Behold, seven cattle came up out of the river. They were sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass.
Parallel Translations
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Behold, seven cattle came up out of the river. They were sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass.
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And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.
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And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, well-favoured and fat-fleshed; and they fed in the reed-grass.
Cross-references (1)
Passages linked to Genesis 41:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 19:6 The rivers will become foul. The streams of Egypt will be diminished and dried up. The reeds and flags will wither away.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, fair to behold.
Or, fair to behold.
Or, staggie place.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 41:2 And, behold, there came up out of…
Gen 41:2 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.
Ver. 2. There came up out of the river] Nile; which, by overflowing, fatteneth the plain of Egypt, filling it with fruits; and so fitly deciphering the seven years of plenty. {a} So far as this river watereth, there is a black mould so fruitful, that they do but throw in the seed, and have four rich harvests in less than four months, say travellers. {b}
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{a} Mercer.
{b} Blunt’s Voyage, p. 37.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This suits well with the nature of the thing,…
This suits well with the nature of the thing, for both the fruitfulness and the barrenness of Egypt depended, under God, upon the increase or diminution of the waters of that river.
Kine, when they appeared in dreams, did portend, in the opinion of the learned Egyptians, the years or times to come, and them either good or bad, according to their quality.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And, behold, there came up out of the river…
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine, and fatfleshed,.... Seven cows or heifers, sleek, fat, and plump, goodly to look at; these seemed in the dream, as if they came out of the river, because they were fed with the fruits of the earth, which the overflowing of the river Nile, and its canals, produced:
and they fed in a meadow; adjoining to the river, where there was good pasture for them, and gives a reason of their being in so good a condition.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. There came up out of the river…
Verse 2. There came up out of the river seven well-favoured kine] This must certainly refer to the hippopotamus or river horse, as the circumstances of coming up out of the river and feeding in the field characterize that animal alone. The hippopotamus is the well-known inhabitant of the Nile, and frequently by night comes out of the river to feed in the fields, or in the sedge by the river side.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 41:2. There came out of the river —…
Gen 41:2. There came out of the river — A just and proper emblem this, because both the fruitfulness and barrenness of the land of Egypt depended, under God, on the increase or diminution of the waters of that river. Well-favoured kine, and fat-fleshed — Signifying plenty of grass, whereby they had been thus fed, and promising milk and flesh-meat in abundance.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Marshy. Hebrew Achu; a word which the Septuagint and…
Marshy. Hebrew Achu; a word which the Septuagint and Siracides (Ecclesiasticus xl. 16, ) retain. (Du Hamel)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. Seven well favoured kine — Hebrews, seven heifers…
2. Seven well favoured kine — Hebrews, seven heifers beautiful in appearance. “The Egyptians esteemed the cow above all other animals. It was sacred to Isis, (Herod. 2:41,) or rather to Athor, the Venus Genetrix of Egypt, and was looked on as a symbol of the earth and its cultivation and food. Hence it was very natural that in Pharaoh’s dream the fruitful and unfruitful years should be typified by well favoured and ill favoured kine.” — Speaker’s Com.
In a meadow — Rather, in the marsh grass, (אחו.)
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The word is of Egyptian origin, and signifies, according to Gesenius, “marsh-grass, reeds, bulrushes, sedge, every thing which grows in wet grounds. The word was adopted not only into the Hebrew, but also into the Greek idiom of Alexandria.” The Sept. does not translate the word, but reads, εν τω αχει.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. out of the river] The Nile is the…
2. out of the river] The Nile is the source of the fertility and wealth of Egypt. The cows issuing from the Nile would be a symbol of fertility. The Egyptian goddess Hathor is represented with the head of a cow.
seven kine] The number “seven” is commonly employed for the purposes of symbolism. The god Osiris is represented in Egyptian drawings as an ox accompanied by seven cows.
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reed-grass] The Heb. word aḥu transliterates the Egyptian aḥu, or iḥi. It is found also in Gen_41:18; Job_8:11; Hos_13:15. LXX ἄχει, which occurs also in Isa_19:7; Sir_40:16. Jerome, commenting on Isa_19:7, explains ἄχει as quicquid in palude virens nascitur. The word, derived from a root meaning “green,” is applied to the Nile reed-grass whose vivid green, under that bright sky, strikes every traveller in Egypt1[58]
[58] “Pro junco papyrum transtulerunt LXX, de quo charta fit, addentes de suo Achi, viride, quod in Hebraeo non habetur. Cumque ab eruditis quaererem, quid hic sermo significaret, audivi ab Aegyptiis hoc nomine lingua eorum quicquid in palude virens nascitur appellari” (Comm. in Esai, § 291).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) Kine.—The cow was regarded by the Egyptians as…
(2) Kine.—The cow was regarded by the Egyptians as the symbol of the earth, and of agriculture; and naturally both the kine and the ears of wheat rose out of the river, because as no rain falls in Egypt, its fertility entirely depends upon the overflow of the Nile. The cows sacred to Isis were seven in number, and in a copy of the Ritual of the Dead, Mr. Malan (p. 192) found a picture of the seven sacred cows with the divine bull.
In a meadow.—Heb., in the marsh-grass. The word occurs only in this chapter and in Job_8:11, where it is translated flag. It is the name of the rank herbage which grows luxuriantly along the banks of the Nile; or, as some think, of one special kind of marsh-grass, called by botanists cyperus esculentus.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.