inheritance. With this, therefore, the history of Isaac's life is brought to a close. Isaac died at the age of 180, and was buried by his two sons in the cave of Machpelah (Gen 49:31), Abraham's family grave, Esau having come from Seir to Hebron to attend the funeral of his father. But Isaac's death did not actually take place for 12 years after Jacob's return to Hebron. For as Joseph was 17 years old when he was sold by his brethren (Gen 37:2), and Jacob was then living at Hebron (Gen 37:14), it cannot have been more than 31 years after his flight from Esau when Jacob returned home (cf. Gen 34:1). Now since, according to our calculation at Gen 27:1, he was 77 years old when he fled, he must have been 108 when he returned home; and Isaac would only have reached his 168th year, as he was 60 years old when Jacob was born (Gen 25:26). Consequently Isaac lived to witness the grief of Jacob at the loss of Joseph, and died but a short time before his promotion in Egypt, which occurred 13 years after he was sold (Gen 41:46), and only 10 years before Jacob's removal with his family to Egypt, as Jacob was 130 years old when he was presented to Pharaoh (Gen 47:9). But the historical significance of his life was at an end, when Jacob returned home with his twelve sons. IX. History Of Esau - Genesis 36 “Esau and Jacob shook hands once more over the corpse of their father. Henceforth their paths diverged, to meet no more” ( Del.). As Esau had also received a divine promise (Gen 25:23), and the history of his tribe was already interwoven in the paternal blessing with that of Israel (Gen 27:29 and Gen 27:40), an account is given in the book of Genesis of his growth into a nation; and a separate section is devoted to this, which, according to the invariable plan of the book, precedes the tholedoth of Jacob. The account is subdivided into the following sections, which are distinctly indicated by their respective headings. (Compare with these the parallel list in 1 Chron 1:35-54.)
