Genesis 41:3
New International Version
After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank.

New Living Translation
Then he saw seven more cows come up behind them from the Nile, but these were scrawny and thin. These cows stood beside the fat cows on the riverbank.

English Standard Version
And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.

Berean Standard Bible
After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside the well-fed cows on the bank of the river.

King James Bible
And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.

New King James Version
Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river.

New American Standard Bible
Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and thin, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.

NASB 1995
Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and gaunt, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.

NASB 1977
Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and gaunt, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and thin, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.

Amplified Bible
Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the Nile, ugly and gaunt and raw-boned, and stood by the fat cows on the bank of the Nile.

Christian Standard Bible
After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside those cows along the bank of the Nile.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside those cows along the bank of the Nile.

American Standard Version
And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill-favored and lean-fleshed, and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.

Contemporary English Version
Then seven ugly, skinny cows came up out of the river and

English Revised Version
And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Seven other cows came up from the river behind them. These cows were sickly and skinny. They stood behind the first seven cows on the riverbank.

Good News Translation
Then seven other cows came up; they were thin and bony. They came and stood by the other cows on the riverbank,

International Standard Version
Right after that, seven more cows came up out of the Nile. Ugly and gaunt, they stood next to the other cows on the bank of the Nile River.

Majority Standard Bible
After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside the well-fed cows on the bank of the river.

NET Bible
Then seven bad-looking, thin cows were coming up after them from the Nile, and they stood beside the other cows at the edge of the river.

New Heart English Bible
And look, seven other cows came up after them out of the Nile, miserable-looking and thin, and stood by the other cows at the edge of the Nile.

Webster's Bible Translation
And behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ill-favored and lean-fleshed; and stood by the other cows upon the brink of the river.

World English Bible
Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and behold, seven other cows are coming up after them out of the River, of bad appearance, and lean [in] flesh, and they stand near the cows on the edge of the River,

Young's Literal Translation
and lo, seven other kine are coming up after them out of the River, of bad appearance, and lean in flesh, and they stand near the kine on the edge of the River,

Smith's Literal Translation
Behold, seven other heifers coming up after them out of the river, evil of look, thin in flesh; and they will stand by the heifers by the lip of the river.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Other seven also came up out of the river, ill favoured, and leanfleshed: and they fed on the very bank of the river, in green places:

Catholic Public Domain Version
Likewise, another seven emerged from the river, filthy and thoroughly emaciated. And they pastured on the same bank of the river, in green places.

New American Bible
Behind them seven other cows, poor-looking and gaunt, came up out of the Nile; and standing on the bank of the Nile beside the others,

New Revised Standard Version
Then seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And, behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ill-favored and lean; and stood beside the other cows on the bank of the river.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And behold seven other cows came up after them from the river, bad in their appearance and skinny in their flesh, and the cows stood on the side on the edge of the river.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and lean-fleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And other seven cows came up after these out of the river, ill-favoured and lean-fleshed, and fed by the other cows on the bank of the river.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Dreams of Pharaoh
2when seven cows, sleek and well-fed, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds. 3 After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside the well-fed cows on the bank of the river. 4And the cows that were sickly and thin devoured the seven sleek, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up,…

Cross References
Exodus 7:19-21
And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers and canals and ponds and all the reservoirs—that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.” / Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded; in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron raised the staff and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was turned to blood. / The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. And there was blood throughout the land of Egypt.

Exodus 8:6-7
So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. / But the magicians did the same thing by their magic arts, and they also brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.

Exodus 9:3-6
then the hand of the LORD will bring a severe plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. / But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’” / The LORD set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land.” ...

Exodus 10:15
They covered the face of all the land until it was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left behind. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:29-30
Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock. / During the night Pharaoh got up—he and all his officials and all the Egyptians—and there was loud wailing in Egypt; for there was no house without someone dead.

1 Kings 17:1-7
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!” / Then a revelation from the LORD came to Elijah: / “Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Brook of Cherith, east of the Jordan. ...

2 Kings 7:1-2
Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel.’” / But the officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” replied Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it.”

Psalm 105:16-17
He called down famine on the land and cut off all their supplies of food. / He sent a man before them—Joseph, sold as a slave.

Isaiah 19:5-7
The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty. / The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither. / The bulrushes by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the fields sown along the Nile, will wither, blow away, and be no more.

Jeremiah 14:1-6
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: / “Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem. / The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads. ...

Ezekiel 29:3-5
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’ / But I will put hooks in your jaws and cause the fish of your streams to cling to your scales. I will haul you up out of your rivers, and all the fish of your streams will cling to your scales. / I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and will not be taken away or gathered for burial. I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air.

Joel 1:4-7
What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten. / Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth. / For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness. ...

Amos 4:6-9
“I afflicted all your cities with cleanness of teeth and all your towns with lack of bread, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD. / “I also withheld the rain from you when the harvest was three months away. I sent rain on one city but withheld it from another. One field received rain; another without rain withered. / People staggered from city to city for water to drink, but they were not satisfied; yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD. ...

Matthew 24:7
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

Luke 4:25-26
But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land. / Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to the widow of Zarephath in Sidon.


Treasury of Scripture

And, behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ill favored and skinney; and stood by the other cows on the brink of the river.

ill favoured.

Genesis 41:4,20,21
And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke…

Jump to Previous
Appearance Bad Bank Brink Cattle Cows Edge Favored Favoured Flesh Gaunt Ill Ill-Favored Kine Leanfleshed Nile Poor-Looking River Seven Side Stand Stood Thin Ugly
Jump to Next
Appearance Bad Bank Brink Cattle Cows Edge Favored Favoured Flesh Gaunt Ill Ill-Favored Kine Leanfleshed Nile Poor-Looking River Seven Side Stand Stood Thin Ugly
Genesis 41
1. Pharaoh has two dreams.
9. Joseph interprets them.
33. He gives Pharaoh counsel, and is highly advanced, and married.
46. The seven years of plenty.
50. He begets children.
53. The famine begins.














After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin,
This phrase introduces the second set of cows in Pharaoh's dream, which are described as "sickly and thin." In the context of ancient Egypt, cattle were a symbol of wealth and prosperity. The appearance of sickly and thin cows would have been alarming, indicating a potential threat to the nation's resources. This imagery foreshadows the coming famine, as interpreted by Joseph later in the chapter. The number seven is significant in biblical numerology, often representing completeness or divine perfection, suggesting a complete period of hardship.

came up from the Nile
The Nile River was the lifeblood of Egypt, providing water, transportation, and fertile soil for agriculture. The cows emerging from the Nile symbolize the dependence of Egyptian prosperity on this river. In the dream, the emergence of unhealthy cows from the Nile suggests a disruption in the natural order and a divine message about the impending famine. The Nile's centrality to Egyptian life underscores the severity of the warning.

and stood beside the well-fed cows
The juxtaposition of the sickly cows with the well-fed ones highlights the contrast between abundance and scarcity. This imagery serves as a visual representation of the transition from years of plenty to years of famine. The standing together of both sets of cows may symbolize the coexistence of prosperity and adversity, a theme that resonates throughout the biblical narrative, where God's people often face trials amidst blessings.

on the bank of the river.
The riverbank is a place of transition between water and land, symbolizing a boundary or change. In the context of the dream, it represents the shift from prosperity to famine. The riverbank setting also emphasizes the dependency of Egypt on the Nile, reinforcing the message that the forthcoming famine is beyond human control and requires divine intervention. This setting foreshadows Joseph's rise to power, as he interprets the dream and provides a God-given solution to the crisis.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Pharaoh
The ruler of Egypt who experiences troubling dreams that require interpretation.

2. Joseph
A Hebrew man, known for his ability to interpret dreams, who is eventually called upon to explain Pharaoh's dreams.

3. Nile River
The major river in Egypt, symbolizing life and sustenance, from which the cows emerge in Pharaoh's dream.

4. Seven Ugly and Gaunt Cows
Represent a period of famine and hardship, contrasting with the well-fed cows.

5. Seven Well-Fed Cows
Symbolize a period of abundance and prosperity.
Teaching Points
Divine Revelation and Interpretation
God communicates through dreams and visions, requiring discernment and interpretation. Believers should seek wisdom and understanding from God, as Joseph did.

Preparation for Future Challenges
The dream serves as a warning to prepare for future hardships. Christians are encouraged to be prudent and wise stewards of their resources, anticipating both times of plenty and scarcity.

God's Sovereignty Over Nations
The dream illustrates God's control over the natural and political realms. Believers can trust in God's overarching plan, even when nations face turmoil.

Contrast Between Abundance and Famine
The imagery of the cows highlights the stark difference between prosperity and adversity. This serves as a reminder to remain faithful and reliant on God in all circumstances.Verse 3. - And, behold, seven other kind came up after them out of the river, ill. favored and lean-fleshed. The second seven cows, "evil to look upon," i.e. bad in appearance, and "thin (beaten small, dakoth, from dakak, to crush or beat small) of flesh," also proceeded from the river, since a failure in the periodical overflow of the Nile was the usual cause of scarcity and famine in Egypt. And stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river. The use of the term lip, שָׂפָה, for brink, common enough in Hebrew (Genesis 22:17; Exodus 14:30; 1 Kings 5:9), occurs also in a papyrus of the nineteenth dynasty, "I sat down by the lip of the river," which appears to suggest the impression that the verse in the text was written by one who was equally familiar with both languages (Canon Cook in 'Speaker s Commentary,' p. 485).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
After them,
אַחֲרֵיהֶן֙ (’a·ḥă·rê·hen)
Preposition | third person feminine plural
Strong's 310: The hind or following part

seven
שֶׁ֧בַע (še·ḇa‘)
Number - feminine singular
Strong's 7651: Seven, seven times, a week, an indefinite number

other
אֲחֵר֗וֹת (’ă·ḥê·rō·wṯ)
Adjective - feminine plural
Strong's 312: Hinder, next, other

cows,
פָּר֣וֹת (pā·rō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 6510: A heifer, cow

sickly
רָע֥וֹת (rā·‘ō·wṯ)
Adjective - feminine plural construct
Strong's 7451: Bad, evil

and thin,
וְדַקּ֣וֹת (wə·ḏaq·qō·wṯ)
Conjunctive waw | Adjective - feminine plural construct
Strong's 1851: Crushed, small, thin

came up
עֹל֤וֹת (‘ō·lō·wṯ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine plural
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

from
מִן־ (min-)
Preposition
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of

the Nile
הַיְאֹ֔ר (hay·’ōr)
Article | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 2975: Nile -- a channel, a fosse, canal, shaft, the Nile, the Tigris

and stood
וַֽתַּעֲמֹ֛דְנָה (wat·ta·‘ă·mō·ḏə·nāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine plural
Strong's 5975: To stand, in various relations

beside
אֵ֥צֶל (’ê·ṣel)
Preposition
Strong's 681: A joining together, proximity

the [other] cows
הַפָּר֖וֹת (hap·pā·rō·wṯ)
Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 6510: A heifer, cow

on
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the bank
שְׂפַ֥ת (śə·p̄aṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 8193: The lip, language, a margin

of the river.
הַיְאֹֽר׃ (hay·’ōr)
Article | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 2975: Nile -- a channel, a fosse, canal, shaft, the Nile, the Tigris


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OT Law: Genesis 41:3 Behold seven other cattle came up after (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 41:2
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