*1 Certain ages are explicitly said in the verses
Note how verse Gn24-59 links to Gn25-20; so it too is
explicitly said

*2 This is the one event (Akaydah=sacrifice of Isaac)
where the age is not explicitly given.

Rashi at Gn22-23a points out that the topic sentence
of Gn22-20:24 is RIVKAHS birth. In other words the
3 Biblical paragraphs
- Akaydah
- Rivkahs birth and news of it
- Sarahs death
Form a sequence

From this sequence we see that the following 3 events
- the Akaydah
- news of Rivkahs birth
- Rivkahs birth
happened between
- Sarah age 90(birth of Isaac)
- Sarah age 127 (Death of Sarah)
See footnote #3 and #4 for further details

See LIST060A for the CONSECUTIVE PARAGRAPH PRINCIPLE
and its application to these paragraphs

*3 See LIST005J -- The Biblical expression
-- AFTER THESE THINGS
denotes Sequence: AFTER A WHILE*10

Further support for this AFTER-A-WHILE
interpretation may be found
in the fact that the Bible uses the past perfect:
The Bible says:
-- After the akaydah Abraham heard that Milkah
-- HAD ALREADY GIVEN birth to Bethuayl
-- Bethuayl HAD ALREADY given birth to Rivkah

This translation:HAD-ALREADY-GIVEN-BIRTH (Past perfect)
comes from the grammatical principle that
- past tense is translated as past perfect--HAD ALREADY
- future tense + Overturning VAV is translated as PAST
See LIST703g

*4 See footnotes #2 and #3. We know the Akaydah happened
some time between Sarah age 90 and Sarah age 127. We
also know that Rivkah had ALREADY been born at the Akaydah

Here is one REASONABLE approach
- Rivkah was 5 at The Akaydah. She was already known
as a charitable girl. Hence it was obvious (based
on family considerations) that she could marry Isaac

- Rivkah was 12 when Sarah died (Isaac 37). It wouldnt
be proper to marry a 12 year old as soon as she reaches
adulthood. Hence Isaac waited 3 years till she had
seen the world a bit (37+3=40; 12+3=15).

- Backtracking we see that the Akaydah probably happened
when Isaac was 30. The Akaydah symbolized for Isaac
the same as circumcision for Abraham...it symbolized
self-restraint---thus Isaac prepared for his marriage
to Rivkah for 7 years (The same as Jacob)*11

*5 Isaac was 40 (Rivkah 15) when they married. He was 60
(She 35) when she gave birth. Why the 20 year delay?

The standard text of Rashi reads as follows
--------------------------------------------
10 years from Rivkah 3 to 13
10 years during which husbands can wait for children
--------------------------------------------

After that he had to divorce her or get a new wife
to have children.

We interpret the situation as follows
------------------------------------------
Isaac waited till Rivkah was 35
35 years is the midpoint of a 70 year life
After that he would have to seek children elsewhere
------------------------------------------
See footnote *13 for a discussion and proofs

*10 A literal reading of the Rashis at Gn25-20a
and Gn23-02c seems to say that
- the Akaydah happened when Isaac was 37
- Sarah died because Abraham offered Isaac
- Thus the following 3 happened at the same time
-- Akaydah
-- birth of Rivkah
-- Sarahs death

But this literal reading is DIRECTLY CONTRADICTED
by the Rashi principle that
- AFTER THESE THINGS denotes SEQUENCE AFTER A WHILE
See LIST005j for a review of relevant verses

It is also directly contradicted by use of the PAST
PERFECT (HAD ALREADY BEEN GIVEN) See LIST703g

*11 The above is all reasonable. However if the reader doesnt
like this approach then I invite the reader to take
the 5 facts I have enumerated
- Sarah 90 when Isaac was born
- Akaydah happened between Isaac 0 and Isaac 37
- Sarah 127 (Isaac 37) at age of death
- Rivkah already born at Akaydah
- Isaac married rivkah at 40
The reader may then make their own spreadsheet
and use principles and or Midrashim to make it
reasonable.

For my claim that the Akaydah taught self-restraint
see http://www.Rashiyomi.com/akaydah.htm

*12 We note some language in Rashi consistent with
our interpretation
--------------------------------------------
During THAT PERIOD (the Akaydah) Rivkah was born
--------------------------------------------
There is an emphasis that Rivkah was born during
the PERIOD OF THE AKAYDAH, not at that exact time

Similarly Rashi states
-----------------------------------------------
Isaac waited 3 years after she was capable of childbirth
-----------------------------------------------
That is he waited from 12 to 15.

However this has been misread as
-----------------------------------------------
Isaac waited till she was 3 years old: Capable of relations
-----------------------------------------------
This harps on the fact that relations with a 3 year
old is considered male-female-relations.

However it is clearly absurd to assume that Isaac
married Rivkah at 3

*13 There are several ways to contradict the actual
text of Rashi

* Rivkah could NOT have been 3 at marriage or born
at the Akaydah since the Bible explicitly says
that Rivkah had ALREADY BEEN BORN at the Akaydah
and Abraham was told the NEWS, AWHILE after the
Akaydah (see LIST703g and LIST060a for details)

* Rashi is based on the Talmud in Yevamoth 64
But the Talmud does NOT say what Rashi says!!!

* The Talmud explicitly states that both Isaac
and Rivkah were barren (Alternatively Isaac
was in Israel and the 10 year rule to marry
elsewhere for children doesnt apply there)

So the most reasonable assumption is that
Rashi cited the 35-YEAR-RULE (A Man should
marry someone else for children if his wife
has not given birth by 35). However a later
scribe seeing a requirement to marry someone
else for children confused this with the
10 YEAR RULE mentioned above.

In summary: Rashi is based on Yevamoth and the
Talmud directly contradicts what Rashi says here
In fact the whole point of the Talmud is that
we can NOT infer the 10 year rule from Isaac
and Rivkah. Hence I think the above textual
emendation reasonable(Though we do not have
further sources to back it up).

Readers who are still dissatisfied should review
the Talmud Yevamoth 64 and try and come up
with their own explanation.