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?

9 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.

Pharaoh had met the brethren of Joseph, but now he gets to meet the father. Evidently Pharaoh was struck by the aged appearance of Jacob, and so immediately inquired as to how old he was! Jacob’s response “few and evil have the…years of my life been,” shows how much trial and tribulation the man sees in his past.

First there was fleeing his father’s house for his very life, then being cheated by his father-in-law numerous times, losing the love of his life prematurely, and believing he had also lost his son for twenty years. Perhaps things are coming more right at the end, but it has been a hard road for Jacob thus far.

Then this patriarch gives Pharaoh a blessing. As a powerful king, Pharaoh had probably been given all manner of blessings by his holy men, mystics who tried to divine the Egyptian gods’ will by signs and symbols. Here, though, he had the opportunity to receive a consecration from a man who had not only spoken directly with the Lord, but even wrestled with Him! I wonder if the king was able to perceive that this old man’s relationship with divinity was on another level.