Rebekah never saw Jacob again after he fled.
In Genesis 27, Rebekah sent Jacob to Laban to escape Esau's murderous intent, expecting it would be only "a few days." Les Feldick notes that the separation actually lasted twenty years, so Rebekah never lived to see Jacob again.
Genesis 27:42-45 — This is the passage where Rebekah sends Jacob to Laban and expects his absence to be brief; it sets up the permanent separation.
In Genesis 27:42–45, Rebekah is told that Esau is "comforting himself" with the plan to kill Jacob. She calls Jacob and says, "Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee." She then commands him, "Arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; and tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away." She adds, "Then I will send, and fetch thee from thence." After this, the biblical narrative follows Jacob on his journey to Haran. The text does not record Rebekah's death or any later reunion with Jacob.
Les Feldick draws attention to the gap between Rebekah's expectation and reality. In the Genesis account she tells Jacob to stay "a few days." Les paraphrases her thinking as "maybe a week, two weeks, maybe a month, Esau cool off." Then he points to the actual outcome: "But how long did it turn out to be? Twenty years, and Rebekah never lived to see Jacob again." For Les, this is the tragic human consequence of Esau's lingering hatred and Rebekah's attempt to protect Jacob. The short exile she planned became a lifelong loss.
Rebekah learned that Esau was comforting himself with the plan to kill Jacob. She immediately called her younger son and told him to flee to her brother Laban in Haran (Genesis 27:42–43). Her intent was to protect Jacob from Esau's anger.
Rebekah told Jacob to stay with Laban "a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away" (Genesis 27:44). Les Feldick says she was thinking of "a few days, maybe a week, two weeks, maybe a month"—but the actual absence was twenty years.
No. Les Feldick states plainly that after Jacob left, "Rebekah never lived to see Jacob again." The biblical narrative never records a reunion, and her promise to send for him was never fulfilled.
Jacob & Esau: The Sovereignty of God in the Birthright & Blessing | Genesis 25-27
so the twins are 120. And then here's another little interesting date. By the time Isaac dies at 180 and Jacob and Esau are now 120, Joseph is 29, and he's already been down in Egypt for 12 years, because, you see, the boys sold him into slavery when they took that coat of many colors, you remember? It says Joseph was 17.
Rebekah Never Saw Jacob Again
Les explains that Rebekah expected Jacob to be gone only a short time, but he was gone twenty years, and she never lived to see him again.
The Birthright Explained: Why God Chose Jacob Over Esau
He takes Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian, and years go by, and the first thing you know, Rebekah conceives, and she's with child in verse 22, they're twins. And the children struggled together within her, and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord, and the Lord answered, Now mark this down, because I know that when we go on in our study, and w…
From Deceiver to Prince: Jacob’s Struggle and God’s Unconditional Promise (Genesis 28-32)
And so Rachel knowing that slips them out without her father knowing about it, and she takes them along, and she has them hidden as you well know the story in verse 34. Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them, and Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.
Is It Luck or God? Divine Sovereignty vs. Free Will
Well, I'm afraid they never had a true experience because it was approached in the wrong way. But here, Rebekah is left with a choice, and she says, I will go. So verse 59, they send away Rebekah, their sister, and her nurse, and Abram's servant, and his men. And so they take off now from way up here in Syria, and they're heading back down into the land of Canaan.
Is It Luck or God? Divine Sovereignty vs. Free Will
So it will be when Christ calls his bride home. He's not going to just immediately call her to heaven, but He's going to leave heaven and meet her part way. And we're going to be looking at that, not in this lesson, but hopefully in the next one. But get the picture now that Isaac has left home, he's part way, and here comes his bride Rebekah.
From Deceiver to Prince: Jacob’s Struggle and God’s Unconditional Promise (Genesis 28-32)
Now again, in chapter 29, we're not going to take all this verse by verse, because like I've said for the last two programs, I'm going to hope to be ready for Exodus by the time we get to the end of these four programs. And so in 29, Jacob now comes to the land of his relatives, and immediately he runs into the flocks, of course, of his uncle Laban.
From Deceiver to Prince: Jacob’s Struggle and God’s Unconditional Promise (Genesis 28-32)
He is still Jacob. All right, keep that in mind. So Isaac sent him away in verse 5, and he went to Paddan Aram, up to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau's mother. Now we come back to Esau in verse 6, and when he saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram, to take him away from thence, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge,…
Genesis 27:42: And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.
This is the moment Rebekah learns of Esau's murderous intent, which triggers Jacob's flight.
Genesis 27:44: And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away;
Rebekah's expectation of a short separation contrasts with the twenty years Jacob actually stayed.
Genesis 27:45: Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?
Rebekah fully expected to bring Jacob home, yet she never lived to do so.
Jacob was gone twenty years, and Les Feldick says Rebekah never lived to see Jacob again. So yes, she died before he came back, although the Bible does not record the details of her death.
The Bible records her warning to Jacob and his departure to Haran, then does not narrate any further meetings. Les Feldick explains that Rebekah never lived to see Jacob again after the twenty-year separation.
She said "a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away." Les pictures her expecting perhaps a week or a month, but Jacob was gone twenty years.