The Death of Isaac
Isaac dies at a hundred and eighty, the longest-lived of the patriarchs, and is buried by his sons in the cave of Machpelah.
Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years, longer than Abraham or Jacob. His life is told most sparely of all: he never left the land of Canaan, re-dug his father's wells, endured famine without going down to Egypt because he was told not to. Tradition sees in him the measure of strictness and constancy — he walks his father's path without deviation. For his last decades he was blind; a midrash says his sight failed from the tears of angels that fell into his eyes at the binding. He dies in Hebron "old and full of days," and the Torah notes that "Esau and Jacob his sons buried him" — brothers estranged for a lifetime stand together at the cave of Machpelah. By Seder Olam's count this is 2228, twelve years after Joseph was sold, so Isaac lived to see Jacob mourning a grandson believed dead. A midrash adds a bitter detail: Isaac knew Joseph was alive but did not tell Jacob, unwilling to reveal what God had concealed.