“Mary was 12” and “Rebekah was 3”

 A lot of apologists have flooded the internet with two lies when they try to defend another religious figure by citing two examples from the Bible to justify certain actions:

1. Mary was 12 when Jesus was born.
2. Rebekah was 3 when Isaac married her.

So, I spent some time looking into these two claims.

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Mary was 12

• The Bible doesn't tell us the age of Mary when she gave birth to Jesus. Luke 1:27 only says she was a virgin – the emphasis is on purity, not age. Most scholars put her in her late teens per Jewish tradition.
• The claim comes from the Protoevangelium of James (non-canonical, 2nd–4th century).
• People say this text calls her 12… except the text actually says:

And she was sixteen years old when these mysteries happened.

So even their own source says 16, not 12.

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Rebekah was 3

This comes from later Jewish rabbinic commentaries that make several assumptions. Many other rabbis say she was older.

The Bible itself never calls her a toddler and shows she was of marriageable age:

Genesis 24:16
The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up.

The “Rebekah was 3” argument (copy-pasted everywhere) goes like this:

𝟏. 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐚𝐜 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐲 (𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝟏𝟕).
𝟐. 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐚𝐜 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐀𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐦 (𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝟐𝟐).
𝟑. 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐚𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐦’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐡, 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 (𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝟐𝟐).
𝟒. 𝐀𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚’𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝟐𝟐, 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 (𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫), 𝐰𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟐𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝 (𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝟐𝟑:𝟏-𝟑).
𝟓. 𝐀𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡’𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐚𝐜 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝟑𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝.
𝟔. 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐚𝐜 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝟒𝟎 (𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝟐𝟓:𝟐𝟎), 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡.

Source : Islam compass Website

The whole thing falls apart at point 3.

Genesis 22:20 says:

Now after these things it was told Abraham, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children… (Bethuel fathered Rebekah).”

“After these things” is used all over Genesis for events years or decades later. It doesn't refer to an immediate event.

Genesis 15:1

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” NASB

→ Years after the events of Genesis 14

Same is repeated in Genesis 15:1, 22:1, 39:7, 40:1, 48:1

Also: - Abraham is in Beersheba - Rebekah is born 1000+ km away in Paddan-Aram - Someone had to travel that distance with the news

There is a clear time gap.

The same mistake is made when they link Sarah’s death (Gen 23) directly to Rebekah’s birth just because

• Gen 22 ends with the news of Rebekah’s birth (vv. 20–23)
• Gen 23 begins with Sarah’s death (v. 1)

Bible doesn't provide any linkage between ending of 22 and starting of 23.

TL;DR

• Protoevangelium of James (the only source for Mary’s age) says 16, not 12 → Source : New Advent website
• Rebekah being 3 relies on deliberately misreading “after these things” as “immediately” and ignoring geography

Hope this helps counter the misinformation being spread.