And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.”
Pharaoh asks how old he is, and Jacob answers with a confession: 130 years of sojourning, "few and evil." So why does a man God kept all the way speak so sadly of his own life — and how can he bless the most powerful ruler on earth in the same breath?
The word he uses twice: pilgrimage
Jacob does not say "my life" the first time. He says "my pilgrimage," and he says it again at the end of the sentence when he speaks of his fathers. That repetition is deliberate and carries the whole outlook of these men.
F. B. HoleAt the age of 130 he must have seemed a very old man in Egyptian eyes. But twice over, in verse 9, we find him using the word "pilgrimage." It is true, of course, that his life had been a wandering one. Still, it shows that these God-fearing patriarchs, as Hebrews 11 tells us, always had the eyes of their hearts on the future. They knew that the present life was headed for a destination not yet reached.
Jacob was not the only one to talk this way, and their journeys said it before their words did.
J. G. Bellett"They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." This was literally so, as their journeys moved along the stream of time. By word of mouth they declared this of themselves. (Gen. 23:4; Gen. 28:4; Gen. 47:9.)
"Few and evil" — an honest verdict on himself
The sadness is real, and grace runs right through it.
J. N. DarbyYou see grace in it. But at the end of his life he says, "Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been." God's patient love had taken care of him, and he could speak of "the angel that redeemed him from all evil." It was deeply sad. It was not unbelief, but he was a believer not walking by faith.
Measured against Abraham and Isaac
Jacob compares his own years with his fathers', and the comparison does not flatter him. Writers set his summary beside the way Scripture closes Abraham's life.
The Christian's FriendJacob is a warning to us, but Abraham is an example. Jacob did find the Lord again by His grace. But he never had the many blessed experiences that Abraham had. "Abraham died in a good old age, old and full of days, and he was gathered to his people." Jacob said instead, "The days of the years of my life have been few and evil…" (Gen. 25:8, and Gen. 47:9.) He ended his life in Egypt.
God's desire for His people is Abraham's story, not Jacob's.
G. V. WigramSuppose God has revealed Himself to your heart. He has spoken to you of future glory and set you apart to Himself. Then He would not want you passing through the wilderness in hardship. He would not want you to have Jacob's experience, talking about the great things you have to give up. He does not like that. He wants you to be like Abraham, saying, "Look at all my blessings; look how close God has set me to Himself."
The discipline was not wasted
The hard years were not simply loss.
William KellyJacob had not yet reached the end of his journeys, any more than of his sorrows. He was a man of the most varied experience among the fathers. Yet this painful experience under the governing hand of God was blessed to his soul.
And the story does not end at the low point of this confession.
H. L. RossierWe see believers, Christians, who begin their course badly. But they learn to judge themselves under God's disciplinary hand, and they finish well — sometimes even gloriously. This was the case with Jacob, whose days were "few and evil" but whose life ended with a full vision of glory.
Lowly before God, greater than the king
In one meeting Jacob told a sad life story and blessed the ruler of the world's greatest empire. The two go together.
The Christian's FriendHe goes into the presence of the great ruler of the world. Without any hesitation he blesses him, while at the same time giving a very sorrowful account of his own life. In the presence of the world his superiority is plain. But when he puts himself alongside other saints, his own life has been a sad one — few and evil his days. The moment you set a saint beside the highest ruler in the world, the saint is the greater. It is very lovely to see this lowliness, the result of his "few and evil" days.
Some also read Jacob's answer as a picture of the nation that came from him.
L. M. GrantHe had seen great trouble and sorrow during his 130 year pilgrimage. The same has been true of his descendants, the Jewish nation, who have suffered more affliction than any other nation over centuries.
Summary
- Pilgrimage. Jacob calls his years a journey, and he says it twice. Hebrews 11 gives all these men the same outlook: a destination still ahead.
- Few. Abraham died "old and full of days." Jacob's summary is short and sad — the record of a believer who did not walk by faith.
- Evil. The trouble was real, but not wasted: it came under God's governing hand and was blessed to his soul.
- Blessed. Jacob told a sad life story, then blessed Pharaoh. He was lowly among the saints, yet the greater man before the world.
- Glory. A course begun poorly can still end well; Jacob's did, closing with a full view of glory.