פּירוש אויף בראשית 41:27

יהיו שבע שני רעב, “will be seven years of famine.” Joseph started with the prediction of the famine first, as he wanted to show him the problem before revealing the solution.

יהיו שבע שני רעב, “will be seven consecutive years of famine.” The word יהיו should be understood as a prayer by Joseph, who was aware that actually 42 years of famine had been decreed for Egypt. How did Joseph know this? You will note that the number שבע appeared in Pharaoh’s dream 6 times. Twice seven when Pharaoh had the dream, once with the cows, once with the ears of corn. The same was repeated when he related his dream to his interpreters. It was repeated again when he related the dream to Joseph. Joseph’s prayer achieved that the 42 years which had been decreed were shrunk to only seven years. The arrival of Joseph’s father Yaakov in Egypt and his blessing to Pharaoh reduced the famine further so that it lasted only two years. The 40 years that were chopped off the decree did not disappear but were “paid back” to Egypt in later years as we know from Jeremiah that Egypt experienced 40 years of total drought predicted by that prophet. (Ezekiel 29,9 and 12)

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.