The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 515

\vas the common name for the Nile a.mong pointed to the corn of the Nile valley, the the E~tia.ns, the sacred being HO!pi (Ca.non truicumcompositum, which bears seven ears Cook m 'Speaker's Commentary,' p. 485). upon one stalk. The assertion of Herodotus, Ver. 2.-And, behold, there ea.me up out of t~at the Egyptians counted it a disgrace to the river seven well-favoured kine and fa.t- live on wheat and barley (ii. 36), Wilkiuson 11.eehed. According to Pluta.rch and Clement regards as incorrect, since "both wheat and of Alexandria., the heifer wa.s regarded by the barley are noticed in Lower Egypt long ancient Egyptians as e. symbol of the earth, before Her?d~tus' time (Exod. ix. 31, 32), agriculture, and the nourishment derived and the pamtmgs of the Thebaid prove that therefrom. It was therefore natural that the they were grown extensively in that part of succession of seven prosperous years should !he country ; they were a'!long the offerings be represented by seven thriving cows. That m the temples ; and the kmg, at his corona- they appeared ascending from the river is tion, cutting some ears of wheat, afterwards explained by the circumstance that the Nile offered to the gods as the staple production by its annual inundations is the ea.use of of Egypt, shows how great a value was set Egypt's fertility (cf. Hiivemick, • Introd.,' on a grain which Herodotus would lead us § 21). A hymn to the Nile, composed by to suppose was held in abhorrenco" (Raw- Euna. (according to the generality of Egypto- linson's • Herodotus,' vol. ii. p. 49). logers a contemporary of Moses), and tnms- Ver. 6.-And, behold, seven thin ears latcd from a. papyrus in the British Museum and blasted with the east wind sprung up by Canon Cook (who ascribes to it an earlier after them-literally, hum!, up of the eait, date than the nineteenth dynasty), describes C'7i? being put poetically for the fuller the Nile as "overflowing the gardens created C'ii? IJ-17. It has been urged that this dis- by Ra., ... giving life to all animals, ... plays a gross ignorance of the nature of the watering the land without ceasing ... Lover climate in Egypt (Bohlen), since a wind of food, bestower of corn . . . Bringer of directly east is rare in Egypt, and when it food I Great Lord of provisions ! Cree.tor of docs occur ill not injurious to vegetation ; all good things ! '' (vide • Records of the Pe.st,' but, on the other hand, it is open to reply vol. iv. pp. 107, 108). And they fed in a. (1) that direct east winds may be rare in mea.dow-lnl$f, iv r,;" Ax.11 (LXX.), literally, Egypt, but so are dearth and famine such as in the Nile or reed grass. The word ~nis thnt described in the narrative equally ex- appears to be an Egyptian tenn descriptive of ceptional (Kalisch); (2) that the Hebrews any herbage growing in a. stream. It occurs ho.ving only nnmes to describe the four prin- only here and in ver. 18, and Job viii. 11. cipal winds, the kaclim might comprise any Ver. 3.-And, behold, seven other kine wind blowing from on easterly direction came up after them out of the river, ill- (Hengstenberg) ; and (3) that the south-cast favoured and lea.n-11.eshed. The second wind, "blowing in the months of Ilforch and seven cows, "evil to look upon,'' i. c. bad in April, is one of the most injurious winrls, appenrance, and "thin (beaten small, dakotli, and of longest continuance" (Ho.vcrnic~. from dakak, to crush or beat small) of flesh,'' Hengstenberg quotes Ukert as saying, "As also proceeded from the rh·er, since a failure long as the south-enst wind continues, doors in the periodico.l overflow of the Nile we.s nnd windows nre closed ; but. the fine dust the usulll cause of scarcity nnd famine in penetmtes everywhere; everything dries up; Egypt. And stood by the other kine upon wooden vessels warp nnd crack. The ther, the brink of the river. The use of the term mometer rises suddenly from 16° 20', up to lip,n~r;,. for brink, common enough in He- 30° 36°, and even 38°, Rcaumur. This wind works destrnction upon everything. The brew (eh. xxil. 17: E.x:od. xiv. 30: 1 Kings v. 9), occurs also in a papyrus of the nine- grass withers so that it entirely perishes if teenth dynasty, "I sat down by the lip of this wind blows Ion~" (' Egypt aml tho the river,'' which appears to suggest the im- Books of Moses,' p. l0J. pression tho.t the verse in the text was written Ver. 7.-And the seven thin ears devoured hy one who was equally fe.milio.r with both the seven rank (i. e. fat) o.nd full ears. And languages (Canon Cook in • Speaker's Com• Pharaoh a.woke, and, behold, it was a. dream mentary ,' p. 485). -manifestly of the same import ns that Ver. 4.-And the ill-favoured and lean- which had preceded. The dream was doubled 11.eshed kine did eat up the seven well- because of its certainty and nearness (ver. 32). favoured and fat kine-without there being Ver. 8.-And it oama to pass in the any effect to show that they had ea.ten them morning that his spirit was troubled;- (ver. 21). So (literally, and) Phare.oh a.woke. or, rnther, his mind was agitated, haptix9'1 Ver. 5.-And he slept and dreamed the ~ x11x,} auTou (LXX. ), pavorB perterritu, seoond time (that same night) : and, behold, (Vulge.te), the ruach being the seat of tha seven ears of oorn oa.me up upon one stalk, senses, affections, and emotions of various rank (i. e. fat) a.11cl good. Thill clearly kinds (cf. Dan. ii. l ; iv. 5, 19)-aud ha  462 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. [CB. XLI. 1-46,