How many years was the patriarchal age?

Answer 1

A:

The histories of the pre-Egyptian Hebrews is generally called the age of the patriarchs. The Jewish Virtual Library (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/hebpat.html) says that it is virtually impossible to date this age partly because the Hebrew history of the age was not written down until more than a thousand years had passed - that is, around the middle of the first millennium BCE. Nevertheless, this source places the age of the patriarchs roughly between 1950 and 1500 BCE, meaning that it spanned more than 400 years, although a more considered biblical answer might be somewhat less.

We find an improbable pattern in the lifespans of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, such that they could only have been devised by numerologists, thus militating against them having really lived to such extreme ages:

1. Abraham lived to 175 (5 X 5 X 7)

2. Isaac lived to 180 (6 X 6 X 5)

3. Jacob lived to 147 (7 X 7 X 3

• Each lifespan involves a perfect square (5, 6, then 7 in a numeric series)
• the third factor also forms a series (7, 5, 3)
• in each case the sum of the factors is 17.

Furthering the above formulas, Genesis says Sarah lived to 127 years, which is the sum of these consecutive square numbers plus 17 (127 = 52 +62 + 72 + 17) and an equally improbable age. The chances of all this happening in real life are millions to one against, even if we allow the possibility of anyone living so long in antiquity.

It seems more likely that, if the patriarchs were real, historical people, they would have lived much shorter lifespans. If we then base a concept of a patriarchal age on the lives of ordinary human beings, then three generations would be quite short in comparison.

Answer 2

According to Jewish tradition, the Age of the Patriarchs lasted for 207 years.