The book of Genesis is replete with people from the time of the patriarchal age, but the timeline of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is given more emphasis than all the others combined. Consider how the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would have overlapped as Moses penned the beginning of a nation on its way into the land promised to their forefathers.
When it comes to outlining the overlapping timeline between Abram and his father, Terah, there are two possibilities. One, Terah was 70 when Abram was born (Genesis 11:26), and Abram left his country and Terah’s house at the age of 75 (Genesis 12:4), making Terah 145 and Abram living apart from his father’s house for 60 years; when Terah died at the age of 205 (Genesis 11:32), Abram would have been 135 years old. The second possibility is that Terah began fathering children at the age of 70 (Genesis 11:26) but Abram was not the firstborn; and if Abram followed God’s calling at the age of 75 (Genesis 12:4) after Terah, who lived 205 years (Genesis 11:32), died, Terah would have been 130 years old when Abram was born.
As Abram began his journey into the promised land at the age of 75 (Genesis 12:4), he would father Ishmael 11 years later at the age of 86 (Genesis 16:16). At the age of 99, Abram’s name would be changed to Abraham (Genesis 17:1, 5), and he, and Ishmael (at the age of 13) would be circumcised (Genesis 17:24-25). At the age of 90 (Genesis 17:15-17) Sarai would be renamed Sarah and she would conceive and give birth approximately at the age of 91 (Genesis 17:17-21), making Abraham the father of Isaac at the age of 100 (Genesis 21:5), and Ishmael a 14 year old brother (Genesis 16:16; 17:1, 17, 21, 25).
Sarah would die at the age of 127 (Genesis 23:1), making Abraham approximately 137, and Isaac 37 years old at the time. Isaac would live without his mother for 38 years and alongside his father for approximately 75 years when Abraham would die at the age of 175. Ishmael would have been 89 years old when Abraham died, later dying himself at the age of 137 (Genesis 25:17). Ishmael would be outlived 57 years by his younger brother Isaac, who would die at the age of 180 (Genesis 35:28).
Isaac would marry Rebekah at the age of 40 (Genesis 25:20), and 20 years later he would become a father of twins at the age of 60 (Genesis 25:26); meaning Esau and Jacob would have been 15 years old when their grandfather Abraham passed away. Isaac’s twin sons would live to the age of 120 before being buried by them (Genesis 35:27-29).
At the cost of their mental peace, Isaac and Rebekah would become in-laws 25 years later when Esau began marrying at the age of 40 (Genesis 26:34-35). For the sake of her mental peace, Rebekah (with the blessing of Isaac) would cause Jacob (being somewhat older than 40) to be sent away to find a suitable wife from amongst the daughters of Laban, Rebekah’s brother (Genesis 27:41-43, 46; 28:1-2). At that time, Esau would seek out his uncle Ishmael, Isaac’s brother, to find a new wife for the purpose of gaining an extra blessing from his father (Genesis 28:6-9); eventually Esau and his family would leave Isaac and Rebekah to dwell in the country of Edom (Genesis 32:3). After arriving in Padan Aram, Jacob would spend his next 14 years in servitude for the sake of obtaining Rachel, the younger daughter of Laban, as his wife (Genesis 29:18, 25-30). Before returning to Cannan, Jacob would end up serving the house of Laban in Padan Aram for a total of 20 years (Genesis 31:41), becoming a father to no less than 12 children during that time (Genesis 30:25; 34:1).
Next time, we will consider the overlapping timeline from Jacob in Canaan to Joseph in Egypt, which is how the children of Israel came to live in the very land that Moses would lead his people out of after living there for 430 years (Exodus 12:40-41).
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