Genesis 41

the first book of moses, called genesis

Moses · c. 1446–1406 BC

Chapter the Forty-first

And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.

And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.

And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.

And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.

And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.

And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them.

And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.

And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:

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:

And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.

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.

And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged.

Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.

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.

And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:

And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:

And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:

And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:

And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.

And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

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

And the seven thin and ill favoured 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.

This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:

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;

And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.

And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.

Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.

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.

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.

And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.

And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:

Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.

And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;

And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnath-paaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

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.

And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.

And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.

And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.

And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him.

And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.

And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.

And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.

And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.

And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.

Chuck Smith on Genesis 41

Verse by verse, the C2000 series. Permission granted by The Word For Today.

Verses 1-57

Now it came to pass at the end of two full years ( Genesis 41:1 ), That is after Joseph said "don't forget me, pal". "Oh, I won't." "At the end of two full years," that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river. And there came up out of the river seven well favoured cows, fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow. And, behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, they were ill favoured, leanfleshed; and they stood by the other cows upon the bank of the river. And the ill favoured and leanfleshed cows did eat up the seven well favoured and fat cows. So Pharaoh woke up. And he went back to sleep and he dreamed again the second time: and, behold, there were seven ears of corn ( Genesis 41:1-5 ) Now the top of the corn was the top of the wheat where there were all these little kernels, that little straw thing at the top was called corn. It was called the corn of wheat, that top. You remember it says the disciples were going through the fields of corn on the Sabbath day and they were rubbing the corn in their hand. It isn't corn like our maize kind of corn or sweet corn, golden or whatever. It's that corn of wheat and they would take it when it was dry, rub it in their hands because you rub the hull off, blow it out and then you can eat it. And it's good to eat. I like to eat wheat just fresh from the field that way. You just take and rub the corn or the top of it in your hands to get the hull off and blow it out and then eat it. And so that's what the disciples were doing when the Pharisees found fault with them. So this is actually instead of corn, don't think of Post Toasties or that type of corn with this, but think of the wheat. It's that that little thing with all the kernels of wheat and the little straws going up from it that is referred to here. So in some of your other translations it might read wheat and that's why, because in reality it is what they call the corn of wheat, but it's that top of the wheat. And so there were seven ears of corn that came upon the one stalk, and it was rank and good. And, behold, there were seven thin ears and they were blasted with the east wind that sprung up after them. And the seven thin ears devoured the seven full ears. And Pharaoh woke up, and, behold, it was just a dream. And so it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and the wise men: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh. Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, Oh, I remember my faults today: Pharaoh was angry with his servant, and he put me in jail in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the chief baker: And we dreamed dreams one night, both of us; and we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. And there was there a young man, who was a Hebrew, he was a 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. And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, and so it was; me he restored to my office, and him he hanged. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh ( Genesis 41:5-14 ). And so Joseph shaved himself because that was the custom of the Egyptians actually. They were very clean people and so he had to shave, change his clothes to be for the Pharaoh. Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, there is none that can interpret it: I have heard them tell of you, that you can understand dreams and interpret them. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It's not in me: but God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace ( Genesis 41:15-16 ). I love that. Here Joseph is brought before the Pharaoh now because of the fact that he had interpreted dreams and the Pharaoh says, "Hey, I hear you can interpret dreams. None of my men could do it". And Joseph said, "It isn't in me, but God shall give you an interpretation of peace". That's beautiful. He's not ready to take credit for God's work. And it's always a sad day when people try to take credit for God's work. It's always dangerous when you take the bows for God. Jonathan smote the Philistines with the great slaughter and Saul blew the trumpet in Israel. Saul was going around to get the glory. "Hey, don't try to touch God's glory. Don't try to take God's glory". If God uses you, be thankful and give God the glory and the credit that God used you. But don't try to tell us how smart you were or how wise you were or what tremendous program you devised. Give the glory to God for the work that God does. The same thing happened with Daniel when he was brought before Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar said, you know, "Can you give the interpretation?" He said "there's a God in heaven who knows all things and He will give the interpretation to Pharaoh". Daniel wasn't about to take credit for God's work. Joseph here in no wise taking credit for God's work. And I admire him for this. Pharaoh said to Joseph, In my dream, I stood upon the bank of the river ( Genesis 41:17 ): And he repeats the dream to Joseph about these seven fat beautiful cows grazing, and these seven lean cows coming up and eating up the fat ones. That must have been a weird dream; these skinny old cows eating up these fat cows. But then the other is just as weird because then there were these beautiful shucks of wheat and these blasted, withered shucks of wheat and the wheat starts eating up the other wheat until there's just nothing but the skinny, blasted ones left. And Joseph said to Pharaoh [verse twenty-five], The dream of Pharaoh is one: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do ( Genesis 41:25 ). It is interesting that these dreams came in pairs. Joseph his first dreams were in pairs. First of all, it was the sheaves that bowed down to his sheave and the sun, moon and the stars bowing down to him. With the butler and the baker, the two dreams. They came in pairs. Each of them the three, one three baskets, one the three branches. And now this dream of the king is in pairs. Both of them having to do with sevens. Seven fat and seven lean. And the lean eating up the fat. So the seven thin and ill favoured cows that came up after them are seven years ( Genesis 41:27 ); Or actually, The seven good cows are seven years; seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. The seven thin and ill favoured cows that came up after them are seven years; the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. And this is the thing which I have spoken unto the Pharaoh: What God is about to do he is showing unto the Pharaoh ( Genesis 41:26-28 ). In other words, God is giving you an insight in about what's to happen. It is interesting that God did give to these pagan rulers, monarchs, insights into the future. God gave to Nebuchadnezzar a marvelous insight into the future by dreams interpreted by Daniel. I imagine just because of their position. Be interesting to know what Jimmy Carter dreams about. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all of the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will consume the land; And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of the famine following; for it shall be very grievous. And for that the dream was doubled unto the Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass ( Genesis 41:29-32 ). God gave it to you twice in order that you might establish it. That's the "mouth of two or three witnesses every word established" ( Deuteronomy 19:15 ). And so God gave the second witness to assure the truth of the thing. And it will shortly come to pass. Now therefore ( Genesis 41:33 ) Here is the young slave prisoner standing before the Pharaoh of Egypt and now he is giving advice to the Pharaoh of what to do in order to save the land. "Now therefore." Young fellow here, just thirty years old. let Pharaoh look out a man who is discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up twenty percent of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years ( Genesis 41:33-34 ). Now in Egypt they used to just the taxes were ten percent. So double taxation during these good years. Let them be taxed twenty percent during the good years. And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up the wheat under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep the food in the cities. That the food shall be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; when the land that the land perish not through the famine. And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all of his servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is ( Genesis 41:35-38 )? He said find a man wise and discreet and do this. He says, "Hey, you're the wisest one I can find". Now I don't think Joseph was pushing for a job when he was advising the Pharaoh, but yet the Pharaoh recognized the quality of the fact that the Spirit of God was in this man. He could see something different. And what a difference the Spirit of God makes. Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Inasmuch as God has showed you all of this, there is none as discreet and wise as you are: You will be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than you. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and he arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all of the land of Egypt ( Genesis 41:39-44 ). So Joseph was given a chariot ride behind the Pharaoh's. Men going beside the chariot crying to the people, "Bow your knee", as Joseph went by. Those that see in Joseph a type of Jesus Christ see Jesus here in Philippians chapter two, "In the form of God, and thought it not robbery or something to be grasped to be equal with God: but he emptied himself, took upon a form of man, and was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God has also highly exalted him, and given him a name that is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess" ( Philippians 2:6-9 ). The knee is being bowed. They see the exaltation of Christ who was rejected by His brethren but who will rule one day over the world. And so Joseph's being exalted. Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah ( Genesis 41:45 ); Which is a Coptic word, which means the revealer of secret things. and he gave him as his wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah the priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh the king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt ( Genesis 41:45-46 ). Now isn't it interesting how clear is our hindsight? As we look back on the trials of our lives and those hard places that we came through, when we were crying out to God and saying, "Oh God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from the cry of my roaring? God, I prayed day and night and You don't hear. Lord, where are You?" And we thought that surely God had forsaken us and God wasn't concerned with us. And surely we were going to perish in the wilderness. But now as we look back, we see how God was just working out His perfect plan all the way along. Years ago, when we were pastoring in Tucson, Arizona, we were just coming to the place where the church had begun to grow and there was an excited group, a young fellowship and things really were beginning to just blossom; when the bishop in the church called me and said he wanted me to take a church in Corona. Well, I had mixed emotions. If I came to Corona, I'd be near home because my parents were still living in Santa Ana where I went to high school. And so I thought, well, it'd be nice to be that close to home, get to see, you know, my family more often. And the church in Corona was quite a bit smaller than the church was now in Tucson that had really begun to blossom out. But I thought, "Oh, it's just a matter of time. We'll go into Corona and we'll sparkle there and the church would grow". I still had confidence in my abilities in those days. Corona is where the Lord began to whip out some of the confidence, I tell you. That was, that was a miserable two years. We started out with sixteen and we ended up with sixteen at the end of two years. But he, the bishop, was assuring me that as soon as he got me in his district that he would move me into a church of equal size to our Tucson church. And with these promises and so forth, we leaned upon the word of man and we decided to come. And after two years of hard labor and no results, I wrote him reminding of him of his promise and I received a letter back, which was informing me that because nothing had happened there that I really wasn't deserving of any larger church. And that anyhow I'd have to wait till some pastor died or whatever before I could move up. So I wrote him back and said, "I really didn't have time to wait for a pastor to die and I resigned from the ministry". Figuring to-well, I got a laundry route for a while and I'm just figuring to get whatever I could as far as work, support the family and pretty discouraged at that point. But while we were in Corona, we met a young couple. They didn't come to our church but his mother did. She was a very spiritual, godly woman. She used to spend a lot of time in prayer with us and encouraging us. And we kept in touch with this woman through the years. Well, there were some changes and there was a division of districts and a new bishop came in and he came to me and said, "Hey, I would like to see you back in the ministry" and offered me a church in Huntington Beach, which we took and we spent five wonderful years in Huntington Beach, close to the surf and you know, it was nice. Church was small enough that I could go surfing in the morning and take care of the church duties in the afternoon, really enjoy it. And we were seeing some marvelous blossoming forth and growth in the church there when this bishop asked me to go out and take a church in Los Serranos under very

Commentary on Genesis 41

Whosoever Will · the Seven Threads Commentary

Genesis 41:1

Two full years after the butler walks free. Pharaoh dreams: seven fat cows, seven lean cows; seven full ears of grain, seven thin ears. His magicians and wise men cannot interpret it. Then the butler remembers. I do remember my faults this day: two years late, but God's timing, not the butler's. Joseph is brought from the prison. He shaves, changes his clothes, and stands before Pharaoh. Pharaoh says: I hear you can interpret dreams. Joseph answers: it is not in me, biladai, God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace. The same attribution as in chapter 40. The credit goes to God before the dream has been heard. The interpretation is precise: seven years of abundance across Egypt, followed by seven years of famine so severe the abundance will be forgotten. Joseph adds a plan, appoint a wise man, store a fifth of the harvest across the seven good years, hold it for the seven lean years. Thread 5 is in the plan: God has not only shown Pharaoh what is coming but supplied through Joseph the administrative structure to survive it. Pharaoh's response is the most theologically remarkable line in the chapter: can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? A pagan king, looking at a Hebrew slave, identifies the Spirit of God as the explanation for what he is seeing. The presence that has governed the whole narrative has just been named by the man least expected to name it.

It is not in me, Joseph says it to Pharaoh the same way he said it to the butler, and the God who gives the interpretation also supplies the solution, thirteen years after the pit, two years after the butler walked free.

בִּ לְעָדָי אֱלֹהִים יַעֲנֶה אֶת שְׁ לוֹם פַּ רְעֹה (biladai Elohim yaaneh eth shalom Pharoh): it is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace, biladai (apart from me, without me); Joseph's consistent self-emptying before giving the interpretation; the answer will come through him and does not originate in him; the same theological posture as chapter 40 · אִישׁ אֲ שֶׁ ר רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים בּוֹ (ish asher ruach Elohim bo): a man in whom the Spirit of God is: Pharaoh's assessment of Joseph; a pagan king identifies the Spirit of God as the distinguishing quality of the Hebrew slave standing before him; the divine presence that has been narrated in the background is now named out loud by the man with no covenant claim to recognize it