MATH IN THE PARSHA
The Debate - Age 3 or Age 48?
The Medrash (Bereshis Rabbah 64:4) records a debate regarding the age at which Abraham recognized HaShem's existence. One opinion holds that he was three years old, and another opinion claims that he was forty-eight.
Sources
I. Resh Lakish states Avrohom become cognizant of the Creator at the age of three based on the concept that Avrohom recognized the Creator for 172 years of his 175-years of life. עקב (26,5) has a Gematria of 172 (Ran to Nedarim 32a).
אַבְרָהָם בְקֹלִי שָמַע - עֵקֶב, אֲשֶר because that Abraham hearkened to My voice
- How old was Avrohom when his died (25,7)?
- What is the Gematria of the word עֵקֶב? (The years that Avrohom listened to HaShem)
- Subtract second from first (age Avram was when began to serve HaShem).
II. Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Chanina both say that Avrohom was 48 when he became cognizant of the Creator since at that age the famous event of the Tower of Bavel occurred which began Avrohom’s spiritual journey. (Avrohom was born in the year 1948 after the Creation, which the Dispersion after the construction of the Tower occurred in 1996, the year of the death of Peleg)
All 11 individuals were alive at the time of the Dispersion (Tower of Bavel) in the year 1996 (after Creation)
- Complete their age in the year 1996, in the chart below
- Which person died in that year (his name indicated this event)?
- How old Avram in that year?
Age in 1996 The Dispersion: 950 600 438 433 464 239 175
Total Years Lived
