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.
Parallel translations
- WEB and when they had eaten them up, it couldn’t be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
- BSB When they had devoured them, however, no one could tell that they had done so; their appearance was as ugly as it had been before. Then I awoke.
- NKJV When they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke.
- NASB Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had devoured them, for they were just as ugly as before. Then I awoke.
- NLT But afterward you wouldn’t have known it, for they were still as thin and scrawny as before! Then I woke up.
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
Even after eating the fat cattle, the thin ones looked as gaunt as before, and Pharaoh awoke.
Overview
The famine pictured here is so severe that the years of plenty leave no lasting relief. This detail, added in the retelling, stresses how completely scarcity will swallow up abundance. It signals the desperate need for the wise preparation Joseph will counsel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Ezek 3:3And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
- Rev 10:9–10And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
- Isa 9:20And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
- Ps 37:19They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 41:21 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.