Genesis 41:23

 Genesis 41:23

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

a. NASB 1995: And lo, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them;  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: “Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them. [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified: And behold, seven [other] ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: And suddenly! Seven ears of grain withered, thin and scorched by the east wind were growing after them.  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

e. ESV:  Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:”

a. [And] behold [Strong: 2009 hinnêh, hin-nay'; prolongation for H2005; lo!:—behold, lo, see.]

b. Seven [Strong: 7651 shebaʻ, sheh'-bah; or (masculine) (שִׁבְעָה shibʻâh); from H7650; a primitive cardinal number; seven (as the sacred full one); also (adverbially) seven times; by implication, a week; by extension, an indefinite number:—(+ by) seven(-fold),-s, (-teen, -teenth), -th, times).]

c. ears [Strong: 7641 shibbôl, shib-bole; or (feminine) שִׁבֹּלֶת shibbôleth; from the same as H7640; a stream (as flowing); also an ear of grain (as growing out); by analogy, a branch:—branch, channel, ear (of corn), (water-)flood, Shibboleth.]

d. withered [Strong: 6798 tsânam, tsaw-nam'; a primitive root; to blast or shrink:—withered.]

e. thin [Strong: 1851 daq, dak; from H1854; crushed, i.e. (by implication) small or thin:—dwarf, lean(-fleshed), very little thing, small, thin.]

f. blasted [Strong: 7710 shâdaph, shaw-daf'; a primitive root; to scorch:—blast.]

g. [with the] east wind [Strong: 6921 qâdîym, kaw-deem'; or קָדִם qâdim; from H6923; the fore or front part; hence (by orientation) the East (often adverbially, eastward, for brevity the east wind):—east(-ward, wind).]

h. sprung up [Strong: 6779 tsâmach, tsaw-makh'; a primitive root; to sprout (transitive or intransitive, literal or figurative):—bear, bring forth, (cause to, make to) bud (forth), (cause to, make to) grow (again, up), (cause to) spring (forth, up).]

i. after [them] [Strong: 310 ʼachar, akh-ar'; from H309; properly, the hind part; generally used as an adverb or conjunction, after (in various senses):—after (that, -ward), again, at, away from, back (from, -side), behind, beside, by, follow (after, -ing), forasmuch, from, hereafter, hinder end, + out (over) live, + persecute, posterity, pursuing, remnant, seeing, since, thence(-forth), when, with.]

1). In accordance with his goodness, for God is a good and merciful God, God was giving Pharaoh a means of averting a disaster for Egypt through the dreams and giving Joseph the interpretation of the dreams. Henry Morris writes in his book The Genesis Record, it was not “for the purpose of embarrassing or dethroning the king of Egypt. As a matter of fact his own control over the country was destined to be strengthened by these events; but the underlying purpose of it all had to do rather with God’s plan for Israel. Therefore not only did God give Joseph the true interpretation of the dreams, but also an effective plan of action for Pharaoh.”

a). Pharaoh was troubled by the dreams. Joseph specifically responded to Pharaoh with the words, “God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

2). God giving dreams and their interpretation here is an example of the gifts of the Spirit, in particular, the word of wisdom, one of the gifts of the Spirit in operation. Kenneth E. Hagin writes in “Concerning Spiritual Gifts”: “The difference between the two gifts, the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom is that the revelation which the word of knowledge brings is always present tense or something which happened in the past. The word of wisdom always speaks of the future.” Here a 14 year plan to avert a disaster that would have come upon the known world. All the nations around Egypt suffered from this famine (Genesis 41:57), that was allowed by God to happen. He did not cause it, but in his goodness, mercy, and grace provided a means to endure through it.