John Calvin Commentary Genesis 23:1

"And the life of Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years. These were the years of the life of Sarah." — Genesis 23:1 (ASV)

And Sarah was one hundred and twenty-seven years old. It is remarkable that Moses, who relates Sarah's death in a single word, uses so many words in describing her burial; but we will soon see that the latter account is not superfluous. Why he alludes to her death so briefly, I do not know, except that he leaves more for his readers to reflect upon than he expresses.

The holy fathers saw that they, in common with reprobates, were subject to death. Nevertheless, even while painfully leading a life full of suffering, they were not deterred from advancing with fearlessness toward the goal. From this it follows that, being animated by the hope of a better life, they did not give way to fatigue.

Moses says that Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years. Since he repeats the word years after each of the numbers, the Jews invent the idea that this was done because she had been as beautiful in her hundredth year as in her twentieth, and as modest in the prime of her life as when she was seven years old.

This is their custom; while they wish to prove themselves skillful in honoring their nation, they invent frivolous trifles which betray a shameful ignorance. For instance, in this case, who would not say that they were entirely ignorant of their own language, in which this kind of repetition is very common?

The discussion by others concerning the word חים (lives) also lacks substance. The reason the Hebrews use the word lives in the plural for life cannot, it seems to me, be better explained than by the reason the Latins express some singular concepts using plural forms. I know that human life is manifold because, beyond merely vegetative life and beyond the sense they share with brute animals, humans are also endowed with mind and intelligence.

This reasoning, therefore, is plausible but not sound. There is more semblance of truth in the opinion of those who think that the various events of human life are signified; that life, since it has nothing stable and is agitated by perpetual vicissitudes, is rightly considered as many lives. I am, however, content to refer simply to the idiom of the language, the reason for which should not always be investigated with excessive curiosity.