Genesis 47:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.”

NIV: And Jacob said to Pharaoh, 'The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.'

NASB: So Jacob said to Pharaoh, 'The years of my living abroad are 130; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their living abroad.'

CSB: Jacob said to Pharaoh, "My pilgrimage has lasted 130 years. My years have been few and hard, and they have not reached the years of my ancestors during their pilgrimages."

NLT: Jacob replied, 'I have traveled this earth for 130 hard years. But my life has been short compared to the lives of my ancestors.'

KJV: And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

NKJV: And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”

Jacob, the patriarch of Israel, is meeting Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. At this point in their history, the Pharaoh is Jacob's benefactor (Genesis 45:16–20). Pharaoh's offer of a place for Jacob's family to settle during the famine will mean the difference between life and death for them (Genesis 47:4–6).

Modern readers can easily miss the contrast between Jacob's interview with Pharaoh and how others interact with the king of Egypt. This conversation is not nearly so formal as others recorded in Genesis. Jacob does not address himself as Pharaoh's servant, as his sons did. He speaks openly, even negatively, about his own life. Pharaoh seems to treat Joseph's aged father with great respect. Given his esteem for Joseph, this comes as no surprise (Genesis 41:44).

Pharaoh has asked Jacob his age. Jacob now responds with the somewhat dramatic negative language that has become characteristic of his later years (Genesis 37:35; 42:36; 43:14). He reports that he has spent his 130 years as a "sojourner." This term implies someone who is wandering, traveling, or never fully settled in any one place (Hebrews 11:13). He describes those years as "few and evil" and much shorter than the lives of his fathers. We all get to decide how we will tell the story of our lives, both to ourselves and to others. Jacob, for now, seem to choose a pessimistic view.

Everything Jacob says is true, of course. He has lived on the road and on the run for most of his life. While clearly guilty of sins of his own (Genesis 25:31; 27:19), he has been cheated, mistreated, and betrayed by his own family (Genesis 29:25; 30:33–36). A daughter was raped (Genesis 34:1–2), a beloved wife died (Genesis 35:19), and her son was thought to have been killed by a wild animal (Genesis 37:31–33). He feels himself on the brink of death, some 50 younger than his own father died. This, apparently, is the story Jacob tells of his life.

He could have given another perspective on the same events. Jacob has also been greatly blessed by the Lord. He escaped the brother who wished to kill him (Genesis 33:4). He became enormously wealthy at the expense of a father-in-law who tried to cheat him (Genesis 30:43). He was given 12 sons and dozens of grandchildren (Genesis 35:23–26). His lost son Joseph was restored to him (Genesis 45:27–28), and his family was saved from the brink of starvation. Above all, he carried the powerful promises of the God of the universe, as his fathers had done before him (Genesis 35:9–12).

Genesis 47 begins with Pharaoh interviewing Joseph's brothers and father before granting their request to settle in the region of Goshen in Egypt. Just as Joseph had hoped, his family is secure. The rest of the people of Egypt and Canaan are not. Most run out of money and can no longer buy food from Joseph. On Pharaoh's behalf, Joseph trades food for their livestock and then their land and even their freedom. Nearly all people will be required to pay to Pharaoh 20 percent of their harvest each year from this time forward. After several years, Jacob asks Joseph to swear that he will bury Jacob's body with his fathers in Canaan.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.