Matthew Henry Commentary Genesis 47:7-12

"And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How many are the days of the years of thy life? 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. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father`s household, with bread, according to their families." — Genesis 47:7-12 (ASV)

With the seriousness of old age, the piety of a true believer, and the authority of a patriarch and a prophet, Jacob entreated the Lord to bestow a blessing on Pharaoh. He acted as a man not ashamed of his religion, and who wished to 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 on earth; his dwelling place, his inheritance, his treasures were in heaven. He counts his life by days; even in days, life is quickly counted, and we are not sure that it will continue for even a day.

Let us therefore number our days. His days were few. Though he had now lived one hundred and thirty years, they seemed like only a few days in comparison with the days of eternity and the eternal state. They were evil; this is true for mankind. He is of few days and full of trouble; since his days are evil, it is good that they are few.

Jacob's life had been made up of evil days. Old age came sooner on him than it had on some of his forefathers. 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 gray hairs, though others rightly respect them; for those who are considered very old do not reach the years of the patriarchs. The hoary head is only a crown of glory, when found in the way of righteousness.

Such an answer was sure to impress 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, people go down into the grave, whether from the throne or the cottage. Nothing can make us happy except the prospect of an everlasting home in heaven after our short and weary pilgrimage on earth.