Commentary for Genesis 41:27
וְשֶׁ֣בַע הַ֠פָּרוֹת הָֽרַקּ֨וֹת וְהָרָעֹ֜ת הָעֹלֹ֣ת אַחֲרֵיהֶ֗ן שֶׁ֤בַע שָׁנִים֙ הֵ֔נָּה וְשֶׁ֤בַע הַֽשִׁבֳּלִים֙ הָרֵק֔וֹת שְׁדֻפ֖וֹת הַקָּדִ֑ים יִהְי֕וּ שֶׁ֖בַע שְׁנֵ֥י רָעָֽב׃
And the seven lean and ill-favoured kine that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind; they shall be seven years of famine.
Ramban on Genesis
THEY SHALL BE SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE. Since plentifulness in the land of Egypt is not a great novelty since the country is as the garden of the Eternal,52Above, 13:10. Joseph first mentioned the interpretation concerning the bad events, for it was this that constituted the novelty and the purpose of the dream. G-d in His mercy showed the famine to Pharaoh to save life for a great deliverance.53See further, 45:7. This is the sense of the verse, And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said,54Verse 54 here. for the truth of Joseph’s words was not realized until the years of famine.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Or HaChaim on Genesis
יהיו שבע שני הרעב, "there will be seven years of famine." The reason that Joseph did not describe the seven years of plenty as such in verse twenty six was simply that even during the present period food was plentiful in Egypt. The great plenty that would characterise the next seven years was not such a contrast to the existing conditions. The only thing that was different was that the adjective גדול could be applied to those years of שבע (verse 29). Joseph stressed only what would be radically different from the present.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Radak on Genesis
ושבע הפרות הרקות, the word הרקות is again derived from רקיק, wafer, as on the previous occasions it was mentioned.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy