And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke.
Parallel translations
- WEB The ugly and thin cattle ate up the seven sleek and fat cattle. So Pharaoh awoke.
- KJV And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.
- BSB And the cows that were sickly and thin devoured the seven sleek, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up,
- NASB Then the ugly and thin cows ate the seven fine-looking and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.
- NLT Then the scrawny, thin cows ate the seven healthy, fat cows! At this point in the dream, Pharaoh 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
The thin cattle devour the fat ones, and Pharaoh wakes up.
Overview
The thin cattle consuming the fat signals that the famine will swallow up all the plenty, leaving no trace. The startling image awakens Pharaoh, marking the urgency of the message. God uses the troubling dream to prepare Egypt's deliverance through Joseph.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- 1 Kgs 3:15Solomon awoke; and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, and offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.
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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 41:4 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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