Chayyei Sarah: Can We Argue That Rivkah Was Not Three Years Old?

Or, as DovBear has recently been putting it, that midrash is non-canonical?

There are many proofs that this is indeed so. (Among other things, meforshim who say differently.)

One interesting one is in Rabbenu Bachya on this week's parsha. The pasuk Bereishit 24:19 states:

יט וַתְּכַל, לְהַשְׁקֹתוֹ; וַתֹּאמֶר, גַּם לִגְמַלֶּיךָ אֶשְׁאָב, עַד אִם-כִּלּוּ, לִשְׁתֹּת.

19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said: 'I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.'

Rabbenu Bachya writes:

הגבורה הזאת לשאוב לכל גמליו לא היה בחוק האפשרות כי אם בסיוע אלהי וכל שכן לפי דעת המדרש שהיתה בת שלש שנים אבל היה הענין מכלל ההצלחה שהבטיחו אברהם: הוא ישלח מלאכו אתך והצליח דרכך

That is,

This strength the draw water for all his camels is not within the natural possibility, except with Divine assistance. And certainly according to the opinion of the midrash that she was three years old. However, the matter was within the general "prospering" which Avraham promised him. Bereishit 24:40:

מ וַיֹּאמֶר, אֵלָי: ה אֲשֶׁר-הִתְהַלַּכְתִּי לְפָנָיו, יִשְׁלַח מַלְאָכוֹ אִתָּךְ וְהִצְלִיחַ דַּרְכֶּךָ, וְלָקַחְתָּ אִשָּׁה לִבְנִי, מִמִּשְׁפַּחְתִּי וּמִבֵּית אָבִי.

40 And he said unto me: The LORD, before whom I walk, will send His angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father's house;

(Brief digression -- this "pasuk" Rabbenu Bachya is citing here is actually a conflation of two pesukim: This pasuk #40, and pasuk#7:

ז ה אֱלֹהֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם, אֲשֶׁר לְקָחַנִי מִבֵּית אָבִי וּמֵאֶרֶץ מוֹלַדְתִּי, וַאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר-לִי וַאֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע-לִי לֵאמֹר, לְזַרְעֲךָ אֶתֵּן אֶת-הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת--הוּא, יִשְׁלַח מַלְאָכוֹ לְפָנֶיךָ, וְלָקַחְתָּ אִשָּׁה לִבְנִי, מִשָּׁם.

7 The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house, and from the land of my nativity, and who spoke unto me, and who swore unto me, saying: Unto thy seed will I give this land; He will send His angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from thence.

)

We see two points from Rabbenu Bachya. First, he is willing to say that a maiden drawing water for all the camels is impossible, and certainly that a three year old girl drawing all that water is impossible. The difference is that he is willing to read this into the text as Hashem's special providence and assistance, such that he is willing to stand by the midrashic reading.

Second, he appears willing to argue with the midrashic reading. He states וכל שכן לפי דעת המדרש שהיתה בת שלש שנים, implying that this is the opinion of the midrash, but that one could assess the text differently and that this would be a legitimate reading. But that there would still be Divine assistance at play here, since it would still be impossible.

This grants legitimacy, if any is needed, to readings of the story such that Rivkah could not possibly be three years old, or else she would not be able to draw the water (, converse with Eliezer, agree to marry, etc.)

On a related note, see my post from last year about the plausibility of a three year old Rivkah.