Jacob stands before Pharaoh—a weathered nomad in the palace of empire. Pharaoh asks his age. Jacob answers: 130 years, few and hard. He's not complaining; he's honest. Abraham lived to 175, Isaac to 180. Jacob feels he's falling short, and the years have been difficult. Then he does something remarkable: he blesses Pharaoh. The refugee blesses the ruler. The lesser carries something the greater doesn't have. Joseph settles his family in Goshen while administering Egypt through the famine—livestock, then land, then freedom flowing to Pharaoh until he owns everything. Jacob lives seventeen years in Egypt—the same years Joseph had with him before being sold, now restored. As death approaches, Jacob makes Joseph swear: bury me in Canaan. Not sentiment—theology. His bones will testify to the promise. Egypt is temporary. The land is home.

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