Genesis 47:9

7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?

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.

10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

11 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.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
“My travels have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”
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.
WEB
Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and evil. They have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”
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.
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.
BLB
And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojournings [are] a 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 lives of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”
ÅB
Jakob svarte Farao: Min utlendighets år er hundre og tretti år; få og onde har mine leveår vært, og de har ikke nådd mine fedres leveår i deres utlendighets tid.
OTB
Jakob svarte: “Årene av min vandring er 130. Mine år har vært få og vanskelige, og når ikke opp til mine forfedres levetid under deres vandring.”
B1930
Jakob svarte Farao: Min utlendighets år er hundre og tretti år; få og onde har mine leveår vært, og de har ikke nådd mine fedres leveår i deres utlendighets tid.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Job 14:1

    Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

    Read in context
  • Psalms 39:12

    Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

    Read in context
  • Genesis 35:28

    And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.

    Read in context
  • Psalms 39:5

    Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

    Read in context
  • Exodus 7:7

    And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

    Read in context
  • Deuteronomy 34:7

    And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

    Read in context
  • Exodus 6:4

    And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.

    Read in context
  • James 4:14

    Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

    Read in context