Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Steve Oren" <soren AT enteract.com>]

Well, no.  Rashi's assumptions go something like this.  Of all the characters 
whose birth lives are reported, the one we care about is Rivkah.  THerefore, 
we are being told not all the family news of the last generation but 
specifically of the birth of Rivkah.  ANd this news (allowing for travel 
times) is being sent promptly or at least that the Editor of the text 
includes the material here because this is when it happened.

OK, when is "this".  Well, we know (the text tells us) that Yitzhaq was 40 
when he married Rivkah.  We also know that Sarah was 90 years old when she 
gave birth to Yitzhaq and 127 when she died,.  Therefore, Yitzhaq was 37 when 
his mother died.  Since this comes directly after the Akedah, (and indeed 
there are all kinds of legends linking Sarah's death with the Akedah), it 
must be that Yitzhaq (against the plain sense of the text) must be 37 at the 
Akedah.  Therefore, since between the Akedah and Sarah's death, we have the 
birth of Rivkah, she must be born when Yitzhaq is 37 and so must be 3 when 
she marries.

 None of this "defies logic".  It merely exhibits premises to which we are 
not used

                                                                              
                               Steve Oren

----------
> That there is a fallacy based on when Rebekah's birth was reported seems
> evident.
>
> Rashi is highly regarded......how could this reading continue to be
> promulgated? Merely because he is highly regarded? It defies rational
> thinking.
> Any words of wisdom for those of you versed in Rashi?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Christine
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Peter Kirk" <Peter_Kirk AT sil.org>
> To: "Christine Bass" <christinebass AT home.com>; "Biblical Hebrew"
> <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 3:35 PM
> Subject: RE: Genesis 22 thru 24: Rebekah's age
>
>
> > There is a clear fallacy here, that Rebekah's birth was reported
> immediately
> > to Abraham. In fact it is clear that the events reported to Abraham in Gen
> > 22:20-24 took place over a considerable number of years, at least long
> > enough for one woman to bear eight children and for one of them to be old
> > enough to have a daughter. It seems more probable that this was a report
> > brought to Abraham of many, perhaps 20+, years of family history from
> > relatives with whom he had lost touch. Also there could have been a
> > considerable lapse of time between this report reaching Abraham and
> Sarah's
> > subsequent death; the report could have come shortly after the near
> > sacrifice of Isaac, which seems to have taken place when he was still a
> boy,
> > so perhaps 20 years before his mother died.
> >
> > Peter Kirk
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Christine Bass [mailto:christinebass AT home.com]
> > > Sent: 07 September 2001 18:58
> > > To: Biblical Hebrew
> > > Subject: Genesis 22 thru 24: Rebekah's age
> > >
> > >
> > > Did Isaac marry Rebekah when she was three years old? In reading
> > > the account
> > > in Genesis 22 through 24 she is described as a fair damsel, a
> > > virgin who was
> > > out drawing water for some ten camels and who went into Sarah's tent
> with
> > > Isaac and comforted him not long afterwards. That Abraham's servant
> would
> > > select a three year old bride for 40 year old Isaac does not seem
> > > to be how
> > > this
> > > text reads. Am I missing something?
> > >
> > > Thanks for any insights on this.
> > > Christine Bass
> > >
> > > (The interpretation I am inquring about is below.)
> > >
> > > **************************
> > > Someone asked how it is derived that Yitzchak married Rivkah when she
> was
> > > three years old?
> > >
> > > Here is how Rashi derives the chronology, on the verse Genesis
> > > 25:20 at the
> > > beginning of Parashat Toldoth.
> > >
> > > CHUMASH:
> > > And Yitzchak was forty years old when he married Rivkah, the daughter of
> > > Bethuel the Aramean of Padan-Aram, the sister of Laban.
> > >
> > > Rashi:
> > > FORTY YEARS OLD

> > > For when Abraham came back from Morah after the Akedah, he was informed
> of
> > > the birth of Rivkah (Genesis 22:23, at the end of Parashat Vayera), and
> > > Yitzchak was thirty-seven years old at that time, for it was at
> > > the time of
> > > the Akedah that Sarah died. And from the time Isaac was born, until the
> > > Akedah, there were 37 years, since Sarah was 90 at the time she gave
> birth
> > > to Yitzchak, and 127 when she died, as it says, "This is the life
> > > of Sarah,"
> > > etc. (Genesis 23:1). See, now Yitzchak was 37 years old when
> > > Sarah died, and
> > > it was at that time Rivkah was born. He waited three years and
> > > then married
> > > her.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > What you're saying is that the description of Rivka seems to you to be
> > > beyond the capabilities of a normal three year old. Let me remind you
> that
> > > Rivka was not a normal three year old, she was one of the great
> > > Matriarchs,
> > > and therefore was a very extraordinary, remarkable person.
> > >
> > > Even recent history gives us examples of child prodigies who perform far
> > > beyond what is considered normal development for their age. It is hard
> to
> > > imagine, listening to the symphonies of Mozart, that some of that
> > > music was
> > > composed when he was only four and five years old.
> > >
> > > You also have to consider that Rivka was not only extraordinarily
> advanced
> > > for a girl of her age, but her conduct was so remarkable that to
> > > Eliezer it
> > > was a clear sign that she was chosen by G-d.
> > >
> >
>
>
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