EXTRA · classical (not a TT unit)

Toldos 27:2 · EXTRA

Parashas Toldos · Passuk 27:2

The Complete Passuk

וַיֹּ֕אמֶר הִנֵּה־נָ֖א זָקַ֑נְתִּי לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְתִּי י֥וֹם מוֹתִֽי׃

And he said, “I am old now, and I do not know how soon I may die.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Rashi on Bereishis 27:2 (classical source on this passuk; not listed as a numbered Torah Temimah unit here).

Lemma / focus: לא ידעתי יום מותי.

Sefaria

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן קָרְחָה אִם מַגִּיעַ אָדָם לְפֶרֶק אֲבוֹתָיו יִדְאַג חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים לִפְנֵיהֶן וְחָמֵשׁ לְאַחַר כֵּן; וְיִצְחָק הָיָה בֶּן קכ״ג, אָמַר שֶׁמָּא לְפֶרֶק אִמִּי אֲנִי מַגִּיעַ וְהִיא מֵתָה בַּת קכ״ז וַהֲרֵינִי בֶן ה׳ שָׁנִים סָמוּךְ לְפִרְקָהּ; לְפִיכָךְ לֹא יָדַעְתִּי יוֹם מוֹתִי, שֶׁמָּא לְפֶרֶק אִמִּי, שֶׁמָּא לְפֶרֶק אַבָּא.

English: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korchah said: When a person approaches the age of his parents he should fear five years before and five years after. Yitzchak was 123; he said, Perhaps I am near the age of my mother, who died at 127—I am within five years of her span—therefore he worried.

On the daf / in context: Yitzchak’s uncertainty about the day of death is linked to the ages of his parents; at 123 he fears Sarah’s span of 127.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Rashi / midrash) — not a formal named middah of the 13: the fear of death is timed by the parents’ ages.

What Is Learned

Yitzchak did not know the day of his death; having reached near his mother’s age-span, he feared within five years before and after.