Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 41:18
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favored; and they fed in a meadow:
Verse 18. Seven kine, fat-fleshed] See Clarke on Ge 41:2. And observe farther, that the seven fat and the seven lean kine coming out of the same river plainly show, at once, the cause both of the plenty and the dearth. It is well known that there is scarcely any rain in Egypt; and that the country depends for its fertility on the overflowing of the Nile; and that the fertility is in proportion to the duration and quantity of the overflow. We may therefore safely conclude that the seven years of plenty were owing to an extraordinary overflowing of the Nile; and that the seven years of dearth were occasioned by a very partial, or total want of this essentially necessary inundation. Thus then the two sorts of cattle, signifying years of plenty and want, might be said to come out of the same river, as the inundation was either complete, partial, or wholly restrained. See Clarke on Ge 41:31.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
18. there came up out of the riverseven kineCows now, of the buffalo kind, are seen dailyplunging into the Nile; when their huge form is gradually emerging,they seem as if rising “out of the river.”
and they fed in a meadowNilegrass, the aquatic plants that grow on the marshy banks of thatriver, particularly the lotus kind, on which cattle were usuallyfattened.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine,…. Cows or heifers, [See comments on Ge 41:2]; the account of them is the same here as there, and of the place where they fed, only the words are transposed.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(18) In a meadow.Heb., in the marsh-grass, as in Gen. 41:2.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 41:18. And, behold, there came, &c. “Phantasms in dreams,” says Bishop Warburton, “were superstitiously thought to be symbolical: God, therefore, when it was his good pleasure to send dreams to Pharaoh, made two well-known symbols the foundation of them; and this, doubtless, in order to engage the dreamer’s more serious attention. But then, to confound the AEgyptian oneirocritics or interpreters of dreams, these dreams were so circumstanced with matters foreign to the principles of their art, that there was need of a truly divine interpreter.Pharaoh had two dreams, one of seven kine, the other of seven ears of corn. Both these phantasms were symbols of AEgypt; the ears denoting its distinguished fertility, the kine its great tutelary patroness Isis. Pharaoh knew thus much without an interpreter; and hence arose his solicitude and anxiety to understand the rest, as a matter that concerned the public; accordingly, when Joseph came to decypher these dreams, he does not tell the king that the two sevens denoted seven years in AEgypt, but simply seven years.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The repetition of a thing serves to confirm it. How sweetly do we find it to be so, respecting eternal things. Heb 6:17-18 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 41:18 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
Ver. 18. See Trapp on “ Gen 41:2 “ See Trapp on “ Gen 41:3 “ See Trapp on “ Gen 41:4 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 24:1-3, Jer 24:5, Jer 24:8
Reciprocal: Isa 30:23 – thy cattle