When did Jacob die?

Answer 1

A:Bishop Ussher decided that, on the basis of biblical genealogies and other clues in The Bible that the earth was created approximately 4004 BCE, so rather than repeat his calculations, we can work forward from his date of creation.

The Bible tells us that Noah died at the age of 950 years, 2006 years after creation. It says that Jacob was born exactly 100 years later and lived for 147 years. On this basis, Jacob died 2253 years after creation, or approximately 1751 BCE.

Unfortunately, historians say that Jacob was not a real, historical person. Even if Jacob had once lived, the dates in the Bible can not really be true, not only because of the improbably long lifespans involved but because an examination of them shows they were arrived at by numerology, not actual history. Once we realise that no one ever lived to 950 years or even 147 years, the best we could ever say is that we do not know when Jacob died.