And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Genesis closes Isaac's story in one quiet sentence. He died old and full of days, and his two sons buried him. A stolen blessing had once driven those brothers apart. Commentators ask what "gathered to his people" means, and why Scripture tells so little about Isaac's last years. They also ask why his death appears here, when it happened much later.
Forty Silent Years
Isaac lived longer than Abraham or Jacob. Yet Scripture says almost nothing about his old age.
William KellyIsaac's life took a long time to reach its close. His years went beyond Jacob's, and even beyond Abraham's. But the last forty years of it gave the Spirit of God no occasion to dwell on them.
That silence sets the tone for how much anyone should say about him. His life kept one shape: he stayed in the land, and he never owned it.
William KellyAs the Holy Spirit says little, it is not for a believer to say much. But we may notice how truly he lived to the end of his long life, calling himself a stranger and a temporary resident on the earth. Isaac did not even need a foot of the land of promise, as Abraham needed a burying place for Sarah and those who followed. He too knew what famine in the land was. But even under that pressure he did not go down into Egypt, as his fathers had.
"Gathered to His People"
This phrase is not the Bible's usual way of reporting a death. Scripture keeps it for a handful of names.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe phrase "gathered to his people" is used only of six persons. Of Abraham (25:8); Ishmael (25:17); Isaac (35:29); Jacob (49:29-33); Aaron (Num. 20:24); and Moses (Deut. 32:50).
One writer sets this wording apart from the Old Testament's other ways of speaking about death.
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 carry a larger meaning. It may show that the one who died had joined his forefathers in the unseen world.
Two Brothers At One Grave
Esau had once planned to kill Jacob as soon as the mourning for their father ended. At the funeral that plan was gone.
William KellyEsau and Jacob came to bury their aged father, old and full of days beyond even Abraham's good old age. Isaac and Ishmael had done the same for their father before them. Death has a powerful and subduing voice for the heart of man, even where there is no faith... When Esau's rage turned to killing his brother Jacob, the days of mourning had not yet come. When they did come, God, who has power over all hearts, so worked that no such intention was left.
Esau lived far away in his own territory, which means someone had to arrange his coming.
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.
The Grave As A Statement Of Hope
Isaac's grave was the cave Abraham had bought as a burial place for Sarah. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all lie in that one plot, and that says something about what they expected.
J. G. BellettEach in his day — Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — is gathered to his people in the same way. Each is "a handful of sacred dust" in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. Each is laid up there in the sure and certain hope of a resurrection to life and to the inheritance.
The two brothers stood at one grave, but they were not looking the same way.
William KellyEsau still lived to himself and for the present enjoyment of the world and its things. Jacob saw the promises and welcomed them from a distance, like his father and his grandfather. Those who say such things show clearly that they do not yet possess, but are seeking a better homeland — a heavenly one.
Why The Death Is Reported Here
The chapter ends with Isaac's burial, but the order of the telling is not the order of the calendar.
William KellyIsaac's death is named here, along with his great age, which went beyond Abraham's. But we must keep in mind that it did not happen until Joseph was sold into Egypt and had risen to the seat next to the throne, unseen and unknown to Israel. It is told here because the burial at Mamre brought the two sons together again in a sorrow that set aside their strife.
Summary
- Lived quietly. Isaac lived longer than Abraham or Jacob. Yet his last forty years get no comment. His life is marked by staying put, not by great deeds.
- Died a stranger. He never owned a foot of the land and never fled to Egypt in famine; he held the promise without the possession.
- Gathered, not buried. Scripture uses this phrase of only six people. It may point beyond the grave, to the one who died joining those who went before.
- Reconciled at the grave. Esau's old murderous anger was gone. God has power over hearts, and the two brothers stood together in one sorrow.
- Laid up in hope. The family cave was no ordinary tomb. Their dust lies there in the sure hope of resurrection and of the inheritance still to come.