when seven cows, well-fed and sleek, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds.
Parallel translations
- WEB and behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, fat and sleek. They fed in the marsh grass,
- KJV And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
- NKJV Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow.
- NASB and behold, seven cows, fat and fine-looking came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass.
- NLT and I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Pharaoh describes the seven fat, sleek cattle coming up from the river.
Overview
Pharaoh repeats the imagery of healthy cattle, the sign of coming plenty. His retelling confirms the dream's details for Joseph's interpretation. Repetition in the text underscores the certainty of the years of abundance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Jer 24:1–3After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD.
- Jer 24:8But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt.
- Jer 24:5“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 41:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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