Genesis 41:17 Commentary and Bible Study

He remembers the dream clearly and adds more detail than was given in the original description, as if the imagery of the dream is still vividly before his eyes. He is not drawing on the words he spoke earlier, but going back to the original imagery, so fresh in his mind, and redescribing it in even more stark terms. He is reflecting on the features of the dreams himself and their meaning and trying to make sense of them. The great fear that came with the dreams is still with him, an impression of divine communication from the Lord, which makes the understanding of them a matter of urgency. He does not make any effort to hide his apprehension from Joseph – always a sign of deep fear, when the fear masters even the embarrassment of betraying that fear. As he relates the dream again to Joseph, Pharoah is struck by the lack of change in the ill favoured cows even after they had eaten up the well favoured. The point of this is obviously the severity of their condition and the difficulty of alleviating it. Cattle do not eat cattle, but given the exotic symbolism of dreams, and on the assumption that they do, one would have expected the ill favoured to have gained something more from eating the well favoured. But they are just as scrawny, and Joseph will draw out this feature of the dream in his interpretation.