Now the days of Isaac were 180 years.
Isaac's life closes in one sentence: 180 years, longer than Abraham lived, with no story attached. That short notice raises two questions. Why so little about the quietest of the three fathers in Genesis? And why record his death here, when the events around it came much later?
All his years in one land
Isaac never left Canaan. One writer weighs his long life by that: not by great deeds, but by a quiet life as a stranger in the land God promised him.
William KellyNotice how truly Isaac lived to the end of his long life. He confessed himself a stranger and sojourner on the earth. Isaac never even had to ask for a foot of the land of promise. Abraham did, when he needed a burial place for Sarah and those who followed. He too knew what famine in the land was, but under its pressure he did not go down into Egypt as his fathers had. Isaac stays in the land, peaceful and little seen. He is not marked out by victorious energy like Abraham. He is not an exile and wanderer like Jacob either.
Where these years fall in the story
Genesis records his death at the end of chapter 35, but the event falls much later in the story. One commentator works it out from the ages Genesis gives:
L. M. GrantMany years pass after this before Isaac died at the age of 180 years. Jacob and Esau were 120 years old at this time, since Isaac was 60 when they were born (Gen. 25:16). Ten years after Isaac's death Jacob stood before Pharaoh at age 130 (Gen. 47:9). But Joseph was sold into Egypt at age 17 and rose to rule over Egypt 13 years later at age 30 (Gen. 37:1; Gen. 41:46). Following this there were seven years of plenty in Egypt and some years of famine. So it seems that Isaac died at about the time Joseph rose to power in Egypt.
"Gathered to his people"
The words used at Isaac's death put him in a small company.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe phrase "gathered to his people" is used only of six persons: Abraham (25:8); Ishmael (Gen. 25:17); Isaac (35:29); Jacob (49:29-33); Aaron (Num. 20:24); and Moses (Deut. 32:50).
One writer takes that phrase to mean more than burial:
W. W. FeredayThe Old Testament often says that a person "slept with his fathers" and "was buried with his fathers." Both expressions refer to the body only, and they follow each other in natural order. The sleeping body was buried. The expression "gathered to his people" may have a larger meaning. It may point to the one who has died joining his forefathers in the unseen world.
One cave, three generations
They buried Isaac in the same cave where Abraham and Sarah already lay. One writer sees all three fathers held together there by one hope.
J. G. BellettIn this life of faith and hope, we see the fathers of the book of Genesis as one. It is a happy thing to know this. They illustrate different mysteries, and they teach us different moral lessons. But in this life of faith and hope they are one. Each in his own day — Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Gen. 25, Gen. 35, Gen. 49) — is alike gathered to his people. Each is "a handful of sacred dust" in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. Each lies there in sure and certain hope of a resurrection to life and to the inheritance.
The brothers meet again
A funeral brought Esau and Jacob together again.
William KellyEsau and Jacob came to bury their aged father. He was old and full of days, beyond even the good old age of Abraham. Isaac and Ishmael had buried their own father in the same way. Death speaks with a powerful, subduing voice to the heart of man, even where there is no faith. Believers should not keep their close relatives away from the grave. They should welcome them there. At a graveside many a self-seeking and proud soul has bowed under the solemn issues of salvation on one side and judgment on the other.
Another writer draws out the practical arrangements behind the scene:
L. M. GrantEsau and Jacob were both present for Isaac's funeral. Therefore Jacob must have sent word to Esau at the time, so that Esau could come. But at least it is good that the brothers met face to face again. The wisdom of God arranges matters of this kind.
Summary
- Stayed — Isaac lived all 180 years without once leaving Canaan, a stranger and sojourner in a land he held only by promise.
- Placed — Genesis records his death in chapter 35, but the numbers put it around the time Joseph rose to power in Egypt.
- Gathered — Scripture uses that phrase of only six men, and it may point beyond the body to the unseen world.
- Buried — he lies in the cave in the field of Ephron, beside Abraham and Sarah. All three fathers share one hope: resurrection and the inheritance.
- Joined — the grave brought Esau and Jacob together again, where death speaks with a subduing voice even to those without faith.