Genesis 41
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Summary
Pharaoh has a dream of cattle and grain in the field. Joseph is brought out of prison to serve the pharaoh, and interprets his dream to mean that there will be seven years of plenty and then seven years of famine in the land. He recommends to the pharaoh that they begin to store up grain. Pharaoh makes Joseph a king in his house, and Joseph is married to Asenath. Asenath conceives and bares Ephraim and Manasseh. The famine arrives, and Joseph sells wheat to the inhabitants of the land.
Commentary
Bible Central Commentary
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Historical Commentaries
Many of the commentaries below are in the public domain and were authored over 100 years ago. In many cases, they do not reflect the findings of modern scholarship, but they may be helpful for understanding the history of biblical scholarship.
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Historical Settings
Time
*All Dates Are Approximate, according to the narrative of the Bible. These dates may reflect literary significance as opposed to the precise dates of history.
See Biblical Chronology- 1886 BC*
Further Reading
Book of Mormon Central, “Why Did Abinadi Warn the People of an East Wind? (Mosiah 12:6–7),” KnoWhy 560 (May 5, 2020).
Matthew L. Bowen and Loren Blake Spendlove, “’Thou Art the Fruit of My Loins’: The Interrelated Symbolism and Meanings of the Names Joseph and Ephraim in Ancient Scripture,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 28 (2018): 273–298.
Ryan C. Jenkins, “Quiet Slumber: Revelation through Dreams,” Religious Educator 12, no. 1 (2011): 73–89.
Joseph Fielding McConkie, “Joseph of Egypt: Joseph, Son of Jacob,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., ed. Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1992), 2:760–761.
Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible
Matthew Henry (1706)
Commentary on the Bible
Adam Clarke (1831)
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable
Thomas Constable
Rashi’s Commentary
Rashi (Shlomo Yitzchaki)
Notes on the Bible
Albert Barnes (1834)
Exposition of the Entire Bible
John Gill (1746–63)
Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch (1857–78)
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible
John Wesley (1754–65)