Augustine of Hippo : THE LIFE OF THIS WORLD IS ONLY A TEMPORARY ABODE. — What does it mean what Jacob said to Pharaoh: The days of the years of my life, in which I dwell as a stranger? So say the Septuagint. The Latin codices have either a (step) or habeo (I have) or some other similar word. He said perhaps in those who live as a foreigner, because he was born in a land that the people had not yet received in inheritance by the divine promise, and living there was evidently in a foreign land, not only when he was a pilgrim, as in Mesopotamia, but also when he was there where he was born? Or is it to interpret these words rather as the Apostle says: While we are in the body, we are pilgrims away from the Lord (II Cor. 5:6)? According to this is also meant what is said in the Psalm: I am a stranger on the earth and a pilgrim like all my parents (Ps. 39:12). About the days of his life he says again: They have not reached the days of the years of the life of my fathers, the days in which they dwelt as strangers . Here he has not wanted to understand anything other than what the Latin codices say: that is, the years they lived. By this he meant to indicate that the present life is a dwelling in another's homeland in the earth, that is to say, the dwelling of a pilgrim. I believe that this is convenient for the saints, to whom the Lord promises another life, which is eternal. Therefore, we must understand well what is said about the wicked: They will live as strangers and they will hide; they will observe my footsteps (Ps. 56:6). For this is better understood what the psalm says that they inhabit as strangers to hide themselves, that is to say, to lay up their children; they never stay at home. [ — QUESTIONS ON GENESIS, Q. 155 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)