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Why our forefathers did not have more children:

  1. Why did Avraham stop after a single child with Sarah?

  2. Why did Itzhak stop after the twins?

  3. Why (and how) did Yaakov stop after having the 12 tribes, where his wives were in their twenties?

I assume there was some divine guidance, like if G-d said 1 child or 12 children so it be, but I would like to have some sources that mention the reason(s).

Al Berko
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    Why do you think they purposefully stopped? They were mostly barren and lucky to have had one! – Double AA Nov 17 '18 at 23:15
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    Well, we see that Rochel stopped at 2 because she died. It's not like they purposefully stopped? Do you mean they used contraceptives after they had children? –  Nov 17 '18 at 23:37

1 Answers1

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Sarah having a child a 90 was a miracle. You want to know why another miracle didn't occur?

Rivka had her uterus destroyed by Esav as he was born. He did this specifically so she should not have 12 tribes. See Tanchuma Bubar Ki Seitzei 4

As for Yaakov's wives. By the time he had his twelve sons and one daughter (ignoring the possibility of twin daughters for each son):

  • One wife was dead.

  • The two pilagshos were pinch hitters and only had kids upon request of Rachel and Leah.

All we have left is Leah who had six sons and a daughter. The fact that she was no longer having children shouldn't come as a shock, should it?

mbloch
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user6591
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