Genesis - 41:18

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18 and behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, fat and sleek. They fed in the marsh grass,

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Genesis 41:18.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
and, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fat-fleshed and well-favored: and they fed in the reed-grass:
And seven kine came up out of the river exceeding beautiful and full of flesh: and they grazed on green places in a marshy pasture.
And behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fat-fleshed and of fine form, and they fed in the reed-grass.
and, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in the reed-grass:
And behold, there came out of the river seven cows, fat-fleshed, and well-favored; and they fed in a meadow:
and lo, out of the River coming up are seven kine, fat in flesh, and of fair form, and they feed among the reeds;
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven cows, fat and well favored; and they fed in a meadow:
And out of the Nile came seven cows, fat and good-looking, and their food was the river-grass;
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fat-fleshed and well-favoured; and they fed in the reedgrass.
and seven cows climbed up from the river, exceedingly beautiful and full of flesh. And they grazed in a pasture of a marshy greenery.
Et ecce, e flumine ascendebant septem vaccae pingues carne, et pulchrae forma, et pascebant in carecto.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

Seven kine, fat-fleshed - See Clarke on Genesis 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 Genesis 41:31 (note).

And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine,.... Cows or heifers; see Gill on Genesis 41:2; the account of them is the same here as there, and of the place where they fed, only the words are transposed.

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.

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