, probably an Egyptian word)
3 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the Nile river, ill favored and lean-fleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.
4 And the ill favored and lean-fleshed kine did eat up the seven well favored and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.
5 And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears (unknown to us; but common in Egypt with the Triticum compositum) of corn came up upon one stalk, fat and good.
6 And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them. (In Egypt the prevailing winds are N. and S., in Palestine E. and W. The wind here is Chamsin, which is S.E., and is a blighty wind. Hebrews had only 4 quarters. Had it said here S., it would have meant nothing, but E. conveys the nature of the wind, especially as evil was supposed to come from the E. and good from the W., as in other countries.)
7 And the seven thin ears devoured the seven fat and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.
8 And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt (Priests were divided into 4 classes; and 5 priests chosen from them were the king's counselors), and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them to Pharaoh.
9 Then spoke the chief cup-bearer to Pharaoh, saying, "I do remember my faults this day:
10 Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the chief baker:
11 And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.
12 And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to
his dream he did interpret.
13 And it came to pass, according as he interpreted to us, so it was; me (= Joseph declared) I should be restored, and him (Joseph declared) he (would be) hanged."
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily (= they made him run) out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself (the beard was a disgrace in Egypt; shaving a disgrace in Palestine), and changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh.
15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a significant dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of you, that you can understand a dream to interpret it."
16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace."
17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
18 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven
kine, fat-fleshed and well favored; and they fed among the reeds:
19 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favored and lean-fleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
20 And the lean and the ill favored kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:
21 And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favored, as at the beginning.
So I awoke.
22 And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:
23 And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
24 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this to the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me."
25 And Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dream of Pharaoh is one: God has showed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26 The seven good kine are seven years (this explains and confirms the hieroglyphic inscription by Wilou at Sehel [first cataract]. It is refereed to in another inscription in the tomb of Baba, at El-Kab, translated by Brugsch-History of Egypt,i,304. In July 1908, Brugsch Bey discovered inscriptions which tell how "for seven successive years the Nile did not overflow, and vegetation withered and failed; that the land was devoid of crops, and that during these years, famine and misery devastated the land of Egypt." The date given is 1700 B.C., which cannot be earlier, therefore, than the last year of the famine. The last year of the seven years of plenty was 1708 B.C., according to Ussher [Gen. 41:52], with which the inscription agrees); and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.
27 And the seven thin and ill favored kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.
28 This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh: What Elohim is about to do He shows to Pharaoh.
29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; (i.e. the people of the land)
31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very
grievous.
32 And for that the dream was doubled to Pharaoh twice;
it is because the thing is established by God (a double witness), and God
will shortly bring it to pass.
33 Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34 Let Pharaoh do this (=take action), and let him appoint officers
over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
36 And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine."
n² r¹ 37-46. Joseph's Exaltation.
s¹ 47-49. Dream of ears fulfilled.
r² 50-52. Joseph's Fruitfulness.
s² 53-56-. Dream of kine fulfilled.
r³ -56,56. Joseph's Authority.
37 And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. 1715 B.C.
40 You shall be over my house, and according to your word (= mouth, mouth put for the commands uttered by it) shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater (cp. 45:8) than you."
41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt." (Apepi only recently ruled over all. Before this he had reigned with his father and grand-father. So the Monuments)
42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in ventures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, "Bow the knee:" (This is not Heb. "tender father", but Egyptian. Abrek = bend or bow the knee. A command still used in Egypt to make camels kneel. According to Sumerian title = "The Seer". This would demand prostration) and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
44 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt."
45 And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah (This too, is not Heb., but Egyptian. Zap = abundance; nath = of; pa = the; aneh = life. The whole name = abundance of life, or, of food for the living); and he gave him to wife Asenath (= worshiper of Neith) the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On (the Egyptian priest of on = "City of the sun", called in Heb. Aven and Bethshemesh-Jer.43:13, and in Greek, Heliopolis. It was the University of Old Egypt). And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.
46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.
48 And he gathered up all the food (food put for corn) of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities (There in the public square of Memphis, stood two obelisks where the grain was stored, and there are no other two obelisks in the world like them. One of them is Cleopatra's Needle, standing today on the Thames Embankment in London; and the other stands in Central Park, New York City. It was presented by Ishmael, Khedive of Egypt, to the United States and brought to New York by Mr. H.C.Vanderbilt in 1880-Tracing Our Ancestors by Frederick Haberman): the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.
49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.
50 And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare to him.
51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh (= forgetting, or forgetful): "For Elohim, said he, "has made me forget all my toil (= worry), and all my father's house."
52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim (= double fruitfulness): "For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction."
53 And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.
1707-1701 B.C.
54 And the seven years of dearth began to come (1 of 13 famines, see 12:10), according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do."
56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth:
And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.
57 And all countries came to Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all neighboring lands.