The age of Jacob at the birth of Joseph requires a calculation
of 130-2-7-30-17=74. This is necessary because the Bible does not explicitly
tell the age of Jacob when Joseph was born. You can take the age of Jacob when
he stood before pharaoh (Genesis 47:9). Subtract the number of years of famine
before Jacob came to Egypt (Genesis 45:6). Subtract the number of years of
plenty (Genesis 41:53), minus the number of years before Joseph interpreted the
pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41:46. Subtract the number of years before which God
first called Joseph by giving him a dream of his future (Genesis 37:2). This
formula will obtain Jacob's true age when Joseph was born.
- And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. Genesis 47:9.
- And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years. Genesis 47:28.
- For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. Genesis 45:6.
- And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended. And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. Genesis 41:53.
- And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. Genesis 41:46.
- These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad waswith the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Genesis 37:2
We know from the Bible data that Abraham was 100 years old when
Isaac was born (Gen. 21:5). Next we know that Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob
was born (Gen. 25:26). The age of Jacob when Joseph was born we derive as
follows. We know that Jacob died at age 147 (Gen. 47:28), further do we know
that Joseph was 30 years old when Pharaoh elevated him to second in power in
Egypt (Gen. 41:46). Right at that time when Joseph was 30 years of age the 7
years of plenty began (Gen. 41:47) and Joseph harvested and stored the grain.
This was followed by the 7 years of drought during which Jacob and his family
moved to Egypt when he was 130 years old (Gen. 47:9). Calculation: (147 (Gen.
47:9) - 17 (Gen. 47:28)= 130). The year Jacob moved to Egypt was after the 2nd year
in the drought (Gen. 45:6) before Jacob moved his whole family to Goshen. That
would make the age of Joseph 39 when he met his father again and 56 years of
age (39 + 17 = 56) when his father Jacob died. Joseph died when he was 110
years old (Gen. 50:22). Therefore Jacob was, 147 - 17 - 39 = 91 years of age
when Joseph was born.
Genesis 28:6 When
Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take
him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge,
saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;
Genesis 28:7 And
that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram;
Genesis 28:8 And
Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;
Genesis 28:9 Then
went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the
daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.
The verses above give an account of events right after Isaac
blesses Jacob. Recall that Jacob, the younger brother of Esau, took the
blessing meant for Esau, Jacob's eldest son. As a result, Esau was very angry
and had determined to kill his brother in revenge. However Rebekah learned of
Esau's plan and encouraged Jacob to flee to her brother Laban in Haran
(Padanaram). Rebekah also got the support of Jacob's father Isaac by reminding
him how unhappy they were with Esau's Canaanite wives (Genesis 26:35), and how
it would be better for Jacob to find a wife in the land of Haran instead
(Genesis 27:46). Now it was at this time that verse 8 indicates that Esau,
possibly in an attempt to regain favor with his father and upon learning that
his parents were unhappy with the Canaanite wives he had, decides to go to take
a wife of Abraham's son Ishmael, his father's brother. One might suspect Esau
figured if he married into the family of Abraham's descendants, that this would
satisfy his parents. In any case, we learn that Esau goes to Ishmael, and
arranges to marry Ishmael's daughter Mahalath.
So why is this important? First, recall from Genesis 25:17 that
Ishmael lived to be 137 years old. Also, Ishmael was 14 years older than Isaac
being born when Abraham was 86 years old (Genesis 16:16), while Isaac was born
when Abraham was 100 years old (Genesis 21:5). Further, we know Jacob and Esau
were born to Isaac when he was 60 years old (Genesis 25:26). From these various
ages we can determine that in the year Ishmael died (at 137 years old), Isaac
who was 14 years younger, was 123 years old. And since Jacob and Esau were born
when Isaac was 60 years old, then in the year Ishmael died they would both have
been 63 years old. This means that the oldest Esau could have been when he went
to visit Ishmael to marry his daughter Mahalath was 63 years old, and
similarly, the oldest Jacob could have been when he left for Padanaram (Haran)
was also 63 years old. Thus, we have established that the oldest Jacob could
have been when he left his parents to go to Haran was 63 years old.
Note:
The Bible said Joseph was born after Jacob served Laban 14 years
(before he served him additional 6 years) -
- And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country. Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee. And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. Genesis 30:25-27.
- Genesis 31:38 Now I was with you twenty years. Your ewes and your she-goats have not failed to bear, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. I did not bring to you the mangled; I replaced it. From my hand you exacted it, that stolen by day and that stolen by night. I was there; by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night. And my sleep fled from my eyes. Now I have been twenty years in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock. And you have changed my wages ten times. Genesis 31:38-41
Thus, Joseph was born when Jacob was 63 + 14 = 77 years old.
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Jacob’s Old Age at Marriage
How old was Jacob when he married Leah and Rachel? The answer may surprise you.
Jacob died when he was 147 years old. He had lived in Egypt 17 years (Genesis 47:28). Thus, Jacob was 130 when he went to Egypt to be with Joseph. His arrival was the second year of the famine (Genesis 45:6). Joseph was then 39 years old (compare Genesis 41:46 and add the 7 years of plenty and the 2 years of famine). This means that Jacob was 91 when Rachel gave birth to Joseph. But Leah already had six children before Joseph was born (Genesis 30:20-24). Reuben (Leah’s firstborn by Jacob) was conceived at least 7 years before the birth of Joseph. This means that Jacob was about 84 years old when he first married. Such an old age for marriage was not normal practice even in those days because people were regularly bearing children at 35 years (Genesis 11:12), 30 years (Genesis 11:14), or 29 years of age (Genesis 11:24). On his wedding night Jacob had trouble distinguishing whether his wife was Rachel or Leah. Because of this, some have jokingly said the 84 year old man was probably half blind already (Genesis 29:21-26). Could be.
