Commentary for Genesis 47:7

ויברך יעקב AND JACOB BLESSED — this was the greeting of peace, as is usual in the case of all who are granted an interview with kings at long intervals; saluer in old French

AND JACOB BLESSED PHARAOH. This refers to a salutation, as is customary for all who are granted an occasional interview with kings. Thus the language of Rashi. But this does not appear to be so, for it is not royal protocol for a person to greet the king, and the Rabbis have similarly said:²³²Shabbath 89a. “May a servant greet the king?” Instead, it refers to a real blessing which Jacob bestowed upon Pharaoh, for it is customary for aged and pious people who come before kings to bless them with wealth, possessions, honor, and the advancement of their kingdom, even as Scripture says, Let my lord king David live forever.²³³I Kings 1:31. Upon his taking leave of Pharaoh, Jacob again blessed him²³⁴Verse 10 here. in order to take permission to leave. Our Rabbis have said²³⁵Tanchuma Naso 26, and mentioned here by Rashi. that he blessed him that the Nile might rise at his approach.

ויעמידהו לפני פרעה, and he presented him before Pharaoh. The reason the Torah chose the word "ויעמידהו" may be that Joseph placed Jacob in the place where he himself would normally stand when he had an audience with Pharaoh. This may have been an elevated spot only lower than Pharaoh's throne [compare 41,40 where Pharaoh reserved only his throne as beyond Joseph's authority].

ויברך יעקב את פרעה. He greeted him (bestowed a blessing) as is customary when one is introduced to the king. The custom is highlighted in Kings II 4,29 where Elisha told Gechazi not to respond to anyone’s greeting. Yaakov blessed Pharaoh again upon leaving after the audience. I have not found a satisfactory explanation why the Torah had to report something so ordinary.

ויברך יעקב את פרעה, “Yaakov blessed Pharaoh.” He wished him wealth and success in his position as ruler of a great Empire. This was the customary blessing conferred by elders and pious people who were granted an audience by a king. We find an example of this in Kings I 1,31 where Bat Sheva, David’s wife, blesses him in a similar vein, saying: “may my lord King live forever.” The Torah mentions Yaakov blessing Pharaoh again before he took his leave. Our sages (Tanchuma Nasso 26) say that the blessing consisted of a wish that the river Nile would rise again and irrigate the fields of Egypt.

ויבא, nicht לקח wie bei den Brüdern; ebenso nicht ויציגהו, sondern ויעמדהו. Jakob wartet auch nicht, bis der Fürst ihn anredet. Er fühlt sich auch ein Fürst auf Erden und kommt ihm mit einem Segensgruß entgegen.

It may also mean that he placed Jacob immediately opposite Pharaoh so that his father could bless Pharaoh.

We have a tradition that Pharaoh was of extremely small stature so that unless Jacob was directly opposite him he could not have known that the person he faced was Pharaoh (compare Moed Katan 18).