What is the context?
Joseph reports his family's arrival and presents five of his brothers to Pharaoh. They identify themselves as shepherds and explain that the famine has left no pasture for their flocks in Canaan. They ask permission to live in Goshen for a time.
Pharaoh agrees that they may settle in the best part of the land and invites Joseph to place any capable men among them over his own livestock. The king's welcome gives official support to the arrangements Joseph has prepared. The household's occupation can also become a means of service within Egypt.
Joseph then presents Jacob, who blesses Pharaoh. Asked his age, Jacob describes his 130 years as few and hard compared with the lives of his fathers. He blesses Pharaoh again before leaving. His words carry the memory of a difficult life into a meeting with the ruler who can offer the family refuge.
The Hebrew word behind Jacob's description of his travels is מָגוּר, māgûr (mah-GOOR), a stay as a temporary resident. Brown–Driver–Briggs specifically includes Genesis 47:9 as a use covering a person's lifetime. Jacob speaks of life as a journey, even before considering this latest move.
Joseph settles his father and brothers in Goshen, here also called the district of Rameses, and supplies food for their families. The promised care now becomes land to live on and food for the household.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly see God's care expressed through the welcome, Joseph's provision, and Jacob's blessing of Pharaoh. Wesley's notes on Genesis 47:9–10 read Jacob's life as a pilgrimage and his blessing as prayer offered by the patriarch, not simply a courtly greeting.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Jacob receives material help from Pharaoh and also offers him a blessing. This fits the wider purpose in Genesis 12:2–3, where God's blessing of Abraham is intended to reach others. The family arriving in need still has a place in that purpose.
Jacob's description of life as a journey also fits Hebrews 11:9–16, which speaks of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as heirs living as strangers while looking toward what God would provide. Goshen gives genuine relief, but the household's present comfort is not the whole of its hope. God's promise reaches beyond the place where they can now find food.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.
Where can I study this further?
No deeper study linked yet.