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.

 

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