Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 47:9

"And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years: few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage." — Genesis 47:9 (ASV)

My pilgrimage. —Hebrew, my sojournings; and similarly at the end of the verse. The idea of a pilgrimage is a modern one. Even in 1 Peter 2:11, “pilgrim” means in Greek a stranger who has settled in a country of which he is not a native. Similarly, Jacob here was not a pilgrim, for he was not a traveler bound by religious motives to some distant shrine; rather, he was a sojourner, because Canaan was not the native land of his race.

Few and evil. —Evil certainly: for from the time he deceived his father, Jacob’s life had been one of great anxiety and care, in addition to his many sorrows. If he had gained wealth in Haran, it had been by great industry and personal toil, aggravated by Laban’s injustice. On his return, there was the double terror of Laban’s pursuit behind him and Esau’s menacing attitude before him. He had then been sick for a long time at Succoth, waiting until time healed his sprained hip. His entry into the promised land had been made miserable by his daughter’s dishonor and the fierce conduct of his sons.

And when his home was in sight, he had lost his beloved Rachel and, finally, had been compelled to remain at a distance from his father, because Esau was chief and paramount there. His father died, and Esau went away; but the ten years between Isaac’s death and the descent into Egypt had been years of mourning for Joseph’s loss. All these troubles had fallen upon him and made his days evil; but they were few only in comparison with those of his father and grandfather. In Pharaoh’s eyes, Jacob had lived beyond the usual span of human existence, but to himself, he seemed prematurely old. His end came after seventeen years of peaceful decline spent under Joseph’s loving care.

The land of Rameses. —See Note on Genesis 45:10. Although the Septuagint considers the “land of Rameses” equivalent to Goshen, it was more probably a special district of it, for, as we have seen, Goshen was a territory of vast extent. Raamses (Exodus 1:11) is the same word, though the Masoretes have given it different vowels; but whether such a town already existed then, or whether, when built, it took its name from the district, we cannot tell.

If such a place existed, it would have been at this period a poor village, consisting of a few shepherds’ huts. However, long afterward, in the days of King Rameses II, “it was the centre of a rich, fertile, and beautiful land, described as the abode of happiness, where all alike, rich and poor, lived in peace and plenty.” —Canon Cook, Excursus on Egyptian Words, p. 487. It therefore deserved its description as “the best of the land.”