The Meaning of Genesis 47:9 Explained

Genesis 47:9

KJV: And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

YLT: And Jacob saith unto Pharaoh, 'The days of the years of my sojournings are an hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of their sojournings.'

Darby: 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 do not attain to the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of their sojourning.

ASV: 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And Jacob  said  unto Pharaoh,  The days  of the years  of my pilgrimage  [are] an hundred  and thirty  years:  few  and evil  have the days  of the years  of my life  been, and have not attained  unto the days  of the years  of the life  of my fathers  in the days  of their pilgrimage. 

What does Genesis 47:9 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 47:9 mean?

and said Jacob to Pharaoh the days of the years of my sojourning [are] thirty and a hundred years few and evil have been of my life and not they have attained - to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יַעֲקֹב֙ אֶל־ פַּרְעֹ֔ה יְמֵי֙ שְׁנֵ֣י מְגוּרַ֔י שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים וּמְאַ֖ת שָׁנָ֑ה מְעַ֣ט וְרָעִ֗ים הָיוּ֙ חַיַּ֔י וְלֹ֣א הִשִּׂ֗יגוּ אֶת־ יְמֵי֙ שְׁנֵי֙ חַיֵּ֣י אֲבֹתַ֔י בִּימֵ֖י מְגוּרֵיהֶֽם

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר  and  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
יַעֲקֹב֙  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.
פַּרְעֹ֔ה  Pharaoh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: פַּרְעֹה  
Sense: the common title of the king of Egypt.
יְמֵי֙  the  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
שְׁנֵ֣י  of  the  years 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
מְגוּרַ֔י  of  my  sojourning  [are] 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: מָגֹור 
Sense: sojourning place, dwelling-place, sojourning.
שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים  thirty 
Parse: Number, common plural
Root: שְׁלֹשִׁים  
Sense: thirty, thirtieth.
וּמְאַ֖ת  and  a  hundred 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, feminine singular construct
Root: מֵאָה 
Sense: hundred.
שָׁנָ֑ה  years 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
מְעַ֣ט  few 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: מְעַט  
Sense: littleness, few, a little, fewness.
וְרָעִ֗ים  and  evil 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine plural
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
הָיוּ֙  have  been 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
חַיַּ֔י  of  my  life 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: חַי 
Sense: living, alive.
וְלֹ֣א  and  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
הִשִּׂ֗יגוּ  they  have  attained 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: מַשֶּׂגֶת 
Sense: to reach, overtake, take hold upon.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
יְמֵי֙  to  the  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
שְׁנֵי֙  of  the  years 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
חַיֵּ֣י  of  the  life 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: חַי 
Sense: living, alive.
אֲבֹתַ֔י  of  my  fathers 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
בִּימֵ֖י  in  the  days 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
מְגוּרֵיהֶֽם  of  their  sojourning 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: מָגֹור 
Sense: sojourning place, dwelling-place, sojourning.