Bible Strands
Genesis 41:3
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Pharaoh experiences this vision during a dream, immediately following the emergence of seven sleek cows from the Nile. The narrative places this event before Pharaoh wakes and summons his magicians.
The words — עֹל֤וֹת (o.Lot) translates literally as "[were] coming up," and אַחֲרֵי/הֶן ('a.cha.rei./Hen) means "after/them." These terms establish the sequential emergence of the second group of cattle from the water.
The thread — The sequence of thin cattle consuming the healthy ones repeats in Genesis 41:4 and Genesis 41:20, where the text explicitly records the devouring and Pharaoh’s awakening. These later verses confirm the dream’s internal logic before any human interpretation occurs.
Why it lands — The text presents a stark visual contrast between abundance and decay, demanding attention to the unnatural sequence of events. It requires the reader to recognize the dream as a self-contained warning rather than a symbolic puzzle to be solved immediately.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James 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.
Cross-references
- Genesis 41:4 And the cows that were sickly and thin devoured the seven sleek, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up,
- Genesis 41:20 Then the thin, ugly cows devoured the seven well-fed cows that were there first.