Комментарий к Берешит 41:4

ותאכלנה AND THEY ATE — indicating that all the joy occasioned by the years of plenty would be forgotten in the days of famine.

AND THE COWS ATE UP. In my opinion²⁶Ramban’s interpretation differs from Rashi, who writes that the eating up of the fat by the lean indicates that all joy occasioned by the years of plenty would be forgotten in the days of the famine. His own opinion is presented in the text. this is a sign that the years of famine shall consume the years of plenty. It is from this that Joseph inferred that he should tell Pharaoh, And let them store up all the food of those good years,²⁷Verse 35 here. And the food shall serve as a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine,²⁸Verse 36 here. as he saw that the healthy cows and ears of corn were absorbed by the lean ones.²⁹The fact that the fat ones were absorbed by the lean ones was a sign to Joseph that the food from the seven years of plenty should be kept as a reserve for the years of famine. This was no mere counsel which Joseph proposed, for was he appointed to be a counselor of the king?³⁰See II Chronicles 25:16. It was only in connection with the interpretation of the dream that he said thus: And the plenty shall be forgotten,³¹Verse 30 here. And the plenty shall not be known.³²Verse 31 here. These words of Joseph constitute the interpretation of: It could not be known that they had eaten them up, their appearance being bad as previously,³³Verse 21 here. for Joseph saw that by their consumption of the fat cows, the lean ones did not become fine and plump. They served them for subsistence only, for had they not eaten them they would have died in their lean state. This is unlike Rashi, who says that the plenty shall be forgotten³¹Verse 30 here. is the interpretation of the eating itself.³⁴But according to Ramban, Joseph’s words, And the plenty shall be forgotten, are the interpretation of the aspect of the dream expressed by: It could not be known that they had eaten them up.

ויקץ פרעה, ויישן (מיד) ויחלום, normally when a person has dreamt a dream and has woken up going to sleep again thereafter, any dream during the second sleep will focus on another subject. As a result, he is not even aware yet that that he had completed his first sleep and had become wholly awake. Pharaoh, on the other hand, was immediately fully awake, even before going back to sleep and having another dream. Only after his second awakening did he realise that the whole vivid pictures he had seen while asleep were not reality but were a dream. (verse 7)

ותאכלנה, this is the explanation of the strange behaviour of the seven lean cows, i.e. that during the seven years of famine the seven good years of plenty would be absorbed as if they had never existed. No trace would remain of the seven good years.

Symbolizing that all the joy of the abundant years will be forgotten. Rashi is answering the question: The cows’ eating can be understood in two ways. Either that the joy will be forgotten in the hunger years, or that there will be food to eat in the hunger years, which is a good sign. How do we know which it is? Thus Rashi explains: “Symbolizing that all the joy... will be forgotten.” This [i.e., Rashi’s] explanation is right, [despite Ramban’s objections] — for later on, we see clearly that Yoseif explained it so. Maharshal explains that Rashi [knows this because he] is answering the question: Why does it say the cows “ate”? It should say they “swallowed up” (ותבלענה), because the term “ate” is not normally used to describe one animal consuming another. Thus Rashi explains: “Symbolizing that all the joy... will be forgotten.”

וייקץ פרעה, die Erscheinung der schlechten Kühe erschreckte ihn so, dass er erwachte, aber nicht zum wachen Bewusstsein kam, sondern weiter schlief und träumte. קוץ und יקץ synonym, wie טוב und קוץ .יטב: übersatt werden, Ekel haben. Im Schlafe regeneriert sich der Körper, und wenn er genug hat, "übersatt geworden" dann erwacht er. Das gewöhnliche Erwachen wird im Hebräischen schön durch eine aktive Tätigkeit, הקיץ: ausgedrückt. Im Schlafe tritt der Geist zurück und lässt den Körper an den Brüsten des Schlafes "saugen", — sleep chief nourisher in lifes feast — wenn er genug gesogen hat, dann schüttelt der Geist ihn von der Brust des Schlafes ab: הקיץ. —

ויקץ פרעה, Pharaoh awoke (at this point) in order to let the message of the dream sink into his consciousness before he would be told of the second half of his dream. The two parts should not be mixed up, and to be understood as a single event.