X-Dreamers
Bible chapter guide
Genesis 41
Pharaoh dreams of seven fat and seven thin cows, and seven full and seven thin ears of grain. Joseph, brought from prison, explains: seven years of plenty, then seven of famine. Pharaoh sets him over Egypt at thirty, and he stores grain in the cities.
Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.
See it in the Labs
- Life Phases of Old Testament HeroesLife Phases of Old Testament HeroesOpen
- The Biblical Family TreeAsenath · The Biblical Family TreeOpen
- The Biblical Family TreeJoseph · The Biblical Family TreeOpen
- The Bible Time MapJoseph · The Bible Time MapOpen
- Life Phases of Old Testament HeroesJoseph · Life Phases of Old Testament HeroesOpen
- The Biblical Family TreeManasseh · The Biblical Family TreeOpen
- The Biblical Family TreeEphraim · The Biblical Family TreeOpen
People in this chapter
Also in this chapter
How sure can we be?
- Textually stated
Manasseh: “Making to forget”: “God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil.”
- Textually stated
Ephraim: “Fruitful”: “God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
- Strongly supported
Garments mark the turning points of Joseph's story: the robe stripped by his brothers, the cloak left with Potiphar's wife, the linen given by Pharaoh.
A close reading of Genesis 37, 39 and 41; widely noted by commentators.
- Plausible
Joseph, ages 30–39: Seven years of plenty
Raised to power, Joseph stores grain against a famine no one else can see. He names his second son Ephraim: "God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." He does not say the affliction ended; he says fruit grew in it.
- Plausible
Joseph was about 34: Manasseh and Ephraim are born.
"Before the years of famine came" (Gen 41:50), during the seven years of plenty.