Smoodock's Blog

Assuming there aren’t any contradictions in the word of God, we need to understand how to read Genesis 46:7-27, so that the existing text is meaningful in itself, but also in such a way as to not contradict other parts of the Bible (cp. John 10:35). This is how we must read the word of God, because it suits the glory of God to conceal a matter, but it is to the king’s honor to search out what the Lord has hidden (Proverbs 25:2). In other words, if one comes across an apparent contradiction, keep searching with the hope of finding how the texts legitimately fit together.

Here we have listed Jacob’s children and his grandchildren (Genesis 46:7-27). However, there are several inconsistencies that can be found in this list, which most scholars conclude came with him down to Egypt. For example, Genesis 46:15 says: “These are the sons of Leah, which she bore unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.”

First of all, the text mentions daughters, which Leah bore to Jacob, yet only Dinah’s name is mentioned. Secondly, including Dinah, there are 34 sons and daughters of Leah, not 33. Third, Er and Onan died in Canaan, before Jacob came to Egypt. Therefore, neither 33 nor 34 came down, but 32, unless we fill the vacancy with another daughter, but, if daughters aren’t counted by name, why is Serah (daughter by Zilpah) mentioned later (Genesis 46:17)?

Additionally, Joseph was 30 years old, when he appeared before Pharaoh, and he was seventeen when he was sold into Egypt. Thus, he was either a slave or a prisoner for 13 years. So, when he brought his family down to Egypt during the 2nd year of the famine, or 9 years after appearing before Pharaoh, Joseph was 38 years of age. Therefore, there are only 21 years between the time when Joseph came into Egypt, and when he brought Jacob and the rest of his sons and their families down to Egypt. Seen in this light, Pharez could not have had children to take down to Egypt during the famine. He simply wasn’t old enough. The fact is, Pharez was born in Canaan that same year Jacob and his entire household went down to Egypt. Therefore, Pharez’s children had to have been born in Egypt.

Moreover, Benjamin is 17 years younger than his brother, Joseph. Since Joseph was 38, when he brought everyone in his family down to Egypt during the famine, Benjamin couldn’t have been older than 21 years of age, when he came to Egypt. How could he have sired 10 children by the age of 21? Such a thing is impossible, so what can we say of these things?

In this context, then, I submit that Jacob probably had more daughters than Dinah (by Leah) and Serah (by Zilpah). Clearly, some of the 66 souls mentioned had to have been born in Egypt, because their fathers were too young to sire sons in the 21 years between Joseph’s ages of 17 and 38. This is so, because those fathers mentioned in the list were born sometime after Joseph’s 17th year. Therefore, we cannot read the Hebrew as: “All the souls that came (H935) with Jacob into Egypt…” (Genesis 46:26). Instead, the Hebrew should read something like: “All the souls that followed (H935) Jacob in Egypt…” vis-à-vis during the 17 years Jacob lived there before his death. All the souls were 66 that followed him, in the sense that they were faithful to the Covenant. Some of Jacob’s descendants may have abandoned the Covenant and became Egyptians. The Hebrew for came (H935; @ Genesis 46:26) is used in this sense (follow) in 2Kings 11:15 and 2Chronicles 23:14. The two texts mark one event that refers to people who “followed” Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. She introduced Baal worship in Judah, as Jezebel did in Israel. It was commanded that she and her followers be slain outside the Temple of God.