The Meaning of Genesis 47:8 Explained

Genesis 47:8

KJV: And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?

YLT: And Pharaoh saith unto Jacob, 'How many are the days of the years of thy life?'

Darby: And Pharaoh said to Jacob, How many are the days of the years of thy life?

ASV: And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How many are the days of the years of thy life?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And Pharaoh  said  unto Jacob,  How  old  [art] thou? 

What does Genesis 47:8 Mean?

Context Summary

Genesis 47:1-12 - Pharaoh Welcome's Joseph's Relatives
What a meeting between father and son! If the old man were sitting in the corner of the lumbering wagon, weary with the long journey, how he must have started up when they said, "Joseph is coming!" What pathos there is in the expression, "wept a good while," as though the long-pent-up streams took a long time to exhaust themselves. Had Joseph been less noble he might have shrunk from introducing his lowly relatives to the mighty Pharaoh! But such thoughts were submerged in the great love which claimed that withered, aged, halting man as his father. Let us never be ashamed of our Savior, who has done more for us than even Jacob for his sons. This confession that the days of his pilgrimage had been few and evil is set to a sad minor chord; and to the superficial gaze Esau had enjoyed a much more prosperous career; but when Jacob stood before Pharaoh the mighty monarch recognized his moral supremacy, and bent beneath his benediction. Surely the less is blessed of the greater. Here was the harvest of his tears! [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 47

1  Joseph presents his father, and five of his brothers before Pharaoh
11  He gives them habitation and maintenance
13  He gets the Egyptian's money;
16  their cattle;
18  and their lands, except the priests', to Pharaoh
23  He restores the land for a fifth
28  Jacob's age
29  He swears Joseph to bury him with his fathers

What do the individual words in Genesis 47:8 mean?

And said Pharaoh to Jacob what [are] the days of the years of your life
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר פַּרְעֹ֖ה אֶֽל־ יַעֲקֹ֑ב כַּמָּ֕ה יְמֵ֖י שְׁנֵ֥י ؟ חַיֶּֽיךָ

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר  And  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
פַּרְעֹ֖ה  Pharaoh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: פַּרְעֹה  
Sense: the common title of the king of Egypt.
יַעֲקֹ֑ב  Jacob 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יַעֲקֹב  
Sense: son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham, and father of the 2 patriarchs of the tribes of Israel.
כַּמָּ֕ה  what  [are] 
Parse: Preposition-k, Interrogative
Root: לָמָּה 
Sense: what, how, of what kind.
יְמֵ֖י  the  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
שְׁנֵ֥י  of  the  years 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
؟ חַיֶּֽיךָ  of  your  life 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: חַי 
Sense: living, alive.

What are the major concepts related to Genesis 47:8?

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