471 And Joseph cometh, and declareth to Pharaoh, and saith, 'My father, and my brethren, and their flock, and their herd, and all they have, have come from the land of Canaan, and lo, they 'are' in the land of Goshen.' 2 And out of his brethren he hath taken five men, and setteth them before Pharaoh; 3 and Pharaoh saith unto his brethren, 'What 'are' your works?' and they say unto Pharaoh, 'Thy servants 'are' feeders of a flock, both we and our fathers;' 4 and they say unto Pharaoh, 'To sojourn in the land we have come, for there is no pasture for the flock which thy servants have, for grievous 'is' the famine in the land of Canaan; and now, let thy servants, we pray thee, dwell in the land of Goshen.' 5 And Pharaoh speaketh unto Joseph, saying, 'Thy father and thy brethren have come unto thee: 6 the land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land cause thy father and thy brethren to dwell—they dwell in the land of Goshen, and if thou hast known, and there are among them men of ability, then thou hast set them heads over the cattle I have.' 7 And Joseph bringeth in Jacob his father, and causeth him to stand before Pharaoh; and Jacob blesseth Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh saith unto Jacob, 'How many 'are' the days of the years of thy life?' 9 And Jacob saith unto Pharaoh, 'The days of the years of my sojournings 'are' an hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of their sojournings.' 10 And Jacob blesseth Pharaoh, and goeth out from before Pharaoh. 11 And Joseph settleth his father and his brethren, and giveth to them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh commanded;
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 47:1-11
Commentary on Genesis 47:1-6
(Read Genesis 47:1-6)
Though Joseph was a great man, especially in Egypt, yet he owned his brethren. Let the rich and great in the world not overlook or despise poor relations. Our Lord Jesus is not ashamed to call us brethren. In answer to Pharaoh's inquiry, What is your calling? they told him that they were shepherds, adding that they were come to sojourn in the land for a time, while the famine prevailed in Canaan. Pharaoh offered to employ them as shepherds, provided they were active men. Whatever our business or employment is, we should aim to excel in it, and to prove ourselves clever and industrious.
Commentary on Genesis 47:7-12
(Read Genesis 47:7-12)
With the gravity of old age, the piety of a true believer, and the authority of a patriarch and a prophet, Jacob besought the Lord to bestow a blessing upon Pharaoh. He acted as a man not ashamed of his religion; and who would express gratitude to the benefactor of himself and his family. We have here a very uncommon answer given to a very common question. Jacob calls his life a pilgrimage; the sojourning of a stranger in a foreign country, or his journey home to his own country. He was not at home upon earth; his habitation, his inheritance, his treasures were in heaven. He reckons his life by days; even by days life is soon reckoned, and we are not sure of the continuance of it for a day. Let us therefore number our days. His days were few. Though he had now lived one hundred and thirty years, they seemed but a few days, in comparison with the days of eternity, and the eternal state. They were evil; this is true concerning man. He is of few days and full of trouble; since his days are evil, it is well they are few. Jacob's life had been made up of evil days. Old age came sooner upon him than it had done upon some of his fathers. As the young man should not be proud of his strength or beauty, so the old man should not be proud of his age, and his hoary hairs, though others justly reverence them; for those who are accounted very old, attain not to the years of the patriarchs. The hoary head is only a crown of glory, when found in the way of righteousness. Such an answer could not fail to impress the heart of Pharaoh, by reminding him that worldly prosperity and happiness could not last long, and was not enough to satisfy. After a life of vanity and vexation, man goes down into the grave, equally from the throne as the cottage. Nothing can make us happy, but the prospect of an everlasting home in heaven, after our short and weary pilgrimage on earth.