(8) Pharaoh asked Jacob, “How many are the days; years of your life?” (9) And Jacob answered Pharaoh, “The years of my sojourn [on earth] are one hundred and thirty. Few and hard have been the years of my life, nor do they come up to the life spans of my fathers during their sojourns.”
1. Why does Pharaoh ask Jacob about the days and years of his life; why not just one?
2. Why do you think Jacob answers oddly, talking about his sojourn on earth and not his time on earth?
What does Rashi add to our understanding of Jacob's description?
ימי שני מגורי, the days and years which I have lived so far amount to 130 years. They are few and distressing/bad. The latter is what he meant by the word bad/hard. However, how did Yaakov know that his (total) years would be short? He must have assumed that due to the troubles he had already experienced and the effect on his general well being he could not look forward to live to the same age as had his father and grandfather before him.
Radak suggests that Jacob isn't actually that old. What makes him appear old? Why is that?
Sforno helps us better understand why Jacob uses the word sojourn. What does that mean in your own words?
What experiences in your own life might feel like a sojourn to you?
כמה ימי שני חייך,
"How many are the years of your life?"
Simple meaning (p'shat): Because Pharaoh saw that Jacob looked very old, and the hair of his head and his beard were white from an abundance of old age, Pharaoh asked this. Jacob answered him, "the years of my sojourn [on earth] are one hundred and thirty. Few and hard have been the years of my life," meaning, my years may have been few, but because of hard things that happened to me, old age has come upon me.
Life-lesson meaning (midrash): At the time that Jacob said, "Few and hard have been the years of my life," the Holy Blessed One said to him, "I rescued you from Esau and Laban, I returned to you Dinah and Joseph, yet you are discontented with your life, saying that [your years] were few and hard! By your life, the number of words that are from "Pharaoh asked" until "years of my sojourn," such shall be missing from your years, so that you will not live as long as your father Isaac!" These were 33 words, and this number of years were missing from his life, as Isaac lived 180 years, but Jacob only lived 147.
What does this commentary add to our understanding of the idea of length of life?
Baboon Life Span
Previous research [about baboons] has shown that early life adversity – such as being orphaned or simply having a low-ranking mother – can shorten the lifespan of female baboons even if they make it to adulthood.
What can you do to lengthen your life; not necessarily the number of days or years, but the experience of life?