Jacob Was 77 Years Old When He Married

Did you know that the Jewish patriarch Jacob (Israel) met Rachel when he was 70 years old, then served 7 years for her before marrying her a week after he was tricked into marrying Leah? So he married Leah and Rachel when he was 77, then served another 7 years for Rachel.

Rachel was barren for the first 7 years of her marriage, although some ancient Jewish rabbinical sources say it was 14 years. The midrash relates that Rachel was twenty-two years old when she was married to Jacob (Seder Olam Rabbah 2), and her barrenness lasted for fourteen years (Seder Eliyahu Rabbah 18, p. 99).

Benjamin was born within the same year they leave Laban’s house. Year 2302

Joseph was 6 years older than Benjamin, so he was born in 2296.

Joseph was 17 years old when he was taken into captivity.

Joseph was 39 years old when he was reunited with his brothers in Egypt.

Jacob was 130 years old when he was reunited with Joseph in Egypt.

Jacob was 147 years old when he died.

Joseph was 56 years old when his father passed away.

Subtract from Jacob’s age at death (147) Joseph’s age at Jacob’s death (56), & subtract 7 more years of Rachel’s barrenness to get Jacob’s age at marriage to Rachel (84). 147 – 56 – 7 = 84. If she was barren for 14 years, as the Midrash states, then you would subtract an additional 7 years for a total of 14 years, thus Jacob would have been 77 years old when he married her. 147 – 56 – 14 = 77. 

Lesson Learned
Consider the fact that although Jacob was a full-grown man, he obeyed his father Isaac and followed his direction to go to the country of Laban to find a wife for himself. He did not disobey his father simply because he was over 18 years old, based on the false premise that since he was an adult, his father had no right to be involved in his search for and selection of a wife.

Life Application

The application for our lives today is that fathers most certainly have a God-given role in their adult children's marriage partner selection process. Deciding who to marry should not be made without the guidance and blessing of your parents, unless you have tried to work through that with great wisdom and care, and after much prayer and fasting the Lord has shown you that you are to get married without their blessing or against their counsel. If that is the case, then you should have many, well-documented confirmations that would withstand anyone's close scrutiny, and also have the blessing and approval of your church elders and the parents of the person you are marrying.

Attribution Notice: The cropped image above is of the 1652 painting by Jan Victors, called Jacob Seeking the Forgiveness of Esau, which is on display in the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the Home page, such as The Father's Role in the Marriage of His Children, Oral Account of Creation from Adam to Abraham, All Scripture must be fulfilled, The Bible Never Fails. You may also access other articles on the Home page for this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.