Patriarchs (Bible)

Most scholars view the patriarchal age as a late literary construct that does not relate to any particular historical era,[1] and after a century of exhaustive archaeological investigation, no evidence has been found for the partiarchs.

They are used as a significant marker by God in revelations[4] and promises,[5] and continue to play important roles in the Abrahamic faiths.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam hold that the patriarchs, along with their primary wives, known as the matriarchs – Sarah (wife of Abraham), Rebekah (wife of Isaac) and Leah (one of the wives of Jacob) – are entombed at the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron, a site held holy by the three religions.

The lifetimes given for the patriarchs in the Masoretic Text of the Book of Genesis are: Adam 930 years, Seth 912, Enos 905, Kenan 910, Mahalalel 895, Jared 962, Enoch 365 (did not die, but was taken away by God), Methuselah 969, Lamech 777, Noah 950.

[7] Gerhard von Rad said: The long lives ascribed to the patriarchs cause remarkable synchronisms and duplications.