Genesis 47:8

8 and he was asked of the king (and the king asked him), How many be the days of the years of thy life?

Genesis 47:8 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 47:8

And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, how old [art] thou?
] Or, "how many are the days of the years of thy life?" which way of speaking Jacob takes up, and very pertinently makes use of in his answer that follows: Dr. Lightfoot ^F13 thinks Pharaoh had never seen so old a man before, so grave a head, and so grey a beard, and in admiration asked this question.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 Works, vol. 1. p. 667.

Genesis 47:8 In-Context

6 the land of Egypt is in thy sight; make thou them to dwell in the best place, and give thou to them the land of Goshen; that if thou knowest that witting men be in them, ordain them masters of my beasts. (the land of Egypt is before thee; have them live in the best place, and so give them the land of Goshen; and if thou knowest that knowledgeable men be among them, ordain them to be masters of my beasts.)

7 After these things Joseph brought in his father to the king, and set him before the king, and he blessed the king;

8 and he was asked of the king (and the king asked him), How many be the days of the years of thy life?

9 And he answered, The days of [the] pilgrimage of my life be few and evil, of an hundred and thirty years, and those have not come to the days of my fathers, in which they were pilgrims. (And he answered, The days of my life's wanderings be but few and far between, yea, only a hundred and thirty years, and they have not even come close to the number of days that my fathers had.)

10 And when Jacob had blessed the king (again), he went out.