1. The Repetition of “Shanah” in Sarah’s Age
The Torah describes Sarah’s age at her passing as meah shanah v’esrim shanah v’sheva shanim—100 years, 20 years, and 7 years (Bereishis 23:1). Rashi comments that the reason for this breakdown, rather than simply stating “127 years,” is to compare each stage of her life. Specifically, Rashi says, mah bas esrim lo chat’ah—just as at age 20 she had not sinned. This raises the question: why does Rashi emphasize the age of 20 as a milestone for not having sinned?
Rashi explains that before the age of 20, a person is not yet subject to punishment—shehari einah bas onshin. In other words, it is not merely that Sarah did not sin by age 20, but rather that she was not yet punishable according to Torah standards. The Torah equates her older years to her youth: just as at 20 she was without sin (in the sense of being unpunishable), so too in her later years.
2. Contradiction Between Punishable Ages in Rashi
This raises a difficulty when compared to another Rashi at the end of Parshas Bereishis. There, the Torah states that Noach fathered children at the age of 500, which was much later than others who became parents around 100. Rashi asks why Noach delayed having children and answers that Hashem arranged it so his eldest son Yefes would not be 100 years old when the mabul—Flood—came. The reason is that once a person reached 100, they became punishable for their actions.
Rashi quotes from Navi that people were punished starting at age 100 before Matan Torah—the Giving of the Torah. This seems to contradict our earlier Rashi about Sarah, where the punishable age is set at 20.
3. Reconciling Different Punishable Ages Across Generations
The resolution may lie in understanding these ages relative to life expectancy in different generations. In Noach’s time, people lived extraordinarily long lives—seven, eight, nine hundred years or more. In such an era, reaching age 100 would be analogous to reaching adulthood or responsibility much later than today.
By contrast, by the time of Avraham and Sarah, lifespans had already shortened significantly—Sarah lived only 127 years. To say that one is not responsible until age 100 would no longer make sense in this context. Therefore, when Rashi refers to a punishable age of 100 before Matan Torah, he is speaking about those earlier generations with much longer lifespans. By Avraham and Sarah’s time, and certainly in our context today, the standard shifted to age 20 as the threshold for punishment.
4. Application to Yishmael and Divine Judgment
This idea also helps explain another episode involving Yishmael. When Yishmael was cast out and near death from thirst in the desert, Rashi notes that angels questioned Hashem about saving him: “Why save this Yishmael? He will eventually harm your children.” Hashem responds by asking what Yishmael’s status is now—rasha (wicked) or tzaddik (righteous)? The answer: right now he is a tzaddik.
This seems difficult since previous Rashis describe Yishmael as already engaging in bad behavior (tarbus ra'ah). However, if we apply our principle regarding punishable ages, it makes sense: Yishmael was not yet at an age where he could be held fully accountable for his actions—he wasn’t yet twenty (and certainly not one hundred). Even though he had done wrong things as a youth, he wasn’t yet considered punishable by Divine standards.
5. Defining Tzaddik Status According to Tanya
The Alter Rebbe writes in the first chapter of Tanya that sometimes a person is called a tzaddik—righteous—if they have “won the judgment,” meaning they are judged favorably at this moment regardless of their past behavior. Thus, even if someone has previously engaged in negative behavior (tarbus ra'ah), if they are currently innocent or unpunishable due to their age or circumstance, they can be called a tzaddik for purposes of Divine judgment.
This understanding brings together all these Rashis: whether discussing Sarah’s innocence at twenty or Yishmael’s status when saved by Hashem, both are rooted in how Torah defines accountability relative to one’s stage in life and historical context.