And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow. And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, illfavoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river. And the illfavoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke. And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good. And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them. And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.
In this dream that Pharaoh had, there were two sets of seven. The first set was of fat, well-favored cows being eaten by lean, ill-favored cows. The second set was of healthy, full ears of corn being devoured by thin, withered ears. Both sets of imagery seemed to symbolize a time of abundance being overtaken by a time of scarcity. The repetition of the dream emphasized the importance of this message. This dream would soon be interpreted by Joseph, and its significance would bring about major changes in Egypt.
Image by Ai Junkie
