Genesis 20: The king wants a 90 year old woman?

[mschrank]

I do not understand this passage… In Genesis 20, the king wants Sarah as his wife. She’s like 90 years old and this guy can probably have any woman he wants. Sarah describes herself as being barren and aged- “the way of woman having left her” earlier in Genesis so the possibility of some miraculously hot 90 year old (think Sophia Lauren, but to the extreme) can be ruled out.

Now this is a strange passage in any age, so this has to have confused people for thousands of years. There must be an answer to this one. My first guess would be that it was some kind of redactive mistake, but it would have been such an obvious one, that it kind of seems unlikely- “oh, whoops put chapter 12 in the wrong place!”.

Puzzled at hot 90 year olds,

Matthew

 

[Kuryakyn]

Didn’t people live a lot longer in those days? I seem to recall Abraham lived long over our present-day life span, so maybe 90 years then was the equivalent to 40 or 50 now? I will let someone with more knowledge of scripture give you a better reply, but that’s my take on it.

 

[LilyM]

The king may have been 90 himself and sensible enough not to be looking for some hot young chicky but a mature woman his own age with whom he had lots in common.

Henry VIII was only in his 50s when he married for the sixth and final time. Instead of some cute young piece of fluff (having had bad experiences with his 17-year-old fifth wife) he chose the intelligent, twice-married twice-widowed and older Catherine Parr and they did pretty well together.

Then again the King may have been more interested in forming an alliance with Abraham (and Sarah was his half-sister, remember) than in Sarah’s looks or lack thereof.

 

[Verbum]

Hi mschrank,

My old French Jerusalem Bible says that this is an “elohist” version of Gen. 12, 10-20. The idea is that Genesis incorporates narrations from two different traditions (cf. two narrations of the creation). So this is like a “flashback”.

Verbum

 

[thistle]

I do not understand this passage… In Genesis 20, the king wants Sarah as his wife. She’s like 90 years old and this guy can probably have any woman he wants. Sarah describes herself as being barren and aged- “the way of woman having left her” earlier in Genesis so the possibility of some miraculously hot 90 year old (think Sophia Lauren, but to the extreme) can be ruled out.

Now this is a strange passage in any age, so this has to have confused people for thousands of years. There must be an answer to this one. My first guess would be that it was some kind of redactive mistake, but it would have been such an obvious one, that it kind of seems unlikely- “oh, whoops put chapter 12 in the wrong place!”.

Puzzled at hot 90 year olds,

Matthew

D-R Bible, Haydock Commentary:

Ver. 2. He said to the king, and to all others who made inquiry, as it was his custom, whenever he came into a strange land, ver. 13. He was encouraged to do this, by the protection which God had shewn him in Egypt. — Took her, against her will, as Pharao had done. (Haydock) — Though she was ninety years old, and with child, her beauty was still extraordinary, the Rabbin think miraculous. At that time people lived above 120 years; so that at the age of ninety, she would only be about as near the end of her life as our women are at forty; and we often see people sufficiently attracting at that age. (Calmet)

 

[mschrank]

Verbum’s answer seems to make the most sense. The 40-as-90 thing doesn’t, because her biological clock had expired and 40 year olds can usually have children.

What does the Talmud (Jewish oral tradition) have to say about it? Anyone know?

 

[Valke2]

Both the Torah and Talmud describe her as exceptionally beautiful. She probably stayed out of the son and moisturized each night.