Genesis 47:9

Genesis 47:9

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.

a. NASB 1995: So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty; 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 sojourning.”  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. 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.”  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Amplified Bible: Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. Few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, and they have not reached the years that my fathers lived during the days of their pilgrimage.”  [AMPLIFIED BIBLE 2015 AMP Amplified Bible Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.]

d. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: Jacob answered Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourns have been a hundred and thirty years. Few and bad have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the life spans of my forefathers in the days of their sojourns. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

e. 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.”  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years…” 

a. [And] Jacob [Strong: 3290 Yaʻăqôb, yah-ak-obe'; from H6117; heel-catcher (i.e. supplanter); Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarch:—Jacob.]

b. said [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

c. unto [Strong: 413 ʼêl, ale; (but used only in the shortened constructive form אֶל ʼel, el); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:—about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because (-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in (-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to (-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with (-in).]

d. Pharaoh [Strong: 6547 Parʻôh, par-o'; of Egyptian derivation; Paroh, a general title of Egyptian kings:—Pharaoh.]

e. [The] days [Strong: 3117 yôwm, yome; from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb):—age, always, chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), elder, × end, evening, (for) ever(-lasting, -more), × full, life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, old, outlived, perpetually, presently, remaineth, × required, season, × since, space, then, (process of) time, as at other times, in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), × whole ( age), (full) year(-ly), younger.]

f. [of the] years [Strong: 8141 shâneh, shaw-neh'; (in plural or (feminine) שָׁנָה shânâh; from H8138; a year (as a revolution of time):— whole age, × long, old, year(× -ly).]

g. [of my] pilgrimage [Strong: 4033 mâgûwr, maw-goor'; or מָגֻר mâgur; from H1481 in the sense of lodging; a temporary abode; by extension, a permanent residence:—dwelling, pilgrimage, where sojourn, be a stranger.]

h. [are a] hundred [Strong: 3967 mêʼâh, may-aw'; or מֵאיָה mêʼyâh; properly, a primitive numeral a hundred; also as a multiplicative and a fraction:—hundred((-fold), -th), sixscore.]

i. [and] thirty [Strong: 7970 shᵉlôwshîym, shel-o-sheem'; or שְׁלֹשִׁים shᵉlôshîym; multiple of H7969; thirty; or (ordinal) thirtieth:—thirty, thirtieth.

j. years [Strong: 8141 shâneh, shaw-neh'; (in plural or (feminine) שָׁנָה shânâh; from H8138; a year (as a revolution of time):— whole age, × long, old, year(× -ly).]

1). This is a time marker. Much can be learned from these seemingly insignificant details. 

a).  As stated in Gen 47:28, Jacob died 147 years old and he lived 17 years in Egypt. Now, Joseph was 30 years old "when he stood before Pharaoh" (Gen 41:46). At that time, speaking about the matter of the years of plenty and of famine, he said that "God will shortly bring it to pass" (Gen 41:32). Thus, it is assumed here that the following year was the first year of plenty. As written in Gen 41:29-30, there were 7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine. There were 5 years of famine left when Joseph called Jacob into Egypt (Gen 45:6,11). So Joseph was about 30+7+(7-5) = 39 years old when Jacob came to Egypt at 130. So Jacob was about 91 years old when Joseph was born. As we read in Gen 37:3, Joseph was a "son of his old age". While Benjamin was younger than Joseph, he was just a little child at the time of Gen 37:3, when Jacob regarded Joseph as a son of his old age. This will be shown later in this article. Now, after Joseph was born, Jacob asked Laban that he be allowed to leave (Gen 30:25). He did not leave at that time, but he spent a total of 20 years with Laban (Gen 31:38,41): 14 years for his wives and 6 for his sheep and cattle (Gen 31:41). The time of Gen 30:25 must be after the first 14 years. This would imply that Jacob came to Padan-aram when he was 91-14 = 77 years old. Then, this would imply that Isaac was about 137 years old at that time (Gen 25:26), which would agree with the fact that Isaac was physically weak (Gen 27:1) and that he was thought to be somewhat close to death (Gen 27:41). Note that Isaac lived 180 years (Gen 35:28). Thus, Jacob was about 120 years old when Isaac died. Joseph was about 29 years old at that time. http://hiswordsarepure.com/TheLifeOfJacob.htm 

2. “...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.”

a. few [Strong: 4592 mᵉʻaṭ, meh-at'; or מְעָט mᵉʻâṭ; from H4591; a little or few (often adverbial or comparative):—almost (some, very) few(-er, -est), lightly, little (while), (very) small (matter, thing), some, soon, × very.]

b. [and] evil [Strong: 7451 raʻ, rah; from H7489; bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral):—adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, displease(-ure), distress, evil((-favouredness), man, thing), + exceedingly, × great, grief(-vous), harm, heavy, hurt(-ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief(-vous), misery, naught(-ty), noisome, + not please, sad(-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked(-ly, -ness, one), worse(-st), wretchedness, wrong. (Including feminine raaah; as adjective or noun.)]

c. [have the] days [Strong: 3117 yôwm, yome; from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb):—age, always, chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), elder, × end, evening, (for) ever(-lasting, -more), × full, life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, old, outlived, perpetually, presently, remaineth, × required, season, × since, space, then, (process of) time, as at other times, in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), × whole ( age), (full) year(-ly), younger.]

d. [of the] years [Strong: 8141 shâneh, shaw-neh'; (in plural or (feminine) שָׁנָה shânâh; from H8138; a year (as a revolution of time):— whole age, × long, old, year(× -ly).]

e. [of my] life [Strong: 2416 chay, khah'-ee; from H2421; alive; hence, raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively:— age, alive, appetite, (wild) beast, company, congregation, life(-time), live(-ly), living (creature, thing), maintenance, merry, multitude, (be) old, quick, raw, running, springing, troop.]

f. been [Strong: 1961 hâyâh, haw-yaw; a primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):—beacon, × altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, × have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, × use.]

g. [and have] not [Strong: 3808 lôʼ, lo; or לוֹא lôwʼ; or לֹה lôh; (Deuteronomy 3:11), a primitive particle; + not (the simple or abstract negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles:—× before, + or else, ere, + except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (× as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, + of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.]

h. attained [Strong: 5381 nâsag, naw-sag'; a primitive root; to reach (literally or figuratively):—ability, be able, attain (unto), (be able to, can) get, lay at, put, reach, remove, wax rich, × surely, (over-) take (hold of, on, upon).]

i. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

j. [unto the] days [Strong: 3117 yôwm, yome; from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb):—age, always, chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), elder, × end, evening, (for) ever(-lasting, -more), × full, life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, old, outlived, perpetually, presently, remaineth, × required, season, × since, space, then, (process of) time, as at other times, in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), × whole ( age), (full) year(-ly), younger.]

k. [of the] years [Strong: 8141 shâneh, shaw-neh'; (in plural or (feminine) שָׁנָה shânâh; from H8138; a year (as a revolution of time):— whole age, × long, old, year(× -ly).]

l. [of the] life [Strong: 2416 chay, khah'-ee; from H2421; alive; hence, raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively:— age, alive, appetite, (wild) beast, company, congregation, life(-time), live(-ly), living (creature, thing), maintenance, merry, multitude, (be) old, quick, raw, running, springing, troop.]

m. [of my] fathers [Strong: 1 ʼâb, awb; a primitive word; father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application:—chief, (fore-) father(-less), × patrimony, principal.]

n. [in the] days [Strong: 3117 yôwm, yome; from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb):—age, always, chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), elder, × end, evening, (for) ever(-lasting, -more), × full, life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, old, outlived, perpetually, presently, remaineth, × required, season, × since, space, then, (process of) time, as at other times, in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), × whole ( age), (full) year(-ly), younger.]

o. [of their]  pilgrimage [Strong: 4033 mâgûwr, maw-goor'; or מָגֻר mâgur; from H1481 in the sense of lodging; a temporary abode; by extension, a permanent residence:—dwelling, pilgrimage, where sojourn, be a stranger.]