Ramban, on Gen 41:4

“And they devoured them, whose bodies were very beautiful and well conditioned. So Pharao awoke.”

“AND THE COWS ATE UP. In my opinion 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, And the food shall serve as a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine, as he saw that the healthy cows and ears of corn were absorbed by the lean ones. This was no mere counsel which Joseph proposed, for was he appointed to be a counselor of the king? It was only in connection with the interpretation of the dream that he said thus: And the plenty shall be forgotten, And the plenty shall not be known. 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, 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 forgotten is the interpretation of the eating itself., are the interpretation of the aspect of the dream expressed by: It could not be known that they had eaten them up.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.

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