Bible Strands
Genesis 41:5
but he fell back asleep and dreamed a second time: Seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, came up on one stalk.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Pharaoh returns to sleep after waking from his first vision of diseased cattle devouring healthy ones. The narrative records his second dream in isolation, placing him in a passive state of divine reception rather than active dialogue.
The words — וַיִּישָׁן (va-yiyyashan) marks a deliberate return to sleep, while שִׁבֳּלִים (shibolim) specifies mature ears of grain. The phrase בְּקָנֶה אֶחָד (be-qaneh echad) literally translates to "on a single stalk," highlighting an agrarian impossibility.
The thread — This dream sequence directly continues the narrative arc of Genesis 41:4 and 41:6, where the first dream of cattle is immediately mirrored by a second dream of grain. The pairing establishes a repeated revelatory pattern that structures the entire chapter.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to note how divine messages often arrive through layered, natural imagery rather than direct speech. It demands attention to how repeated dreams signal impending historical events that require interpretation rather than passive observation.
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 he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 32:14 with curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat. From the juice of the finest grapes you drank the wine.