Verse Lens · Context pointer

Genesis 41:17 Explained in Context

Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.

Selected verse

Verse 17. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Role in This Section

Pharaoh begins retelling the first dream, placing himself on the Nile bank. The verse reopens the dream report for Joseph and must be read through the images and interpretation that follow.

Read It With

  • Genesis 41:1–36

Read verses 17–25. Pharaoh's first-person retelling supplies the cattle details, adds emphasis, recalls the specialists' failure, and leads into Joseph's declaration that the dreams are one.

Why It Needs Context

This introductory location does not carry the interpretation by itself. The full retelling and Joseph's explanation are required before drawing a conclusion.

Read Genesis 41:17–24 together

Why these verses belong together: Pharaoh retells both dreams with intensified details and closes by repeating the learned specialists' inability.

Verse 17. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

Verse 18. And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

Verse 19. And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:

Verse 20. And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:

Verse 21. And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

Verse 22. And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:

Verse 23. And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:

Verse 24. And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.

Continue in Context

Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.

Read Genesis 41:1–36 — Pharaoh Dreams, Joseph Interprets, and Egypt Is Warned
Sources used for this context pointer

How certain is this explanation? strong

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Displayed text, delay, dreams, recollection, summons, interpretation, counsel, response, later grain movement, and later famine administration.

Exact location: Genesis 41:1–36; 40:20–23; 41:37–57; 42:1–9; 47:13–26 in the pinned standardized 1769 KJV

Open source ↗

hebrew text morphology and lemma data

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project

Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026

Supports: Two-full-years phrase, Nile and dream wording, troubled spirit, hartummim, cupbearer faults, pit and clothing, bil'adai, shalom Pharaoh, dream duplication, discernment, fifth, reserve, and land-preservation wording.

Exact location: WLC Genesis 41:1–36, especially vv. 1, 8–9, 14–16, 24–36

Open source ↗
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