Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about.
Parallel translations
- WEB The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
- KJV 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.
- BSB Moreover, because the dream was given to Pharaoh in two versions, the matter has been decreed by God, and He will carry it out shortly.
- NKJV And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
- NLT As for having two similar dreams, it means that these events have been decreed by God, and he will soon make them happen.
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
The dream was doubled because the matter is firmly established by God and will happen soon.
Overview
Joseph explains that the two dreams confirm the certainty and nearness of God's plan. The doubling is divine assurance that the events are fixed. This teaches that God's revealed word is sure and will surely come to pass.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Num 23:19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
- Isa 46:10–11I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please.
- Matt 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
- 2 Cor 13:1This is the third time I am coming to you. “At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”
- Isa 14:24–27Yahweh of Armies has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so shall it happen; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
- Isa 30:33For his burning place has long been ready. Yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made its pyre deep and large with fire and much wood. Yahweh’s breath, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.
- Job 33:14–15For God speaks once, yes twice, though man pays no attention.
- Gen 37:9He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.”
- Mark 10:40but to sit at my right hand and at my left hand is not mine to give, but for whom it has been prepared.”
- Gen 37:7for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.”
- 1 Cor 2:9But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.”
- Rev 9:15The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind.
- Matt 25:41Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
- Matt 25:34Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
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 41:32 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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