John Calvin Commentary Genesis 41:1

"And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river." — Genesis 41:1 (ASV)

At the end of two full years. What anxiety oppressed the mind of the holy man during this time, each of us can conjecture from his own feeling; for we are so delicate and lacking in fortitude that we can hardly bear to be delayed for even a short time. The Lord tested His servant not only by a prolonged delay but also by another kind of trial, because He took all human grounds for hope away from him. Therefore, Moses uses the phrase “years of days” to signify complete and full years.

To better understand the invincible nature of his fortitude, we must also notice that winding course of divine providence, of which I have spoken, and by which Joseph was led about, until he came to the king’s notice. In the king’s dream, first, it is worth observing that God sometimes deigns to present His oracles even to unbelieving and profane men.

It was certainly a singular honor to be instructed about an event still fourteen years in the future. For indeed, the will of God was manifested to Pharaoh, just as if he had been taught by the word, except that its interpretation had to be sought elsewhere. And although God intends His word especially for the Church, yet it should not be considered absurd that He sometimes admits even outsiders into His school, though for a lesser purpose.

The doctrine which leads to the hope of eternal life belongs to the Church; while the children of this world are only taught, incidentally, concerning the state of the present life. If we observe this distinction, we will not wonder that some oracles are common to profane and pagan men, though the Church possesses the spiritual doctrine of life as the treasure of its own inheritance.

That another dream followed the former arose from two causes: for God both intended to rouse Pharaoh’s mind to more diligent inquiry and to add more light to a vision that was obscure. In short, He follows the same course in this dream as He does in His usual method; for He repeats a second time what He has previously delivered, and sometimes inculcates it still more frequently, not only so that the doctrine may penetrate more deeply into people’s hearts and thus affect them more powerfully, but also so that He may make it more familiar to their minds.

That by the second dream God intended to illustrate more fully what was obscure in the first is apparent from the fact that the figure used was more appropriate to the subject revealed. At first, Pharaoh saw fat cows devoured by lean ones. This did not so clearly prefigure the seven years of abundance and as many years of scarcity in grain and other seeds, as the vision of the ears of grain did. For the analogy, in the latter case, corresponds better with what was represented.