Genesis 41
There Was Bread
After two forgotten years in prison, Joseph is brought before Pharaoh, says that God and not he will give the answer, and is set over Egypt. He stores the grain of seven good years, and when the famine comes, “in all the land of Egypt there was bread.”
Start reading Background
Joseph has been in Egypt about thirteen years. He was seventeen when his brothers sold him (Gen. 37:2) and is thirty when he stands before Pharaoh (verse 46). In between he served in Potiphar’s house, was sent to prison on a false charge, and there interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s chief butler and baker (Gen. 39–40). The butler, restored to his office, “forgat him” (Gen. 40:23), and chapter 41 opens two years later. It is the turning point of the story: the forgotten prisoner ends the chapter ruling Egypt.
The Bible Dictionary counts this Pharaoh among the Hyksos. They were “a group of Egyptianized Semites” who came to rule Egypt, and on one dating Joseph belongs to the time when they “began to take control of all of Egypt, in about 1650 BC.” The setting fits the story, but “we have no way of proving or disproving this hypothesis.”
Later scripture returns to this chapter. A psalm says of Joseph’s release, “The king sent and loosed him” (Ps. 105:20), and Stephen says that God “gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Acts 7:10). The two sons born in verses 50–52 became the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and “one portion of Joseph’s descendants came to America about 600 B.C. and established two great peoples.”
The chapter has seven parts: the dreams (verses 1–8), the butler (9–16), the interpretation (17–32), Joseph’s counsel (33–36), his rise (37–46), the plenteous years and two sons (47–52), and the famine (53–57).
The thread through the chapter
Genesis 41 keeps asking who is doing this, and keeps answering God. The dreams are Pharaoh’s, but it is God who has “shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do” (verses 25, 28). The wise men of Egypt cannot read them (verse 8), the butler can only remember a prisoner (9–13), and Joseph, hurried out of the dungeon, begins by saying, “It is not in me” (16). By the end of the chapter Elohim, “God,” has been named nine times, even in the names Joseph gives his sons (51–52), and the name Jehovah does not occur at all.
A second line runs beside it: forgetting. The butler “forgat” Joseph (40:23). The plenty “shall be forgotten” in the famine (verse 30). And God makes Joseph “forget” his toil (51). What turns the story is a man remembering at last (9).
God works through people who act. Joseph proposes a plan, Pharaoh puts him in charge, and the grain is gathered until it cannot be counted. When the famine comes, “in all the land of Egypt there was bread” (54), and Pharaoh sends a hungry people to the one man who has it: “Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do” (55).
Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.
Pharaoh’s two dreams
Two full years later, Pharaoh had a dream. He was standing by the Nile, and seven healthy, fat cows came up out of the river and fed in the meadow. Then seven other cows came up after them, ugly and thin, and stood beside the first cows on the bank. The ugly, thin cows ate the seven fat ones, and Pharaoh woke up. He fell asleep and dreamed a second time: seven plump, good ears of grain grew on one stalk, and seven thin ears, scorched by the east wind, sprang up after them. The thin ears swallowed the seven full ones, and Pharaoh woke and saw that it was a dream. In the morning his spirit was troubled. He sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt and told them his dream, but none of them could interpret it for him.
1 And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.
2 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.
3 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.
4 And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.
5 And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.
6 And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them.
7 And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.
8 And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
The butler remembers
Then the chief butler said to Pharaoh, “Today I remember my faults. When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, he put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard. We each had a dream the same night, and each dream had its own meaning. A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them, each according to his dream. And it turned out just as he said: I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”
Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they hurried him out of the dungeon. He shaved, changed his clothes, and came in before Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to him, “I have had a dream, and no one can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that you need only hear a dream to interpret it.” Joseph answered, “Not I. God will give Pharaoh an answer that is for his good.”
9 Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:
10 Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker:
11 And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.
12 And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret.
13 And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged.
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
15 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.
16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
The dreams told and interpreted
Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams. He stood on the bank of the river, and seven fat, good-looking cows came up out of it and fed in the meadow. Then seven other cows came up after them, poor, very ugly, and thin, such as he had never seen in all the land of Egypt. The thin, ugly cows ate the first seven fat ones, and when they had eaten them no one could tell that they had, for they looked as ugly as before. Then he woke. In his second dream he saw seven full, good ears on one stalk, and seven withered, thin ears, scorched by the east wind, that sprang up after them and swallowed the seven good ears. He had told the magicians, but no one could explain it to him.
Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. The seven thin, ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and so are the seven empty ears scorched by the east wind: they will be seven years of famine. This is what I have told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. Seven years of great plenty are coming throughout the land of Egypt. After them seven years of famine will come, and all the plenty will be forgotten in Egypt, and the famine will consume the land. The plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine that follows, for the famine will be very severe. The dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the matter is settled by God, and God will soon bring it about.”
17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
18 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
19 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
20 And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:
21 And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
22 And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:
23 And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
24 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.
25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26 The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.
27 And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.
28 This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.
29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.
32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
Joseph’s counsel
“Now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint officials over the land to take a fifth of the produce of Egypt during the seven years of plenty. Let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under Pharaoh’s authority, to be kept as food in the cities. This food will be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that will come on Egypt, so that the land will not perish in the famine.”
33 Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
36 And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
Joseph set over Egypt
The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants. Pharaoh said to them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the Spirit of God?” He said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You will be over my house, and all my people will be ruled by your word. Only on the throne will I be greater than you. See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand. He dressed him in fine linen and hung a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in his second chariot, and men cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” (the Hebrew word is uncertain). So he set him over all Egypt. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without you no one will lift hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” He gave Joseph the name Zaphnath-paaneah and gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. He was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he left Pharaoh’s presence and went through all the land.
37 And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
44 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
45 And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnath-paaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.
46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
The plenteous years and two sons
In the seven years of plenty the land produced by the handful. Joseph gathered all the food of those seven years and stored it in the cities, putting in each city the food of the fields around it. He piled up grain like the sand of the sea, so much that he stopped counting, for it could not be counted.
Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.” The second he named Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.
48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.
49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.
50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him.
51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.
52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
The famine
The seven years of plenty in Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all Egypt there was bread. When all Egypt was hungry and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph, and do what he tells you.” The famine spread over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in Egypt. And all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all lands.
53 And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.
54 And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.
56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.
57 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.
Seeing Christ in Genesis 41
Joseph is brought hastily from the pit and, in one audience, set over a kingdom, and from there he feeds a famished world. Besides the bread (see the note on verse 54), the Church’s manuals draw the likeness to the Savior at three points in this chapter. Joseph began his work at thirty, as Jesus began His ministry (Gen. 41:46; Luke 3:23). Heralds cried “Bow the knee” before Joseph (Gen. 41:43), and all will bow the knee to Christ (D&C 88:104). And both “gave God the glory for the good things they did”: Joseph says, “It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace,” and Jesus says, “I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things” (John 8:28).
Worth exploring next
- The dreams fulfilled. Joseph’s brothers bow to him in Gen. 42:6 and Gen. 43:26–28, and he names God’s purpose in Gen. 45:5–8 and Gen. 50:20.
- What Egypt paid. Gen. 47:13–26 continues the famine story and the fifth.
- Ephraim before Manasseh. Gen. 48:13–20; D&C 133:26–34.
- Another interpreter before another king. Compare Joseph’s “It is not in me” with Dan. 2:27–30, and read Ps. 105:16–22.
- Joseph’s prophecy of a latter-day seer. 2 Ne. 3:4–22; Alma 46:23–27 on the remnant of Joseph’s coat.
- Egypt in the Joseph story. “Clothes and Cups: The Tangible World of Joseph,” in From Creation to Sinai (BYU Religious Studies Center), sets the story in its Egyptian material world.
Sources & further reading
- The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Westminster Leningrad Codex, with morphology, Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (OSHB), openscriptures/morphhb.
- Westminster Leningrad Codex (the Masoretic Hebrew text), Read in the Hebrew–English interlinear on Bible Hub.
- Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.
- Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Genesis, In Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.
- Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers: Genesis, Read on Bible Hub.
- Genesis 37–50: Joseph: The Power of Preparation, Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel (Church Educational System, 2003).
- Genesis 37–41, Scripture Helps: Old Testament (2025).
- Scripture Central, “Why Do the Details of the Joseph Story Matter?”, KnoWhy #842, Mar. 5, 2026.
- John Gee, “Clothes and Cups: The Tangible World of Joseph”, In From Creation to Sinai: The Old Testament through the Lens of the Restoration, ed. Daniel L. Belnap and Aaron P. Schade (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book), 425–46.
- Kerry Muhlestein, “Israel, Egypt, and Canaan”, In From Creation to Sinai: The Old Testament through the Lens of the Restoration, ed. Daniel L. Belnap and Aaron P. Schade (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book), 193–222.
- “Pharaoh”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Joseph”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Ephraim”, Bible Dictionary.
- “On”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Zaphnath-paaneah”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Dreams”, Bible Dictionary.
- Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Trans. William Whiston; online at penelope.uchicago.edu.
- Gordon B. Hinckley, “If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear”, general conference, Oct. 2005.
- W. Christopher Waddell, “There Was Bread”, general conference, Oct. 2020.
- Russell M. Nelson, “Remnants Gathered, Covenants Fulfilled”, Address at the Sperry Symposium, Oct. 11, 1997; in The Voice of My Servants: Apostolic Messages on Teaching, Learning, and Scripture, ed. Scott C. Esplin and Richard Neitzel Holzapfel (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), 181–98.
- “Similarities between Joseph of Egypt and Jesus Christ”, Liahona, Mar. 2022 (Come, Follow Me, Genesis 37–50).