ויהי יצחק בן ארבעים שנה. פירש"י שנשא יצחק את רבקה כשהיתה בת שלש שנים וקשיא דבשלהי ספרי מסיק ג' שנותיהן שוין קהת ורבקה ובן עזאי. וא"כ חיתה רבקה קל"ג שנים כמו קהת ואם לא היתה כי אם בת שלש שנים כשנשאה יצחק תמצא שחסר משנותיהם י"א שנים כיצד בת ג' נשאה ובת כ"ג היתה כשילדה. וא"כ כשילדה את יעקב היתה בת כ"ג ויעקב בן ס"ג כשנתברך כדפירש"י בסוף הסדר הזה וי"ד שנה נטמן בבית עבר וכ' שנה שמש בבית לבן ושתי שנים נשתהה בדרך ובאותו פרק נתבשר על מיתת אמו כדפירש"י בפ' וישלח גבי אלון בכות. וא"כ לא היתה כי אם בת קכ"ב שנים. ל"נ שהיתה רבקה בת י"ד שנים כשנשאה יצחק והכי איתא בסדר עולם וכן א"ר יהודה ואז תמצא שהיתה קל"ג שנים מכוונים. ולפי זה צ"ל מה ששנינו בסדר עולם כשחזר אברהם מן העקדה נתבשר שנולדה רבקה שנולדה כבר עבר י"א שנים. ועל זה הקשה הרב משה שלמה בר אברהם המכונה אנסימ"אן מאי האי דאמרינן נותנין זמן לבתולה שנים עשר חודש וילפי' לה מקרא דכתיב תשב הנערה וכו' והיאך מצינו למילף מרבקה והלא בוגרת היתה באותו זמן ואמרי' התם דלבוגרת אין נותנין כי אם ל' יום כמו לאלמנה וצ"ע: ויהי יצחק בן ארבעים שנה, Yitzchok was forty years old, etc.” According to Rashi, the forty year old Yitzchok married a three year old Rivkah. This is difficult as we have learned from the Sifri that there were three people who reached the same age, i.e. Kehat, Ben Azzai and Rivkah, and the Torah stated that Kehat died at the age of one hundred and thirty three. (Exodus 6,18.) If this were correct she must have been eleven years older than three when she married Yitzchok. [There is no Sifri on the Book of Genesis, but the Midrash hagadol, which originated in Yemen, also claims that Rivkah was 14 years old when she married Yitzchok. Ed.] Rashi’s calculation goes as follows: Rivkah was married at 3 years, and was 23 years old when she gave birth to Esau and Yaakov. Yaakov was 63 years old when he fled to Padan Aram as Rashi explains at the end of this portion. He then spent 14 years in the academy headed by Ever, great grandson of Noach. After that he worked 20 years for his uncle Lavan. He spent 2 years on his return journey home during which time he was informed by Rivkah’s nursemaid that his mother had died, as Rashi explains at the end of parshat Vayishlach, in connection with the burial of that nursemaid called Devorah, and the naming of an oak tree after her. According to this calculation, Rivkah could not have lived to an age older than 123 years. This is also the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah according to whom Rivkah must have been 14 years old when she got married. If you accept that view, Rivkah died at the age of 133. According to this calculation, what we read in seder olam, chapter 1, that Avraham was informed about the birth of Rivkah while on the way home from the binding of Yitzchok, she must have been 11 years old already at that time. This is what bothered Rabbi Moshe Shlomoh ben Avraham known by the acrostic אנסימא"ן, when discussing that a virgin is given 12 month between betrothal and consummation of the marriage (Talmud tractate Ketuvot, folio 57) The Talmud there derives this from the words in our portion, when Rivkah’s family demanded 12 months delay from Eliezer before Rivkah going with him. If Rivkah had been 14 years old already, she would have been considered an adult, and her father would not have had the right to tell her what to do (unless she still continued to live in his house) The Talmud there gives a girl who is over twelve and a half years old at betrothal only thirty days before becoming wed to her fiance, just as the length of time required before a widow can remarry. Our author leaves the question open, not having heard how to reconcile these data to the satisfaction of all scholars.