Join The Daily Bible Challenge to read through the entire Bible in one year!
Join the Daily Bible Challenge!
Three easy steps to participate:
1. Purchase The Daily Bible. The best price is online, but it is also available at local Christian bookstores. I recommend hardcover.
2. Read the daily reading.
3. Optional: Return to this site to discuss the readings (consider bookmarking this site so you can easily find it each day).
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Significance of Single Stalk?
In Pharaoh's dream about the stalks of grain, what is the significance of the seven full heads of grain growing on a single stalk versus the seven withered and thin heads being on individual stalks?
It seems the Kretzmann and Franzman disagree with each other here. Commenting on v. 6 Kretzman says "This was not a single stalk, as before, but seven individual thin stalks." Franzman says "seven thin, scorched heads sprouted from the same stalk."
As I read it, I think they all sprout from the same stalk. Don't know if it's significant or not. I could see the stalk representing the land which will yeild 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine.
I posed the question to a theologian, and he confessed that he had never really taken note of this, but that it probably does not have much significance since the stalks are analagous to the thin cows/fat cows, reinforcing the idea. He suggested that a healthy stalk would produce more flowers whereas an unhealthy one would not, would be wispy, so that is a possible explanation for why they are described this way.
It seems the Kretzmann and Franzman disagree with each other here. Commenting on v. 6 Kretzman says "This was not a single stalk, as before, but seven individual thin stalks." Franzman says "seven thin, scorched heads sprouted from the same stalk."
ReplyDeleteAs I read it, I think they all sprout from the same stalk. Don't know if it's significant or not. I could see the stalk representing the land which will yeild 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine.
Yeah, it kind of jumps out at you but maybe it's not meant to be significant.
ReplyDeleteI posed the question to a theologian, and he confessed that he had never really taken note of this, but that it probably does not have much significance since the stalks are analagous to the thin cows/fat cows, reinforcing the idea. He suggested that a healthy stalk would produce more flowers whereas an unhealthy one would not, would be wispy, so that is a possible explanation for why they are described this way.
ReplyDeleteVery helpful!
ReplyDelete