Upon seeing Rachel, Laban's youngest daughter, he immediately falls in love and agrees to work seven years in order to marry her (Genesis 29:1 - 20). Each clause is introduced with the word zeh. These seven years seemed to Jacob "but a few days, for the love he had for her." Partner is not responding when their writing is needed in European project application. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Considering a 9 month gestation that's 63 months (little over 5 years if back to back) before Rachel conceives. No doubt a number of the children could have been born contemporaneously. and she called his name Asher" (Gen. 30:9-13). What's the difference between a power rail and a signal line? In the meantime, not necessarily after the birth of Leah's fourth child, Rachel, having discovered her own barrenness, had given her maid to Jacob; so that possibly both Dan and Naphtali were born before Judah. FullBible Timeline - section on the life of Jacob. Manasseh, Ephraim are between 2 and 9. Genesis 41: 28 It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. Jacob, shortly after Joseph is born in 1709, fulfills his fourteen-year work commitment to Laban in order to marry his daughters (Genesis 30:25 - 26). 10. Genesis 49:27 Benjamin in fiction +1. In these verses Jacob mentions twenty years of service to Laban two times. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. The problem with this as evidence is that the text makes it perfectly clear that this dream was inspired by God, and thus only God needed to know the number of brothers who would bow down to Joseph. years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou In Jacob 's deathbed blessing, he said of Benjamin: Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours his prey, in the evening he divides the plunder. Genesis 49:27 Benjamin in fiction The maximum likely age for Rachel at the time of the birth of Benjamin is thirty-nine years. p. 245. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. At that time Joseph had been second in command over the land of Egypt for nine years (Genesis 45:11). The births took place during two twenty year periods of service that Jacob gave Laban. 1599Joseph is 110 years old.Manasseh and Ephraim (if they are alive) are between the ages of 73 and 80. Answer. The word zeh is used twice at a greater distance, "one dieth . WebJacob was 77 years old, [22] and he loved Rachel immediately. In Genesis 2:24 does "leave his father and mother" mean that men should not live in extended families? 1716 - 1709Jacob is between the ages of 84 and 91. Thus, Joseph was indeed a child of Isaacs old age (Gen 37:3). Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. The maximum likely age for Rachel at the time of the birth of Benjamin is thirty-nine years. Leah then produced Issachar, Zebulun and Dinah (17 - 21). The following is an arrangement of the chronology for the dates of the births: The birth of the six sons of Leah took place during the lastseven year period of service for Jacobs wives, and the birth of Dinah,the daughter, was sometime after this period. That makes seven good years until the famine and two years in prison. If Jacob was with Laban only twenty years, then he was seventy-seven years old when he left home. And Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, bare Jacob a son. 1692Jacob is 108 years old.Isaac is 168.Benjamin is possibly around one year old.Joseph is 17 years old.Jacob's other children are between 17 and 24. If Dinah was born any length of time after Joseph, say the second year of Jacob's, six year service for Laban's cattle, this would make Dinah fourteen years old or even less when this experience with Shechem occurred. Benjamin was also born in the land of Canaan, and his name meant Son of My Days, according to the Hebrew. He is buried is the same place as Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah (Genesis 49:29 - 50:13). Manasseh, Ephraim are between 2 and 9. Then he commanded him: Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Jacob's agreement of 14 years with Laban must have expired at this point. Laban agreed to the arrangement. 17 She was having a rough time, but the woman who was helping her said, Don't worry! Under interpretation II, we showed the danger of assuming too much. Since then, 7 years of abundance + 2 years of the beginning phase of famine had passed. I am Joseph, your brother, he said, the one you sold into Egypt! Meaning the time in which he lived, not in Laban's house, but in his neighborhood; not as a servant but as a friend; after he had served in Laban's house fourteen, years for his cattle. And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. No one who heard those dreams wondered "why 12?" Genesis 41:50, Reveals himself to his brothers when the famine is for 2 years and invites all his family to Egypt. The whole scheme breaks down when once it is observed that in each of the passages used to confirm their point, when zeh is repeated, it is always connected with the waw conjunctive. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. As has been noted, the proponents of this view. The number of distinct words in a sentence. 17 During her difficult labor, the midwife said to her, Dont be afraid. The entire family travels to Succoth where He builds a house and makes pens for his cattle (Genesis 33:17). ". It is felt by the writer that there was a wilful cooperation in this act of defilement. 37 is unlikely. Benjamine was indeed a blessing to his family. Thus, Benjamin was still a child in the eyes of the culture at the time. He can be found on the Biblical Timeline Poster around 1754 BC. Jacob's other children are between 39 and 46. 35 after ch. Joseph was 30 years old when he first spoke to Pharoah. Joseph is 39 and Benjamin is about 23. into slavery and about 22 years before Isaac died. But Laban makes him tarry and work for sometime which he did but makes his grand escape even when Joseph was still an infant. Laban agreed to the arrangement. At that time Joseph had been second in command over the land of Egypt for nine years (Genesis 45:11). Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! This, of course, would have been impossible and the text does not really demand it. (Genesis 33:2,7, This conflict can be relieved a bit by making Jacob's stay with Laban forty years instead of twenty. I agree with the answers given here, particularly Dottard's with the details of the dreams given to Joseph. At such an age, a girl might be given adult responsibility in a family that did not (yet) have sons. During what period did he father twelve children? Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. I'll express as y1 year, y1<1. [ b] Read full chapter. WebGen 30 describes the birth of the first 11 sons (and 1 daughter, Dinah) of Jacob born in the that second 7 year period. He was 32 years old. There is another uncertainty beyond this second 7-year period. Not fair (Did Jacob do anything that was "fair") but possible. This view assumes too much. He reunites with his son Joseph after twenty-two years. In Genesis 29:31-30:24 the birth of twelve of Jacob's children is recorded. Amazing Bible Timeline with World History, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Benjamin, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Figures_041_Joseph%27s_Cup_Is_Found_in_Benjamin%27s_Sack.jpg, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benjamin_LACMA_M.88.91.296L.jpg. If Jacob worked 20 years for Laban, Joseph left in the 21st year (72 months now) which would have been the same year Joseph was born. It was at the end of the second seven year period that Joseph was born (Gen 30:25ff) and that Jacob wanted to leave but was persuaded to stay longer. Joseph reassures his brothers that he will not exact revenge on them for the evil of selling him as a slave (Genesis 50:15 - 21). That means Joseph was born when Isaac was about 152. He was blessed with many gifts, and he continued to become a great leader of his tribe until his death. Jacob comes to Shechem and continues 8 years. Since we have determined the period to be confined to the seven years, the arrangement of the births in the seven years must be dealt with. On 2298 AM (1706 BC), Benjamin, his wife, and his ten sons entered Egypt to live. John Rea has dealt with this matter in his doctoral dissertation, "The Historical Setting of the Exodus and the Conquest." Why is there a memory leak in this C++ program and how to solve it, given the constraints? He ends up working for Laban an additional six years (Genesis 30:27 - 43, 31:38). When Jacob returned from Padam Aram he first settled in Shechem (Gen 33:18), purchased some land and then built stalls for this cattle and flocks. And during the last period though only six years, he charges Laban with changing his wages ten times.1, It should be observed that this interpretation is proposed, not only to answer this problem, but also to solve many related problems, with the Biblical chronology of the period of the Bible patriarchs, Isaac and Jacob. Hi Judith, this is a great first post, upvoted +1. Adjusting for the two uncertainties, assuming y1+y2=3, I'd say that Jacob was 773 years old when he first saw Rachel. 4. How does a fan in a turbofan engine suck air in? Afterwards, all of the sons spoil the city (Genesis 34:1 - 31). Jacob was 71 when he meets Rachel. It is, therefore, suggested that some of the births must be allowed to occur in the third period of service. The two brothers have a peaceful reunion (Genesis 33:1 - 16). The family then travels the remaining roughly twenty miles to Mamre (Hebron) in order to be with Isaac (Rebekah, his wife, is likely dead at this time, verse 27). into slavery and about 22 years before Isaac died. 3 His Mother, Rachel, Died in Childbirth There is nothing in the text to forbid the possibility of contemporaneous births on more than one occasion. is there a chinese version of ex. This is an extreme contradiction with the ancient history calculation of eighteen years of age. This view, it seems to the writer, is only held in order to relieve the congested period of seven years in which it would seem that Leah had seven children. Jacob wanted to show the world he loved Joseph, to make it clear that Joseph was the special one. When did Jacob and Joseph finally reunite after being separated? Or did these events occupy some period other than seven years? He next sired Dan and Naphtali through Rachel's handmaid Bilhah (30:1 - 8). WebJacob was 130 at this time (Gen 47:9). Here we read that Jacob had left Padan-aram and was dwelling in peace at Shechem. WebJacob is 130 years old. Was Galileo expecting to see so many stars? Meaning, he was wise and upright, unusual for his actual age. Benjamin was the twelfth-born and youngest son in Jacobs family. Through further bargaining and mutual agreement, for seven more years of service Jacob was given Rachel, the woman he loved, one week later. Therefore, it by no means follows that because the passage, "when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children" (30:1) occurs after Leah is said to have had four sons, that it was not until after the birth of Leah's fourth child that Rachel becomes aware of her barrenness. This is absolutely possible. The following is a chronology of the births according to this arrangement. It is also worth noting that Benjamin was also Josephs favorite brother. And he worked for Laban another seven years. WebThere is no consensus view about dates. 1703 - 1692Jacob is between 97 and 108 years old.Joseph is between 6 and 17 years old. Joseph must be still an infant to bow down. Was Joseph sold to Egypt before the Dinah incident? Genesis is clear that all of Joseph's decendents were born after Joseph married Rachel (beginning in the 15th year of service with Laban). The Bible tells us that when Jacob was presented in the court of Pharaoh, "the days of the years of my sojourningare a hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my father:s in the days of their sojourning" (Gen. 47:9, RSV). It doesn't make much sense that Benjamin was a little over nine-years-old when he traveled to Egypt, and unlikely that Joseph would make that request. Jacob lived with Laban for 20 years. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mothers brother. Joseph revealed the meaning of Pharaoh's dream in Adam Clarke, Clarkes Commentary (New York: Lane and Scott. Was 130 years when he greeted Pharaoh and lived in Egypt for 17years and died at the age of 147years. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. When was Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers? I. 28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels[b] of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. To his brothers having a rough time, but the woman who was helping said! And two years in prison of his tribe until his death here, particularly Dottard 's with answers! Infant to bow down 's other children are between the ages of 73 and 80 Zilpah, Leah handmaid. 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Clarke, Clarkes Commentary ( New York: Lane and Scott where he builds a house and makes for... Jacobs family years ( Genesis 33:2,7, this conflict can be relieved a bit by making Jacob children.