Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Genesis 41:14 - 41:24

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Genesis 41:14 - 41:24


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Pharaoh tells Joseph his Dreams

v. 14. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph,
he gave orders that he should be fetched, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon, the word being used here again to designate the unpleasantness of the prison, The description shows how quickly the fortunes of Joseph turned. And he shaved himself, the Egyptian custom permitting long hair and a beard only in case of mourning, and changed his raiment, as one fully sensible of the great honor conferred upon him, and came in unto Pharaoh.

v. 15. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it; and I have heard say of thee that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.
In his anxiety Pharaoh overstated the facts, intimating that it was but necessary for Joseph to hear a dream, and the interpretation would follow as a matter of course.

v. 16. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me,
literally, By no means I; Joseph was far from arrogating to himself this ability;—God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. It was both a prayer and a promise.

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


v. 18. and, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fat-fleshed and well-favored; and they fed in a meadow;


v. 19. and, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill-favored and lean-fleshed, such as in ever saw in all the land of Egypt for badness.
As Pharaoh remembers the scene in his dream, the extreme ugliness of the lean cows stood out very prominently.

v. 20. And the lean and the ill-favored kine did eat up the first seven fat kine;


v. 21. and when they had eaten them up,
when in their greed they had swallowed them whole, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill-favored, as at the beginning. Pharaoh added also this item for the sake of emphasIsaiah So I awoke. But immediately after falling asleep again, Pharaoh dreamed once more.

v. 22. And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good;


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


v. 24. and the thin ears devoured the seven good ears.
Cf vv. 5-7. And I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me, v. 8.