How old was Abraham

[cmac2]

You’ll have to forgive me for some of my questions. Unfortunately, for the first 17 years of my life I never read through the bible and after almost 10 years of being a lukewarm Catholic, I’ve decided to read scripture. I’m still working through Genesis, but I’ve got a couple of questions about some of the chapters I’ve been reading. I might fall into the position that some of the people in the first few books of the bible were possibly not literally hundreds of years old. Maybe, the jury is still out on that until I meet somebody from that period on their side of heaven.
My question is this: was Abraham and his wife Sarah really over 90 years old when they had Isaac? Why I ask this is mainly because of when Abraham tells the half-truth about Sarah being his sister and not his wife to both the pharaoh in Egypt and King Abimelech (Gen 12 and Gen 20 respectively). From my understanding, and I could be wrong about this, Sarah wasn’t that much younger than Abraham. After reading Gen. 12 and 20, was Sarah really that old? I mean no disrespect to any older ladies out there, but I don’t see not one but two kings falling head over heels for Sarah if she’s an older woman. I don’t think conventions of beauty have changed all that much unless I’m missing something here. There are three options that I can think of that might be an explanation:

1. Abraham was actually much older than Sarah. It kind of makes sense as she was the daughter of his deceased brother (I think I got that right). When he died, Abraham might have married her so she would have someone to care of her and protect her.
2. God allowed Abraham to visibly age more slowly. He could do it, but I don’t put much stock into this theory.
3. Abraham, and some of the other patriarchs in Genesis, are not nearly as old as scripture says they are. A lot of this book is wrapped up in figurative language that tells a real story. It’s hard to tell where reality begins (like two people were made by God and instilled with a soul and became corrupted) and where figurative language comes into play (like it was a literal fruit that tempted the first man and woman to sin). Abraham could have been very old in the eyes of those who lived with him or saw him, which back then was probably 40-50, I’m assuming.
   Any suggestions?

 

[thistle]

This is an extract from the Catholic Encyclopedia:

(5) Birth of Abraham to the Exodus .—At the birth of Isaac, Abraham is said to have been 100 years old (Gen., xxi, 5); Isaac was sixty at the birth of Jacob (Gen., xxv, 26); Jacob arrived in Egypt, at the age of 130 (xlvii, 9). These figures, added, give 290; add to this 430 (the number of years spent by Israel in Egypt) and we get 720 years, which would be the length of time between the birth of Abraham and the Exodus. A difficulty arises, since the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint read in Exodus, xii, 40: “The abode of the Children of Israel that they made in Egypt and the land of Canaan was 430 years. If this be correct, then only 215 years are left for the sojourn in Egypt, 215 years being required for the sojourn in Canaan, as we have to subtract 75, the age of Abraham when he came to Canaan, from 290 (see above). Still, not all the MSS. of the Septuagint adopt this reading; and, in any case, we are only face to face with another such diversity between the Greek and Hebrew as is to be found in the genealogies of the Patriarchs.

 

[De_Maria]

…My question is this: was Abraham and his wife Sarah really over 90 years old when they had Isaac?

Yes, that’s why Isaac is considered a miracle baby.

Why I ask this is mainly because of when Abraham tells the half-truth about Sarah being his sister and not his wife to both the pharaoh in Egypt and King Abimelech (Gen 12 and Gen 20 respectively)…

That’s a difficult question.

I, personally, see it as a rewriting of the same story. I just don’t see that happening twice in one’s lifetime. I think Abraham would have learned his lesson the first time around.

Just my opinion. And if anyone can find where the Catholic Church absolutely considers that an error, I’ll drop it.

1. Abraham was actually much older than Sarah. It kind of makes sense as she was the daughter of his deceased brother (I think I got that right). When he died, Abraham might have married her so she would have someone to care of her and protect her.

Except that Abraham said:

Gen 17: 17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

So, if either of them is of a different age, that would make the inerrant Scriptures, err.

1. God allowed Abraham to visibly age more slowly. He could do it, but I don’t put much stock into this theory.

1. Abraham, and some of the other patriarchs in Genesis, are not nearly as old as scripture says they are. A lot of this book is wrapped up in figurative language that tells a real story. It’s hard to tell where reality begins (like two people were made by God and instilled with a soul and became corrupted) and where figurative language comes into play (like it was a literal fruit that tempted the first man and woman to sin). Abraham could have been very old in the eyes of those who lived with him or saw him, which back then was probably 40-50, I’m assuming.
   Any suggestions?

That which I made above. A story filed twice would be a scribal error. But, I’m not married to it. I’m looking for a better explanation for that episode, myself.

 

[Eric_Hyom]

I take the first sentence in the Bible to be an absolute truth; “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth”. The rest of the Bible is a lifetime journey of discovery, inspiration, hope and encouragement.

God created Adam from dust. If God has the power of creation, then every other miracle like virgin births, raising the dead, or giving birth at a hundred, becomes minor by comparison.

 

[Guest1]

After reading Gen. 12 and 20, was Sarah really that old? I mean no disrespect to any older ladies out there, but I don’t see not one but two kings falling head over heels for Sarah if she’s an older woman.

I’m not yet an older lady although I am a woman.
The age-gap relationships in those times might have been differently viewed in those cultures than say in the U.S. today.

Rebecca might have been very young (teen years? Perhaps?) when she and Issac married. Issac might of been 40 or around there.

There are people who look young for their age and Sarah could have possibly looked 60 for example.

 

[poche]

The real person to talk about preservation is Sarah. She was in her 70s and Abraham was worried that her beauty would tempt others to kill him in order to marry her.

 

[_thaddeus]

According to Genesis 25:7 Abraham died at a good old age of 175 years.

9His sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried him in the cave at Machpelah, on the land of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, 10east of Mamre, the plot which Abraham had bought from the Hittites.