Genesis 41 · Verse 18

Genesis 41:18

And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

Genesis 41:18, King James Version

Genesis 41:18 in other translations

BSB	when seven cows, well-fed and sleek, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds.
WEB	and behold, seven fat and sleek cattle came up out of the river. They fed in the marsh grass;
ASV	and, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fat-fleshed and well-favored: and they fed in the reed-grass:
YLT	and lo, out of the River coming up are seven kine, fat in flesh, and of fair form, and they feed among the reeds;
DARBY	And behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fat-fleshed and of fine form, and they fed in the reed-grass.
BBE	And out of the Nile came seven cows, fat and good-looking, and their food was the river-grass;
Webster	And behold, there came out of the river seven cows, fat-fleshed, and well-favored; and they fed in a meadow:

What does Genesis 41:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

18. there came up out of the river seven kine--Cows now, of the buffalo kind, are seen daily plunging into the Nile; when their huge form is gradually emerging, they seem as if rising "out of the river." and they fed in a meadow--Nile grass, the aquatic plants that grow on the marshy banks of that river, particularly the lotus kind, on which cattle were usually fattened.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 18 Seven kine, fat-fleshed - See Clarke on Gen 41:2 (note). 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 Gen 41:31 (note).

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 41:9-32

God's time for the enlargement of his people is the fittest time. If the chief butler had got Joseph to be released from prison, it is probable he would have gone back to the land of the Hebrews. Then he had neither been so blessed himself, nor such a blessing to his family, as afterwards he proved. Joseph, when introduced to Pharaoh, gives honour to God. Pharaoh had dreamed that he stood upon the bank of the river…

Read the full comment on Genesis 41:9-32 →

Genesis 41:18 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְהִנֵּ֣הve.hi.Nehand there!H2009

מִן\־min-fromH4480

הַיְאֹ֗רhay.'Orthe RiverH2975

עֹלֹת֙'o.Lot[were] coming upH5927

שֶׁ֣בַעShe.va'sevenH7651

פָּר֔וֹתpa.RotcowsH6510

בְּרִיא֥וֹתbe.ri.'otfat ofH1277

בָּשָׂ֖רba.SarfleshH1320

וִיפֹ֣תvi.Fotand good looking ofH3303

תֹּ֑אַרTo.'arformH8389

וַתִּרְעֶ֖ינָהva.tir.'Ei.nahand they grazedH7462

בָּאָֽחוּ\׃ba.'A.chuamong the reed[s]H260

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 41:18

Jeremiah 24:1-3
The Lord shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the Lord, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. Then said the Lord unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
Jeremiah 24:5
Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
Jeremiah 24:8
And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the Lord, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jer 24:1-3,5,8

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Genesis 41:17
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
Genesis 41:18
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
Genesis 41:19
And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:

Read all of Genesis 41

Genesis 41:18 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y que del río subían siete vacas de gruesas carnes y hermosa apariencia, que pacían en el prado:
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	et voici, du fleuve montaient sept vaches grasses de chair, et belles à voir, et elles paissaient dans les roseaux.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und siehe, aus dem Strome stiegen sieben Kühe herauf, fett an Fleisch und schön von Gestalt, und sie weideten im Riedgrase.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	et septem boves de amne conscendere, pulchras nimis, et obesis carnibus: quæ in pastu paludis virecta carpebant.