And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old,—according to the generally accepted calculation, in his one hundred and thirty-seventh year. Joseph, having been introduced to Pharaoh in his thirtieth year (Genesis 41:46), and having been thirty-nine years of age (Genesis 45:6) when his father, aged one hundred and thirty (Genesis 47:9), came down to Egypt, must have been born before Jacob was ninety-one; consequently, as his birth occurred in the fourteenth year of Jacob's sojourn in Mesopotamia (cf.
Genesis 30:25 with Genesis 29:18, Genesis 29:21, Genesis 29:27), Jacob's flight must have taken place when he was seventy-seven. But Jacob was born in Isaac's sixtieth year (Genesis 25:26); hence Isaac was now one hundred and thirty-seven.
There are, however, difficulties connected with this reckoning which lay it open to suspicion. For one thing, it postpones Jacob's marriage to an extremely late period. Then it takes for granted that the term of Jacob's service in Padan-aram was only twenty years (Genesis 31:41), whereas it is not certain whether it was not forty, made up, according to the computation of Kennicott, of fourteen years' service, twenty years' assistance as a neighbor, and six years of work for wages.
And, lastly, it necessitates the birth of Jacob's eleven children in the short space of six years, a thing which appears to some, it not impossible, at least highly improbable. Adopting the larger number as the term of Jacob's sojourn in Mesopotamia, Isaac would at this time be only one hundred and seventeen (vide 'Chronologer of Jacob's Life,' 31.
41)—and his eyes were dim,—literally, were failing in strength, hence becoming dim (1 Samuel 3:2). In describing Jacob's decaying vision a different verb is employed (Genesis 48:10)—so that he could not see,—literally, from seeing; מִן with the inf.
constr, conveying the idea of receding from the state of perfect vision—he called Esau his eldest son,—Esau was born before his twin brother Jacob (Genesis 25:25)—and said unto him, My son:—i.e. my special son, my beloved son, the language indicating fondness and partiality (Genesis 25:28)—and he (Esau) said unto him, Behold, here am I.