Discovery BoxGenesis 47:7-11 
Context47:7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him 1 before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed 2 Pharaoh. 47:8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How long have you lived?” 3 47:9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All 4 the years of my travels 5 are 130. All 6 the years of my life have been few and painful; 7 the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.” 8 47:10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence. 9
47:11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers. He gave them territory 10 in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the land, the land of Rameses, 11 just as Pharaoh had commanded.
1 tn Heb “caused him to stand.”
2 sn The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb translated “blessed” is difficult in this passage, because the content of Jacob’s blessing is not given. The expression could simply mean that he greeted Pharaoh, but that seems insufficient in this setting. Jacob probably praised Pharaoh, for the verb is used this way for praising God. It is also possible that he pronounced a formal prayer of blessing, asking God to reward Pharaoh for his kindness.
3 tn Heb “How many are the days of the years of your life?”
4 tn Heb “the days of.”
5 tn Heb “sojournings.” Jacob uses a term that depicts him as one who has lived an unsettled life, temporarily residing in many different places.
6 tn Heb “the days of.”
7 tn The Hebrew word רַע (ra’) can sometimes mean “evil,” but that would give the wrong connotation here, where it refers to pain, difficulty, and sorrow. Jacob is thinking back through all the troubles he had to endure to get to this point.
8 tn Heb “and they have not reached the days of the years of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”
9 tn Heb “from before Pharaoh.”
10 tn Heb “a possession,” or “a holding.” Joseph gave them a plot of land with rights of ownership in the land of Goshen.
11 sn The land of Rameses is another designation for the region of Goshen. It is named Rameses because of a city in that region (Exod 1:11; 12:37). The use of this name may represent a modernization of the text for the understanding of the intended readers, substituting a later name for an earlier one. Alternatively, there may have been an earlier Rameses for which the region was named.
