Genesis 47:7

7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

Genesis 47:7 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 47:7

And Joseph brought in Jacob his father
That is, some time after he had introduced his five brethren, and had gotten the grant of Goshen for them, when he sent, for his father from thence, or he came quickly after to Tanis or Memphis, where Pharaoh's court was: and set him before Pharaoh;
presented Jacob to him, and placed his father right before Pharaoh, perhaps in a chair, or on a seat, by Pharaoh's order, because of his age, and in honour to him: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh;
wished him health and happiness, prayed for his welfare, and gave him thanks for all his kindness to him and his; and he blessed him not only in a way of civility, as was usual when men came into the presence of princes, but in an authoritative way, as a prophet and patriarch, a man divinely inspired of God, and who had great power in prayer with him: the Targum of Jonathan gives us his prayer thus,

``may it be the pleasure (i.e. of God) that the waters of the Nile may be filled, and that the famine may remove from the world in thy days.''

Genesis 47:7 In-Context

5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.

6 The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen; and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my cattle."

7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many are the days of the years of your life?"

9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my sojourning are a 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 sojourning."