Genesis 47:9

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 47:1-12

Here is, I. The respect which Joseph, as a subject, showed to his prince. Though he was his favourite, and prime-minister of state, and had had particular orders from him to send for his father down to Egypt, yet he would not suffer him to settle till he had given notice of it to Pharaoh, Gen. 47:1. Christ, our Joseph, disposes of his followers in his kingdom as it is prepared of his Father, saying, It is not mine to give, Matt. 20:23. II. The respect which Joseph, as a brother, showed to his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 47:9

Jacob said unto Pharaoh, the days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years ,.... He calls his life a "pilgrimage"; as every good man's is; they are not at home in their own country, they are seeking a better, even an heavenly one: Jacob's life was very emphatically and literally a pilgrimage; he first dwelt in Canaan, from thence he removed to Padanaram, and sojourned there awhile, and then came to Canaan again; for some time he dwelt at Succoth, and then at Shechem,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 47:9

The days of the years of my pilgrimage - מגורי megurai , of my sojourning or wandering. Jacob had always lived a migratory or wandering life, in different parts of Canaan, Mesopotamia, and Egypt, scarcely ever at rest; and in the places where he lived longest, always exposed to the fatigues of the field and the desert. Our word pilgrim comes from the French pelerin and pelegrin , which are corrupted from the Latin peregrinus , an alien, stranger, or foreigner, from the adverb ... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 47:9

Verse 9 9.Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been. Jacob may here seem to complain that he had lived but a little while, and that, in this short space of time, he had endured many and grievous afflictions. Why does he not rather recount the great and manifold favors of God which formed an abundant compensation for every kind of evil? Besides, his complaint respecting the shortness of life seems unworthy of him; for why did he not deem a whole century and a third part of another... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 47:1-10

Jacob and his sons before Pharaoh. I. JOSEPH 'S BRETHREN BEFORE PHARAOH ( Genesis 47:1-6 ). 1. Their arrival announced ( Genesis 47:1 ). "My father and brethren are come out of the land of Canaan, and behold they are in the land of Goshen." 2. Their persons presented ( Genesis 47:2 ). "He took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. The import of this selection of five is explained in the exposition. 3. Their occupations declared ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 47:1-10

The presentation to Pharaoh. I. TESTIMONY TO POWER OF CHARACTER . Joseph's influence. The five brethren selected perhaps with a view to their appearance, and in the number five, which was regarded as a significant number among the Egyptians. The monarch's reception of the strangers due to Joseph's influence. Generally diffused. There is much graciousness in the heathen monarch, although partly to be ascribed to national characteristics, for the Egyptians were a very... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 47:8-9

And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou ?—literally, How many are the days of the years of thy life? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage (literally, of my sojournings, wanderings to and fro without any settled condition) are an hundred and thirty years . Since Joseph was now thirty-seven years of age ( Genesis 45:6 ), it is apparent that he was born in his father's ninety-first year; and since this event took place in the fourteenth year of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 47:9

The discipline of life. Few and evil, yet 130 years; and how many blessings temporal and spiritual had been received during their course. We need not suppose him unthankful. But blessings do not of themselves make a man happy. Some worm may be at the root. And in Jacob's case early faults cast a shadow over his whole life. The remembrance of early deceit, his natural shrinking from danger, his family cares, his mourning for Rachel ( Genesis 48:7 ) and for Joseph, gave a tinge of... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 47:1-31

- Jacob in Goshen11. רעמסס ra‛mesês, Ra‘meses “son of the sun.”31. מטה mı̂ṭṭāh, “bed.” מטה maṭṭeh “staff.”Arrangements are now made for the settlement of Israel in Goshen. The administration of Joseph during the remaining years of the famine is then recorded. For the whole of this period his father and brothers are subject to him, as their political superior, according to the reading of his early dreams. We then approach to the death-bed of Jacob, and hear him binding Joseph by an oath to... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 47:9

Genesis 47:9. Observe, 1st, Jacob calls his life a pilgrimage, looking upon himself as a stranger in this world, and a traveller toward another. He reckoned himself not only a pilgrim now he was in Egypt, a strange country in which he never was before, but his life, even in the land of his nativity, was a pilgrimage. 2d, He reckoned his life by days; for even so it is soon reckoned; and we are not sure of the continuance of it for a day to an end, but may be turned out of this... read more

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