And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
Famine has driven Jacob south, and he now stands before the most powerful ruler on earth as an old shepherd with no land of his own — yet he blesses the king, going in and coming out. How can a man who has just called his own life short and hard act as the greater of the two?
Why Jacob Is the Greater
Commentators all point to one line in Hebrews 7:7 as the key: "It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior." On one side stands a displaced man, on the other a throne.
J. N. DarbyIt is touching to notice, when Jacob is presented to Pharaoh, that although he admits his life had been a sad one compared with his fathers', he can still bless the monarch of the whole country — he himself a despised shepherd; and "beyond all dispute the less is blessed by the greater." The least and most faltering of God's children has the superiority, and is conscious of it, in the presence of the most elevated men of the world.
The superiority is not in résumé or resources. It is in knowing God.
F. B. HoleThe patriarch, though at that moment only a displaced person and a refugee in the presence of the great king, was consciously superior to him in his knowledge of the true God. He knew enough of Him to be sure that having His pledged presence and guidance was something greater than all the glory Egypt had to offer. He had the better, while Pharaoh, for all his outward majesty, had the less.
Twice Blessed, Nothing Asked
Jacob had every worldly reason to trade on his position, since his son ran Egypt. Bellett notes that he stayed a stranger instead — and asked the king for nothing.
J. G. BellettJoseph was the second man in the kingdom, and Joseph was Jacob's son. Here was a temptation for Jacob to come forward and show himself to the world… He was a stranger, where every human attraction joined in tempting him to be a citizen. In the middle of all this practical life as a stranger he knows and exercises his dignity under God. As he enters, and as he leaves the presence of Pharaoh (Gen. 47), he blesses him. This is worth noticing. As he stood there in the royal presence, he owned himself a pilgrim on the earth, rather poor and weary too. But at his introduction and at his exit he blesses him, as one who knew what he was in the election and grace of God… He made no requests of the king, though he might reasonably have expected whatever he asked.
Kelly calls this a wonder of grace. Abram had once deceived a Pharaoh; weak Jacob stands before one with dignity, and asks for nothing.
William KellyHow wonderful the grace of God toward Jacob! It was his to bless Pharaoh. Abram deceived the Pharaoh of his day… Not so the "worm Jacob." In weakness he was made strong, and able to carry himself with dignity before the greatest man on the earth. Not a favour did he ask, when, we may be sure, he might have had anything… Yet there was in this neither vanity nor pride, but a soul that had come to know divine goodness; and then a better thing was his portion than the world could give. Besides, there was treasure enough in God for Pharaoh; so that his heart overflowed on the king's behalf.
Lowliness and Dignity Together
What makes the scene striking is that Jacob's honest, downcast account of his own years and his confident blessing sit side by side in the same conversation. Neither cancels the other.
J. G. BellettJacob would speak of his pilgrimage, of his few and evil days, making himself nothing in the reckoning of the world; but he would at the same moment bless the man who at that time was the greatest on earth, conscious that, under God and before Him, he was "the better," the greater man of the two.
Kelly reads the same balance in Jacob's inner state: the humbled heart "rose up without question of pride to bless the king. God was before his faith, and he could bless Pharaoh simply, out of a full heart" (William Kelly).
From Blessed to Blesser
Up to this point in his story Jacob has been the one receiving. Here the direction reverses.
William KellyA poor pilgrim blesses the monarch of the mightiest realm of that day; but the greatest of earth is little in comparison with the blessed of God. Jacob now is not merely blessed, but a blesser. He knows God well enough to be sure that nothing Pharaoh has could really enrich him, and that there is very much which God could give, on which Jacob could count from God even for Pharaoh.
Writers also see a picture of the future here. Gaebelein reads Jacob as standing for his nation:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe great monarch of Egypt was blessed by the poor old Jacob. He is more than blessed, but a blesser, a type of what Israel is yet to be for the nations of the earth.
The Reader's Own Standing
Hole turns the scene into a question for the reader.
F. B. HoleIn the light of the faith and glory of Christ, the position of the Christian is much heightened. Are we always alive to the favour in which we stand, and therefore lifted above the favours and attractions of the world?
Summary
- Better. Hebrews 7:7 sets the direction. The one who blesses is the greater, so a landless shepherd outranks the throne of Egypt.
- Known. His greatness was not wealth or standing but knowledge of the true God — Pharaoh had the glory, Jacob had "the better."
- Nothing. He asked the king for no favour. He already had a portion the world could not give, and treasure in God enough to share with Pharaoh.
- Both. He called himself a poor pilgrim and still blessed the greatest man on earth. There was no vanity or pride in it.
- Overflow. The blessed man becomes a blesser. Writers see in it a preview of Israel blessing the nations — and a question for us: are we living above the world's attractions?