Reish Lakish said: [God said:] ‘As you live, you will lie down, but you will not die,’ as it is stated: “The time for Israel to die approached.”10Although Jacob’s body would cease to function, he would not die. The verse cited can be more literally translated: “The days of Israel drew near to death,” implying that Jacob’s days would die, meaning he would no longer function in the physical world, but he himself would not die (Maharzu).
What is “approached [vayikrevu]”? The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘The day complains against you, saying that it would stand still.’11Since Jacob was supposed to die on that day, the day would not be able to end without him dying. It is like a person who says: ‘So-and-so has attacked [karav] another.’ That is “vayikrevu.”12The midrash portrays the day, as it were, submitting a claim against Jacob, that he must die on that day.
Everyone in whose regard it is written that the time for him [to die] approached, did not reach the days of his ancestors. “Approach” is written with regard to David – “the time for David to die approached” (I Kings 2:1). He did not reach the days of his ancestors. Of Boaz, Oved, and Yishai, the Sages said that they lived more than four hundred years, but David lived only seventy years.
He did not reach the days of his ancestors; therefore “approach” is written in his regard. Amram lived one hundred and thirty-seven years, but Moses lived only one hundred and twenty years; therefore, “approach” is written in his regard: “Behold, your days are approaching to die” (Deuteronomy 31:14). And Jacob, approach is written in his regard, as he did not reach the days of his ancestors. Abraham lived one hundred and seventy-five years, Isaac, one hundred and eighty, and Jacob, one hundred and forty-seven. That is why “approach” is written in his regard – “the time for Israel to die approached.”