Levites and the Exodus Multitude (2)

This Part 2 is the continuation and conclusion of “Levites and the Exodus Multitude (1)”.  Part 1 should be read first.  Little of the background material in (1) will be repeated here in (2).

In Part 1, three questions were posed:

#1. How did the lineage branch of Levi’s son Koháth (Jacob’s grandson), reckoned from that 1 man, become 8,600 male descendants early in the wilderness…after only 4 generations?!  Nu.3:27-28 “Of Kohath…the numbering of all the males from one month old and upwards, was 8,600.”  That’s an astounding increase in so few generations!  cf. 1Ch.6:1-3.  The lineage was traced in (1).

Levi and his 3 sons Kohath, Gershón, Merarí and their families moved with Jacob/Israel from the Land of Canáan to Egypt (Ge.46:6, 11) circa/c 1827 BC.

#2. How did the tribe of Levi, grown from his 3 sons, become 22,000 or 22,300 males from age one month and up…during that same period (215 years)?!  Nu.3:39 “All the numbered men of the Levites, from a month old and upward, were 22,000.”  An astounding increase!

Furthermore, during that same period, the initial 75-85 males (Ge.46:27 Septúagint/LXX) with Jacob & Joseph in Egypt increased to 603,550 non-Levite warriors age 20 and up, early in the wilderness (Nu.1:45-47)!  Exiting Egypt, Ex.12:37-38 “The sons of Israel journeyed…600,000 men on foot. And a mixed multitude went with them.”  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 2:15:1 “The entire multitude of those who went out, including the women and children, that were of a fit age for war, were 600,000.”  Philo On the Life of Moses 1:27:147 “The men of age to bear arms were more than 600,000 men.”

#3. How did the 75-85 males become 600,000 after only 4 generations?!  Another astounding increase in only 215 years!  (ref Part 1 for the timeline.)  Could near 600,000 be accurate?  also see the topics “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus” and “Israelites Identification”.

Following Jacob’s move into Egypt, Ge.47:27 “Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the Góshen region, and became very numerous”.  Egypt’s Pharaoh said in Ex.1:7-9, “The people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we”.  ref Ps.105:23-24.  Perhaps they really did outnumber the Egyptians!?  Ex.1:22 so Pharaoh commanded for all Hebrew male babies to be cast into the Nile River.  Ex.2:2-3, 10 when Moses was three months old, his mother placed him in a basket and put him in the Nile.  Ac.7:19-21 confirms the infants were put out to die.  (Infanticide reduced somewhat the Hebrew population.)

Ex.18:21 Moses, early on the way to the Promised Land, was advised by his father-in-law Jethró  to divide all the departees according to thousands of people, or clans.

Yet in Ex.23:29-30 the Lord told Moses that He would drive out the wicked inhabitants of the Land of Canaan little by little, so the Land wouldn’t become desolate and wild animals be too numerous.  Apparently the approximately 2 million people (including women & children) coming in from Egypt to replace the wicked occupants wouldn’t fill the Land area.  Comparatively, in 2020 AD the population of modern Israel was 8.5 million…6 million more than the total exodus population approaching that Land.  Though ‘Hebrews’ had outnumbered Egyptians, the Canaanites outnumbered the exodus population.

Prior to entering the Land, in De.11:23 Moses told the next two generations, “The Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you”.  In those days, a force of 600,000 men would itself be a great army!  But others had greater renown.  The combined armies/peoples of the seven “nations” were greater (De.7:1).  Nu.13:31 the Israelite spies said, “We can’t attack those people, for they are stronger than we”.  So they feared the Land occupants.

In Nu.20:17 & 21:22, it seems unrealistic that 2 million people (including women & children) could’ve traveled on the King’s Highway en masse.  Even if they walked on the road plain in ‘rows’ of seventy, the line of people would have stretched for miles!

Nu.3:16-20, Ex.6:16-25 and 1Ch.6:1-4 attest to the same number of few Levite generations, beginning with Levi.  There’s no indication that any generations were omitted/skipped.  see Part 1.

So, in light of the above passages (and those referenced in Part 1)…were there really 600,000 Israelite warriors, 22,000 Levite and 8,600 Kohathite males early in the wilderness?  That many?!  It is somewhat disconcerting that to date little or no evidence of a mass exodus totaling 2 million people in the wilderness has been found.  Perhaps continued archaeological efforts will unearth more evidence?

Following are three possible explanations for the large population numbers in the exodus/wilderness:

1.) Biblical numbers could’ve been misread or misunderstood by translators.  If so, there weren’t really as many as 8,600 Kohathites, 22,000 Levites, plus 600,000 soldiers then.  The Hebrew term for thousand is éleph (Strongs h505).  Eleph is also translated family in Jg.6:15 KJV.  But Jg.6:15 LXX, “Gideon said to Him, ‘My thousand [family KJV] is weakened in Manasseh”.  Did eleph really refer to a troop/family (instead of 1,000)?  For detailed analyses of this possibility, ref: John W. Wenham Large Numbers in the Old Testament, Colin J. Humphreys The Number of People in the Exodus From Egypt, Jim Snapp The Quest for the Historical Census, Clark Morledge Did An Army of 600,000 Israelites Conquer the Land of Canaan?, David M. Fouts A Defense of the Hyperbolic Interpretation of Numbers in the Old Testament, Ben-Zion Katz Recounting the Census.  It’s possible the numbers 600,000, 22,000, 8,600 were mistakes in translation from the ancient Hebrew.  However, 2,000 years ago the Jewish historians Josephus & Philo both said the number of exodus soldiers was 600,000.

2.) There were brothers or half-brothers in the generations, not listed by Moses in the Péntateuch.  For example, the later 1Ch.23:20 listing of Issiáh as a son of Moses’ uncle Uzziél may indicate that was the case.  Ge.5:3-30 said the ancient antediluvians had other unidentified sons & daughters.  Abraham had at least 6 additional identified sons not born to Sarah (Ge.25:1-2).  Some Bible historians and yeshíva teaching think the large population in the exodus resulted from polygyny.  e.g. c 1300 BC, Jg.8:30-32 “Gideon had seventy sons, for he had many wives. His concubine in Shechém also bore him a son, Abimélech. Gideon died at a good old age.”  (see “Polygyny – Lawful in God’s Eyes?”.)

3.) There were others besides Israelites in the exodus.  Included with the approximately 600,000 fighting men leaving Egypt (Nu.11:21) was a mixed multitude of people.  Adding women & children would’ve brought the total to 2,000,000 or so!  Nu.1:45-47 “All the numbered men were 603,550. The Levites weren’t numbered among them.”  Who all comprised this mixed multitude?

Ex.12:37-38 “A mixed multitude of people went up with them, along with flocks and herds.”  Others also left Egypt with biological Israelites.  JFB Commentary Ex.12:38 “A great rabble’ (see also Nu 11:4; De 29:11); slaves, persons in the lowest grades of society, partly natives and partly foreigners, bound close to them as companions in misery, and gladly availing themselves of the opportunity to escape.”  Ellicott Commentary “Some may have been Egyptians, impressed by the recent miracles; some foreigners held to servitude, like the Israelites, and glad to escape their masters.”  LXX NETS “A great mixed crowd went up with them.”  So many non-Israelites also left Egypt in the exodus.

Cambridge Bible Note “Non-Israelites of various kinds are meant; e.g. Egyptians who had intermarried with Israelites.”  Since Israelite newborn males were thrown into the Nile River, there’d be a surplus of Israelite females to marry Egyptians or others.  In Le.24:10, Moses wrote of a man in the camp whose mother was an Israelite but whose father was an Egyptian.  So, Egyptian blood was present in Israelites.

The Bible uses patrilineal reckoning from the fathers (not the traditional Jewish matrilineal reckoning from mothers).  Nu.1:18 “They registered by ancestry in their families, by their father’s households, according to the number of names.”  Not according to the mothers.  Philo op.cit. “Among the mixed multitude were those born to Hebrew fathers by Egyptian mothers, who were enrolled as members of their father’s race. And some, also, who had come over to them by reason of the magnitude of the incessant punishments which had been inflicted on their own countrymen [Egyptians].”

Also, we read of intermarriage by Joseph c 1837 BC, 225 years prior to the exodus.  Ge.41:45 Pharaoh had given Joseph an Egyptian wife named Asenáth, the daughter of the priest of On (LXX Heliópolis).  So Joseph’s sons Ephráim & Manasséh were both half Egyptian (Ge.46:20).

Did Ephraim & Manasseh likewise take Egyptian wives?  If so, then Joseph’s grandchildren had mostly Egyptian blood!  (Ephraim & Manasseh were first cousins of Kohath, the son of Levi.)  Ge.46:27 LXX says Joseph had nine sons.  Jacob prophesied that the names of Joseph’s other (half-Egyptian) sons would be attached to the inheritances of Ephraim & Manasseh (Ge.48:5-6).  Early in the wilderness, the soldiers of Ephraim & Manasseh numbered 72,700 men (Nu.2:18-21).  Although they became two of the twelve tribes of Israel in the Land of Canaan, there was (much) Egyptian blood in their ancestry.

Note: Ge.50:23 Manasseh’s son was Machír.  Machir’s son Gilead (Joseph’s great-grandson) was of the same generation as Moses & Aaron.  Nun, the father of Joshua, was the same generation as Gilead.  Zelophehád (son of Hépher) was Gilead’s grandson. (see 1Ch.7:14-27, Nu.26:28-37, 27:1, Jsh.17:3.)

Ex.30:11-16 Moses was to levy a poll tax on the men of military age.  (This became the basis for the later temple tax.  cf. Mt.17:24-27.)   Ex.38:25-26 “The silver from those of the community who were numbered was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels. A half-shekel a head for those who were numbered from age 20 and up, for 603,550 men.”  This half-shekel tax for the tabernacle was taken from all non-Levite soldiers. (A shekel weighed approximately ½ ounce.)  Barnes Notes “The talent contained 3,000 shekels.”  So 100 talents of silver = 300,000 shekels.  Add the 1,775 shekels, and the total = 301,775 shekels.  This amount is exactly 603,550 half-shekels (békahs)!  It matches the population figure of Nu.1:45-47.  The amount of silver taken as tax appears to confirm the number of Israelite/mixed multitude fighting men.

{Sidelight: However, the 1,000,000 talents in 1Ch.22:14 would equal 3 billion shekels (at the rate used in Ex.38:25-26)!  But 1½ billion ounces of silver is unrealistic…it would be enough to build Solomon’s temple of solid silver!  Also, the 10,000 talents of silver in Est.3:8-9 would equal 30 million shekels!  That’s 15 million ounces or nearly 1 million lbs. of silver personally owned by Hamán!  An unrealistic amount.  It’s likely the weight of the shekel or talent had changed since Moses wrote Exodus.}

Early in the wilderness is Nu.3:39-43. “All the Levites from one month old and upward were 22,000….All the firstborn males from one month old and up were 22,273.”  The difference was only 273 males.  v.44-45 “The Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Take the Levites instead of the firstborn among the sons of Israel.”  The firstborn, who had belonged to the Lord (Ex.13:1-2), were redeemed…replaced by the 22,000 Levites.

But Nu.1:46 says there were 603,550 warriors from their tribes, age 20 and up.  If only 22,273 out of the more than 603,550 were firstborns…those were huge families!  603,550 ÷ 22,273 = 27.  Did each family average more than 27 sons?  Add an equal number of daughters, and that’s over 50 children per family!  But… most of those 603,550 weren’t ‘purely’ Israelites.

In the wilderness 39 years later is Nu.26:57-62. “These are those who were numbered of the Levites….23,000.”  So during 39 years, the number of Levite males increased from an approximate 22,000 to 23,000.  That’s an increase of only 1,000 in that generation.

Note: The male Israelites/mixed multitude age 20 and up (born in Egypt) died in the wilderness, except for Joshua & Caleb (Nu.14:27-30).  Excluded were Levites (Nu.1:47), males under age 20, and women.  Aaron’s grandson Phineás, in the 4^th generation of Kohathites after Kohath, was probably born around the time of the exodus.  Phineas’ bold intervention in Nu.25:7 didn’t occur until the 40^th year of their wanderings.  Phineas’ father Eleazár (Aaron’s son), the high priest, even outlived Joshua in the Land (cf. Nu.20:28 & Jsh.24:29-33).

What about past servants among the mixed multitude in the exodus?  Going back several generations….

In Ge.12:5, 16, 20:14, Abrám had many servants.  Ge.14:14 in Abram’s household (before the birth of Ishmaél) were 318 fighting men.  Plus he had other ‘house’ servants and those watching the livestock!

Ellicott Commentary Ge.14:14 “This large number of servants born in his house…added to the older men left to defend and take care of the cattle, proves that Abram was the chieftain of a powerful tribe.”  Barnes Notes “Abram had now a company of 318 trained men, born in his own house; which implies a following of more than 1,000 men, women and children.”  Pulpit Commentary “The children of his own patriarchal family, neither purchased nor taken in war, 318, implied a household of probably more than 1,000 souls.”  Abraham’s household was very large!  Ge.17:26-27 all the males were circumcised.

Ge.26:12-14 Isaac’s great substance.  Cambridge Bible Ge.26:14 “A large number of slaves and attendants.”  Ge.32:5-6 Jacob’s large household.  (Ge.34:13-15 indicates they’re circumcised.)  Ge.36:7 Jacob and Esau’s property was too great for them to dwell together.  Barnes Notes Ge.36:7 “What remained in the hands of Isaac was virtually Jacob’s, though he had not yet entered into formal possession of it.”

Ge.45:9-10 & 46:5-7, 26 “All the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt with him were 66 in number; this does not include the wives of Jacob’s sons.”  Gill Exposition Ge.46:7 “No mention is made of servants, though no doubt many came along with him.”  James B. Jordan The Moses Connection “Abraham had 318 trained fighting men in his sheikdom. Estimates range up to 3,000 or more for his complete household. These servants multiplied and became those of Isaac and Jacob. It might have been 10,000 people who moved to Goshen.”  So…numerous servants also went to Egypt c 1827 BC.

Francis Peloubet Select Notes, v.27, p.319 “Also the servants, ‘Who were reckoned as part of the household, and were admitted to the covenant [of circumcision, Ac.7:8], and recognized as Israelites.”

William R. Harper The Old Testament Student, v.6, p.248 “Jacob took to Egypt the whole body of his servants and retainers. These dependents…were all included in the covenant of circumcision, gradually blended while in Egypt, with the blood-kindred of Jacob, so that all alike were reckoned Israelites.”

Jacob’s entire household, including circumcised descendants and servants, had numbered perhaps 7,000 to 10,000 souls.  They too went with Jacob to his son Joseph in Egypt (Ge.47:11-12) c 1827 BC.  There they intermarried with Egyptians & other peoples, and “multiplied exceedingly” (Ge.47:27 KJV).

Jacob died 17 years after moving to Egypt (see Part 1 timeline).  A great funeral cavalcade, including Egyptian dignitaries, then traveled 300 miles to bury him east of the Jordan River (Ge.50:7-10).

The people multiplied in Egypt (Ex.1:5-9, 12, 20).  They became a great mixed nation (De.26:5).  The exodus “nation” of ancient Israel/mixed multitude was comprised of a motley group of people, not one pure race.  They’d increased to 603,550 soldiers, excluding Levites, early in the wilderness (Nu.1:46).

As for question #3 posed at the beginning: With mixed marriages, the assimilation of servants, concubines to bear children, Egyptians and others who left Egypt in the exodus…the 603,550 number of males early in the wilderness seems feasible.

The apostle Paul wrote in 1Co.10:1-5, “All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and the sea”.  The entire mixed multitude, and their children, were symbolically “baptized” in the Reed Sea.  They ate the manna in the wilderness.  (Nu.11:4 is the last direct reference in the Pentateuch to the mixed group.)

There were 601,730 males 39 years later (Nu.26:51), after those over age 20 had died in the wilderness.

That younger generation of motley peoples (children of the mixed multitude) born during the 40 years in the wilderness, weren’t circumcised.  So after crossing the Jordan River, Joshua had all the males circumcised at Gilgál (Jsh.5:2-8).  Whatever their ancestry, the 601,730 males all became circumcised!  cf. Ge.17:26-27 Abraham’s large household of servants, etc., not of his ancestry, had all become circumcised.  (see the topic “Circumcision in the Bible”.)

The children of the circumcised mixed multitude then received tribal territory when Joshua apportioned the Land of Canaan for the tribes of Israel (Jsh.13–19).  There, more intermarriage ensued among tribes.

As for questions #2 and #1 about the number of Levites and Kohathites: With past servants and other peoples having been assimilated into Levite and Kohathite households (in Egypt)…it seems feasible the males among them could total approximately 22,000 and 8,600 respectively (Nu.3:27-28, 39).

In the Land of Canaan, the Levites/Kohathites (including Aaronide priests) would live within the various tribal areas (Jsh.21).  There, Levites intermarried with those tribes.  Samuel was a Kohathite (fostered or ‘adopted’ by the high priest Eli) who lived in Ephraim c 1100 BC (1Sm.1:1, 25-28, 1Ch.6:22, 26-28).  When the Lord split the united monarchy (1Ki.12:20-24) in the 900s BC, most Levites joined with Judah & Benjamin as the southern kingdom of Judah…the Jews.

Ro.3:29-30 Paul said that God is the God of both Jews and gentiles, circumcised and uncircumcised.  Again, Israel with the mixed multitude were all “baptized” in the Sea, and they all ate the manna (1Co.10:1-3).  The Lord didn’t discriminate in that regard.  Ga.3:27-29 “There is neither Jew nor Greek…you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed.”

Today Jewish Christians and gentile Christians are to be as one, all baptized in the name of Jesus.

As was the large ancestral mixture of peoples who exited Egypt, Christians today are a racial mixture. (see “Gentiles in the Bible”.)  And our numbers are increasing.

Re.7:9-12 “I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, and tribe, people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”  A mixed multitude from all nations cries out loudly, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. Amen.”

The mixed multitude with ancient Israel was a historical type of the great mixed multitude of humanity to whom our God is giving salvation.  Praise God!

Levites and the Exodus Multitude (1)

This topic traces the ancient Israelites – starting with Jacob’s relocation from the Land of Canáan to Egypt, their population growth…into the exodus & wilderness with the mixed multitude.  My focus here is on the growth of the Levites and, in detail, the descendants of Levi’s son Koháth, the Kohathites.

The Bible characters in this topic lived far back in history.  Dating for their births & deaths is inexact.  The dates used are approximate, to place the Levite lineage in historical perspective.  The chronological framework is taken from Dr. Martin Anstey The Romance of Bible Chronology, v.2.

The patriarch Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel (Ge.32:28), had 12 sons (Ge.35:23-26).  Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, etc…Joseph, Benjamin.  The descendants of those 12 became the 12 tribes of Israel.  (also see the topics “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus” and “Israelites Identification”.)

Jacob’s 3^rd son was Levi.  Levi himself had 3 sons.  Ge.46:11 “The sons of Levi: Gershón, Kohath and Merarí.”  These 3 sons and their descendants became the Levites, descended from Levi.

Moses and his brother Aaron descended from Levi & Kohath.  They were Kohathites.  Moses was a priest (Ex.24:6, 29:26, Nu.7:1, Ps.99:6).  Later, only Aaron and his descendants among the Levites were priests.  Not all Levites or Kohathites became priests (Nu.4:17-20, 16:1-3); only the clan of Aaron did.

Ge.41:41 Jacob’s 11^th son Joseph became ruler of Egypt under Pharaoh.  Ge.46:5-27 Jacob, his sons and their families, went to join Joseph in Egypt circa (c) 1827 BC.  Ge.41:27 Septúagint/LXX “The sons of Joseph, born to him in Egypt, were 9; all the souls of the house of Jacob who came with Joseph into Egypt, were 75.”  Ac.7:14 has “75 souls”.  (Males, not counting wives.)  Ge.47:9 Jacob was 130 years old then.  His son Joseph was 39 or 40 (cf. Ge.41:46-47 with Ge.45:6), having been born c 1867 BC.

Ge.46:8, 11 Levi’s young 2^nd son Kohath and his two brothers (Gershon & Merari) went to Egypt with their father Levi & grandfather Jacob.  Joseph, age 40, would live on for 70 more years, until age 110 (Ge.50:26), until c 1757 BC.  Kohath was in Egypt during those 70 years that Joseph was still alive.

Nu.26:57-59 “Kohath became the father of Amrám…Jochébed bore to Amram: Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriám.”  Kohath was Moses’ grandfather!  Kohath wasn’t a distant ancestor.  So Moses wasn’t born all that long after Joseph’s death.

Ex.2:1 “A man [Amram] from the house of Levi married a daughter of Levi.”  This may reflect the line of Levi as ancestral, not Levi as her immediate father.  Ellicott Commentary “A descendant of Levi, not a daughter in the literal sense.”  However, cf. Zec.1:1 “Zecharíah, the prophet, the son of Berechíah, the son of Iddó”, versus Ezr.5:1 “Zechariah the son of Iddo”.  Ezra’s account skipped one generation.  Moses’ Exodus account could’ve skipped generations, but it seems unlikely (as we’ll see below).

In scripture, Moses & Aaron were the great-great grandsons of Jacob.  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 2:9:6 “Moses….Abraham was his ancestor, of the 7^th generation.”  Philo On the Life of Moses 1:2:7 “Moses is the 7^th generation from the original settler in the country [Abraham].”

Abraham–Isaac–Jacob–Levi/Joseph–Kohath–Amram–Moses/Aaron…the 7 generations.  No skips.

1Ch.23:15 Moses had 2 sons, Gershóm (not Gershon) and Eliézer.  Ex.6:23 Moses’ brother Aaron had 4 sons: Nadáb, Abihú, Eleazár, Ithamár.  When Aaron later died in the wilderness, Eleazar replaced him as the high priest (Nu.20:28).  Eleazar’s son was Phinehás (Ex.6:25).

(Kohath)–Amram–Aaron/Moses–Eleazar–Phinehas…that’s only 4 generations of Kohathites, born after Jacob or Israel moved to Egypt.  Ex.18:1-6 soon after the exodus, Moses’ Midianite wife Zipporáh and their 2 sons rejoined Moses in the wilderness.  Moses’ sons Gershom & Eliezer were half-Midianite.

After the exodus, Nu.3:27-28 is early in the wilderness. “Of Kohath…the number of all the males from one month old and upwards, was 8,600.”  What!?  That’s an astounding increase in so few generations!

Here’s a question: How could the branch of Kohath (Levi’s son), reckoned from that 1 man, increase to 8,600 male descendants…after only 4 generations?!  Continuing with the Levite Kohathites….

Ex.6:18, 20 “The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhár, Hebrón, Uzziél. The years of Kohath’s life were 133 years….Amram married Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses.”  Moses’ mother Jochebed was a relative (LXX 1^st cousin) of her husband Amram.  “The years of Amram’s life were 137 years [LXX NETS 136].”  Levi/Joseph–Kohath–Amram–Moses…that’s 4 generations.  1Ch.6:1-3 confirms those 4.

Humans were longer-lived in those days than now.  Of Kohath’s 133 years, again, 70 of them were spent with Joseph in Egypt (c 1827–1757 BC).  The traditional (supposed) Book of Jasher 68:29 indicates that elderly Kohath was still alive in the 1690s BC (when Moses was named)!  So perhaps Kohath was born c 1830 BC.  If so, he would’ve been age 3 when they went from Canaan to Egypt c 1827 BC.  That would make Kohath age 73 when his uncle Joseph died c 1757 BC.

Kohath’s firstborn son Amram (Moses’ father) may have been born c 1811 BC, when Kohath was 19.  If so, Amram’s death at age 136 or 137 was c 1675 BC (still decades prior to the exodus).  Amram would’ve been age 54 when Joseph died c 1757 BC.  Pulpit Commentary Ex.6:18 “Amram would have been contemporary with Joseph for above 50 years.”

Dead Sea Scrolls 4Q545 “The writing of the words of the vision of Amram, son of Qahat [Kohath], son of Levi, all that he has explained to his sons…on the day of his death in the year 136 – the year of his death [Amram’s]. In the year 152 of the exile of Israel in Egypt. Also it came to him to call Uzziel, his younger brother, and gave him Miriam his 30-year-old daughter for wife. He sent to call Aaron his 20-year-old son [3 years older than Moses]…I will explain to you your names that he wrote for Moses.”  Accordingly, 152 years after the 1827 BC relocation from Canaan to Egypt was 1675 BC.

The birth of Moses, Amram’s youngest child, c 1692 BC, was only 65 years after Joseph died (c 1757 BC)!  Philip Mauro The Wonders of Bible Chronology, p.40 “The interval between the death of Joseph and the birth of Moses was 64 years.”  Calculating the above 4Q545 elapsed time, Amram would’ve been age 106 when Miriam was born, 116 at Aaron’s birth, 119 at Moses’ birth!  Miriam was around 13 when she spoke with Pharaoh’s daughter at the Nile River regarding baby Moses, Ex.2:1-10.

For those ancient Levites to father children at such advanced ages seems too old by today’s standards.  But people lived longer in those days, and could maintain their life force.  Jacob died at age 147, Levi at age 137 (Ex.6:16), Kohath at age 133, Amram at 136 or 137, Aaron at 123 (Nu.33:39).  De.34:7 “Moses was 120 years old when he died; his eye was not dim nor his vigor abated.”  Even at age 120, Moses didn’t experience the infirmities of age that are prevalent today.  He maintained his vigor!  For that matter, Isaac was 60 when his twins Jacob & Esau were born (Ge.25:26).  Jacob was 90 when he fathered Joseph, and near 100 when he fathered Benjamin!  (ref Ge.47:9 Joseph was near 40 when his father Jacob, at age 130, came to Egypt.)

Ex.12:40 LXX “The children of Israel, while they sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan, was 430 years.”  The Masoretic text omits “and the land of Canaan”.  But the accounts in the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Talmud and Josephus all agree with the LXX.  Josephus op. cit. 2:15:2 “They left Egypt 430 years after Abraham came into Canaan, but 215 years only after Jacob removed into Egypt. It [the exodus] was the 80^th year of Moses.”  They stayed 215 years in Canaan and 215 years in Egypt.

Gill Exposition “Certain it is, that Israel did not dwell in Egypt 430 years.”  JFB Commentary “The period of sojourn in Egypt did not exceed 215 years.”  Mauro op. cit., p.34 “The 430 years began with God’s promise to Abram, made at the time he entered into Canaan at the age of 75 (Gen.12:1-4).”

Since lives were longer back then, producing 4 generations over 215 years may be believable.  But producing only 4 generations over 430 years is unbelievable!

If Abrám was born c 2117 BC, he arrived in Canaan in 2042 BC at age 75 (Ge.12:4-5).  At age 100, Abraham fathered Isaac (Ge.21:5), c 2017 BC.  At age 60, Isaac fathered Jacob & Esau (Ge.25:26), c 1957 BC.  When Jacob was 130 (Ge.47:9), he and his moved from Canaan to Egypt, c 1827 BC.

Abram’s arrival in Canaan (c 2042 BC) until Jacob’s departure from Canaan (c 1827 BC) = 215 years in Canaan.  And Jacob/Israel’s arrival in Egypt (c 1827 BC) until the exodus (c 1612 BC) = 215 years in Egypt.  The total of both = 430 years…2042–1612 BC.  (see “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus”.)

Also, 4 generations of Kohathites lived during the 215 years in Egypt.  Kohath–Amram–Aaron/Moses–Eleazar (and into the wilderness).  Returning to the Levite/Kohathites….

Nu.3:19 “The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.”  Besides Amram (the father of Moses & Aaron), Kohath had 3 other sons.  Kohath’s 2^nd son was Izhar (uncle to Moses & Aaron).

Nu.16:1-4 also confirms 4 generations.  (No skips.)  “Now Kórah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi…incited rebellion against Moses and Aaron, and said, ‘Why do you exalt yourselves?”  Izhar’s son Korah was Moses’ 1^st cousin!  Korah, being a near relative, thought he should have more input or authority.  But because of his insurrection, Korah died in an earthquake or sinkhole (Nu.16:32).

Nu.3:27-29 “Of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites and the family of the Uzzielites.”  To repeat, Kohath’s 4 sons (born in Egypt) were: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel.  Kohath’s grandsons, which include Moses & Aaron, were also born in Egypt.  Kohath’s great-grandsons, which include the 6 sons of Moses/Aaron, also were born before the exodus.

Again, the (priestly) line in 1Ch.6:1-3 confirms the generations of descent from Levi & Kohath. “The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath and Merari.  The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses and Miriam. And the sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.”  The Kohathite Aaron and his descendants became the priests in Israel.

So these genealogies in Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, 1Chronicles agree.  It appears that no generations were skipped in those scriptural accounts.

Early in the wilderness, the Kohathites from the ages of 30 to 50 totaled 2,750 men (Nu.4:34-37).  And Kohathites from the age of one month and up totaled 8,600 men (Nu.3:27-28).  Again, Kohath’s branch (which included Aaron & the priests) had increased from 1 to 8,600 males after only 4 generations!

Tracing further the Levite Kohath’s descendants…Ex.6:20-21 Moses/Aaron’s uncle Izhar had 3 sons; Korah (Nu.16:1), Népheg, Zichrí.  Ex.6:22 & Le.10:4 Moses/Aaron’s uncle Uzziel had 3 sons; Mishaél or Micháh, Elzaphán, Sithrí.  Perhaps a 4^th son of Uzziel was Issiáh (1Ch.23:20)?  I’ll include him in the count.  1Ch.23:19 Moses/Aaron’s uncle Hebron had 4 sons; Jeriáh, Amariáh, Jahaziél, Jekámeam.

So Moses & Aaron had 11 male paternal first cousins, most or all of whom lived into the exodus.

Including Moses & Aaron, this would result in only 13 male Kohathites in Moses/Aaron’s generation!  Kohath was their grandfather.  The 13 male first cousins were: Moses, Aaron, Korah, Nepheg, Zichri, Mishael or Michah, Elzaphan, Sithri, Issiah (possibly), Jeriah, Amariah, Jahaziel, Jekameam.

Female paternal cousins, daughters of one’s father’s siblings, would become part of whatever clan they married into (unless she married her own cousin, a grandson of Kohath).  Female maternal cousins, daughters of one’s mother’s siblings, wouldn’t be Kohathites (unless an aunt married one of Kohath’s four sons).

The Bible uses patrilineal reckoning from the fathers (not the traditional Jewish matrilineal reckoning from mothers).  Nu.1:18 “They registered by ancestry in their families, by their father’s households, according to the number of names.”  Not according to the mothers.

Again, the Kohathite generation previous to Moses/Aaron consisted of Amram, Izhar, Uzziel, Hebron.  Those 4 brothers most likely died in Egypt; none of them living into the exodus & wilderness.

The 13 male Kohathites in Moses & Aaron’s generation had sons.  1Ch.23:15 Moses had 2 sons; Gershom, Eliezer.  Ex.6:23 Aaron had 4 sons; Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar.  Ex.6:24 cousin Korah had 3 sons; Assír, Elkanáh, Abiasáph.

The cousins Moses, Aaron, Korah had 9 sons between them.  Scripture doesn’t tell us the number of sons had by the other 10 first cousins.  We can speculate or estimate that 10 other cousins had maybe 40 sons between them?  If so, there were close to 50 males in the next generation of Kohathites.

Possibly the 13 males in Moses/Aaron’s generation all lived into the wilderness.  (Nu.16:32 Korah died in the wilderness earthquake or sinkhole.)  Add to the 13 the perhaps 50 sons they had…the males still alive from 3 generations of Kohathites then totaled only 63.  Amram’s generation = 0; Aaron/Moses’ generation = 13; Eleazar/Gershom’s generation = est. 50.  Total = est. 63.

We don’t know how many grandsons Moses, Aaron and the other 11 first cousins had.  Ex.6:25 Aaron’s son Eleazar had a son named Phinehas.  Nu.25:7 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest.”  Only a few grandsons of the 13 Kohathite cousins are identified in scripture.

Even if the 13 first cousins had 50 sons who had 350 sons of their own (7 sons each!)…that’s only 413 total Kohathites.  413 = 8,187 less than the 8,600 male Kohathites of Nu.3:28, early in the wilderness!

Let’s now look at the other two Levite branches, besides the Kohathites.  Again, Ge.46:11 Kohath had two brothers…Gershon (not Gershom) and Merari, sons of Levi.  There were 3 branches of Levites.

{Sidelight: The 3 branches of Levites later had specific duties in the wilderness.  The Gershonites were on the west side of the tabernacle and carried its tapestry (Nu.3:23-26).  The Merarites camped on the north side and transported the tabernacle frames & support system (Nu.3:35-37).  The Kohathites were on the south side and transported the holy furnishings (Nu.3:29-31).  Moses and the priests (Aaron and his sons) camped to the east and served the sanctuary (Nu.3:38).}

Nu.3:18 “These were the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans, Libní and Shiméi.”  Gershon had  2 sons.  Nu.3:20 “The sons of Merari by their clans, Mahlí and Mushí.”  Merari also had only 2 sons.  Nu.3:19 again, Kohath had 4 sons.  All the Levites named here in Nu.3:17-20 died prior to the exodus.

I won’t trace the lesser lineages of Gershon and Merari.  (ref e.g. 1Ch.23:6-24.)  Yet early in the wilderness the total male Gershonites were 7,500 (Nu.3:21-22).  And the total male Merarites were 6,200 (Nu.3:33-34).  Adding in the 8,600 Kohathite males…there were 22,000 (or 22,300) total Levite males.  Nu.3:39 “All the numbered men of the Levites…from a month old and upward, were 22,000.”

Another question: How did the tribe of Levi, tracking from his 3 sons, become 22,000 or 22,300 males from age one month and up, during that same period (215 years)?!  What an increase from only 3 men!

Furthermore, during the same period of time, the 75-85 males (Ge.46:27 LXX) who were in Egypt with Jacob/Joseph increased to 603,550 non-Levite warriors age 20 and up, early in the wilderness (Nu.1:45-47)!  Josephus op. cit. 2:15:1 “The entire multitude of those who went out [from Egypt], including the women and children, that were of a fit age for war, were 600,000.”  Philo On the Life of Moses 1:27:147 “The men of age to bear arms were more than 600,000 men.”

So a related third question: How could the 75-85 males increase to more than 600,000 after only 4 generations?!

Were there strong aphrodisiacs in Egypt to heighten libido?!  Did each woman have dozens of children?

This topic about the Levites/Kohathites and the number of mixed multitude who comprised the exodus from Egypt is continued in “Levites and the Exodus Multitude (2)”.

 

Ark of the Testimony – Journeys (2)

This Part 2 is the continuation and conclusion to “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys (1)”.

The “Ark of the Testimony” (seen in Ex.25:16, Jsh.4:16, e.g.) was the most revered object in God’s portable tabernacle, constructed by Moses/Israelites.  The Hebrew term for “ark” is aróne, Strongs h727.  The term for “testimony” is aydúth h5715.  The Ark was also known as the “Ark of the Covenant” (h1285, Nu.10:33, e.g.), the “Ark of the Lord” (h3068, Jsh.3:13), the “Ark of God” (h430, 1Sm.3:3).  This Ark wasn’t the floating vessel ‘Noah’s ark’ so-called, seen earlier in the Flood account of Ge.6–8.

Christ was the God and good Shepherd of ancient Israel.  His glory ‘dwelt’ above the Ark, upon the mercy seat between the cherubim (cf. Ex.25:22, Ps.80:1, Jn.10:11.  see the topic “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.)  The Ark represented the Lord’s Presence and Name!  2Sm.6:2 “The ark of God which is called by the Name, the very name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim.”

Using Dr. Martin Anstey’s The Romance of Bible Chronology, v.2, Israel’s exodus from Egypt occurred circa (c) 1612 BC and the sacred tabernacle tent & sanctuary was erected c 1611 BC.

“Ark of the Testimony – Journeys (1)” covered the time from the Ark’s construction in the aftermath of Israel’s exodus from Egypt…until the capture of the Ark by the enemy Philistines, c 1102 BC.

The Ark, a gilded rectangular chest, resided in the Holy of Holies innermost room (Ex.26:34) of Moses’ tabernacle for 500 years!  From c 1611 BC – c 1102 BC (except when it was in transport or taken into battle).  But after c 1102 BC, the Ark would never return to Moses’ tabernacle!

Now in Part 2, we’ll continue the account of the Ark’s journeys from when the Philistines’ captured it.

In the latter years of Eli the high priest & judge, Israel had become very backslidden.  The tabernacle of Moses and the Ark was at Shilóh, in the tribal territory of Ephráim.  1Sm.4:1-5 the Ark is carried into the battle of Ebenézer against the Philistines.  v.17-18 the Philistines sack Shiloh, and capture the Ark.  Eli dies when he hears the news.  v.22 “The glory is departed from Israel, for the ark of God is taken.”

1Sm.5:1-7 the heathen Philistines took the captured Ark of God from Ebenezer to their city of Ashdód, into the temple of their pagan god Dagón.  But the idol of Dagon was then found fallen down before the Ark…and broken!  The Lord afflicted the Ashdodites with tumors and mice (LXX).  v.8-9 so the Philistines took the Ark to their city of Gath.  The Lord afflicted them there with tumors.  v.10-12 so they took the Ark to Ekrón.  The hand of God was heavy upon them in Ekron; many men died or were smitten with tumors.  At that point the Philistines didn’t know what to do with the Ark!

1Sm.6:1-12 after the Philistines had possession of the Ark for 7 months (c 1101 BC), they called for their heathen priests & diviners, to learn what should be done with the Ark.  It was decided the Ark should be sent away on a cart hitched to two milk cows.  Lo and behold…the cows didn’t go towards their calves in Philistia…on their own, the cows carted the Ark straightway to Bethshémesh in Israel!

1Sm.6:13-19 the Ark arrived in Bethshemesh.  It was back in Israel.  But the Lord struck down men there because, without authorization, “they looked into the Ark of the Lord”.  (Nu.4:4-5 in transport, the Ark was to be covered by the inner veil; the Kohaththites in charge of holy articles weren’t to touch the Ark or see into it.)  1Sm.6:20-21 so they wanted it taken from Bethshemesh to Kiriáth-jearím in Judah.

1Sm.7:1-3 the men of Kiriath-jearim brought the Ark to the house of Abinadáb in Kiriath-jearim.

Although Israel repented after 20 years, the Ark remained in the house of Abinadab for approximately 70 years (c 1101 BC – 1030 BC).  JFB Commentary 1Sm.7:2 “20 years….the Israelites began to revive from their sad state of religious decline.”  Les McFall The Chronology of Saul and David “The actual time from the death of Eli to the deposition of the ark in Jerusalem by David was 68 years.”  The Ark remained at Abinadab’s house during the judgeship of Samuel and the entire reign of Saul.

When David was running from King Saul, Moses’ tabernacle (minus the Ark) was at the town of Nob.  Saul later had the residents of Nob killed, ref 1Sm.21–22.  Cambridge Bible 1Sm.1:3 “The tabernacle was removed to Nob (1Samuel 21), and the once holy place was utterly desecrated.”  After Nob, Gibeón became the site of Moses’ tabernacle, ref 1Ch.16:39-40 & 2Ch.1:3 (until Solomon’s time).

After David became king and subdued the Philistines, he wanted the Ark brought up to Jerusalem (c 1030 BC) in the tribal territory of Judah.  1Ch.15:1 “In the city of David [on Mt Zión] he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.”  (That Hebrew term for “tent” is óhel h168.)

2Sm.6:2-11 David brought the Ark from Abinadab’s house to Obéd-edóm’s house, where it remained for 3 months.  v.12-17 David then brought the Ark from Obed-edom’s house to the “tent of David” on Mt Zion in Jerusalem.  (see the topics, “Tent/Tabernacle of David” and “Zion in the Bible”.)

Jesuswalk.com/david “David can’t very well return the ark to the tabernacle at Shiloh. Shiloh had been destroyed! The tabernacle had been moved to the priestly city of Nob, but the ark had never been there and Saul had slaughtered the town’s priests and their families. The ancient tabernacle is now to be found at ‘the high place at Gibeon’ (1Ch.16:39-40, 21:29; 2Ch.1:3, 13; 1Ki.3:4), in a Levitical city where personnel continued sacrifices. David wants the center of Yahweh worship to be in the capital at Jerusalem, not in some priestly town. So he sets up a tent for the ark in Jerusalem, in hopes of eventually building a proper temple to house it.”  His son Solomon would later build the Temple there.

King David brought only the Ark into the tent.  The Ark still contained God’s law of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments (even during Solomon’s reign, 2Ch.5:1-2, 10).  See Part 1.  But absent (since c 1102 BC?) from Moses’ Holy of Holies at Gibeon was Aaron’s rod that budded (Nu.17:10) and the memorial jar of manna (Ex.16:32-34).

1Ch.17:16 David sat before the Ark!  2Sm.11:11 the Ark was again taken into battle.

2Sm.15:24-29 Zadók the priest took the Ark with David as he fled from Absalóm…but Zadok then returned it to Jerusalem.  Poole Commentary 2Sm.15:25 to “the tabernacle David had lately built for it.”

The Ark of God resided in the tent at David’s palace on Zion for 40 years (though he died c 1002 BC).  The only item in the Ark then was God’s eternal law (later seen in heavenly Mt Zion, Re.11:19 & 14:1).

After David’s death, King Solomon completed the temple c 991 BC.  1Ki.7:51 – 8:1-21 the original Ark (1Ki.8:9) was moved from David’s tent on Mt Zion into Solomon’s stationary temple “house of the Lord” on Mt Moriáh (2Ch.3:1).  1Ki.8:10-11 at the occasion, the temple was filled with the glory cloud of the Lord!  The Ark had been at a personal residence or palace for c 110 years (c 1101 BC – 991 BC)!

1Ki.8:8 KJV the projection of the poles/staves, by which the descendants of Koháth had carried the Ark during Israel’s journeys, was changed in Solomon’s temple.  Barnes Notes 1Ki.8:8 “A sign that the ark had reached ‘the place of its rest’, and was not to be borne about anymore.”  1Ki.8:4 the old tabernacle of Moses with its holy utensils was brought from Gibeon into the temple.  The journeying of Moses’ Ark (and portable tabernacle) was ended.

More than 300 years after Solomon, c 622 BC King Josiah made sanctuary repairs to Solomon’s temple, 2Ch.34:8-10.  The Ark was removed for those repairs, and was then put back.  Josiah said to the Levites in 2Ch.35:3, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built”.  The Ark then was either Moses’ original Ark, or else a copy that had been made (since Solomon, 1Ki.8:9).

2Ch.35:3 is the last occurrence in the Old Testament (OT) where we read of the Ark in the temple.

The final OT reference to the Ark of God is Je.3:16. “Declares the Lord, They shall say no more ‘The ark of the covenant’. It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they miss it, nor shall it be made again.”  God said the Ark of the Testimony/Ark of the Covenant, their most important object, reflecting His Presence…would no more be remembered or reproduced (or noted in the OT).

The Ark is later mentioned in the Apocrypha.  The book of 2 Maccabees was written in Greek c 124 BC.  God had warned Jeremiah to hide the Ark in the mountain from which Moses had viewed the Promised Land (Mt Nebó, De.34:1).  2Mac.2:4-8 KJV 1611 edition “When Jeremiah came thither, he found a hollow cave wherein he laid the Tabernacle, the Ark, the altar of incense, and stopped the door. Some of those that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not find it. Jeremiah blamed them, saying, ‘That place shall be unknown.”  Jeremiah hid that Ark in an unknown cave, prior to 587 BC when Nebuchadnézzar carried off other holy vessels from Solomon’s temple (2Ch.36:7-10).  Since Jeremiah was told to hide the Ark, he knew it couldn’t be seen and its memory would fade (Je.3:16).

1Esdras 1:54 KJV 1611 edition “They [Babylonians] took all the holy vessels of the Lord, both great and small, with the vessels of the ark of God, and the king’s treasures, and carried them away into Babylon.”  ref Je.52:17-23 for more item detail.  However, these passages don’t say they took the Ark itself.  (But 2Esdras 10:22 KJV 1611 edition “The Ark of our covenant is spoiled.”  The original Ark?)

Ezr.1:5-11 the Ark isn’t listed among the articles of Solomon’s temple which the Jewish returnees brought back from Babylon into the temple of Zerubbabél/Ezra, the 2^nd temple.  (see the topic “Temple of Zerubbabel”.)  2Ch.35:3 NASB footnote: “No reference is made to the ark by Ezra, Nehemiah, or even Josephus after the captivity.”

Later, neither was the Ark in Herod’s temple in the 1^st century AD.  Josephus Wars of the Jews 5:5:5 “The inmost part of the Temple…in this there was nothing at all…it was called the Holy of Holies.”  Nor was the Lord Christ ‘seated’ in the Holy of Holies chamber of Herod’s temple…Jesus was out walking the Land in His human body in the 1^st century AD!

The (physical) Ark chest disappeared from Israel’s history.  There are speculations today about the whereabouts of the Ark.  Some think the Ark ended up with the Jews in Elephántine, Egypt.  Or the original Ark possibly disappeared way back in the days of Solomon & the Queen of Sheba…and now remains in the possession of an Orthodox church in Ethiopia.  (If so, then the Ark hidden by Jeremiah wasn’t the original.)  I won’t elaborate on these speculations here.  (Many articles about the ancient Ark’s disappearance are available on the internet.  You might read Dean Smith’s What Happened To The Jewish Ark of the Covenant? and The Queen Of Sheba And The Jewish Ark.)

There are only two New Testament references to the “ark” (kibotós g2787, Greek) of the covenant.  He.9:1-7 briefly summarizes Moses’ tabernacle, its furnishings and service.  v.4 “…the ark of the covenant, covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant.”

He.9–10 shows the efficacious atonement of Christ’s blood for Christians…sprinkling animal blood at the Ark’s mercy seat on each annual Day of Atonement by the Aaronic high priest is no longer needed.  Nor do Christian ‘soldiers’ (figurative) follow a physical ark into battle against nations of this world.

John envisioned in Re.11:19, “The temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple”.  A heavenly Ark endures, not an earthly.  Again, the only thing in the Ark in the tent/tabernacle of David was God’s eternal law tablets.  God’s laws are now figuratively being written by the indwelling Holy Spirit on the minds & hearts of New Covenant Israelites (He.8:8-13) and gentiles grafted-in.  see “Two Covenants – Heart of the Matter”.  An earthly Ark is unnecessary.

As the Lord said in Je.3:16, the ancient physical Ark made for Israel need not be missed or made again.

 

Ark of the Testimony – Journeys (1)

The “Ark of the Testimony” (seen in Ex.25:16, Jsh.4:16, e.g.) was the most important object in God’s portable tabernacle which Moses/Israelites constructed.  The Hebrew term for “ark” is aróne, Strongs h727; “testimony” is aydúth h5715.  The Ark was also known as the “Ark of the Covenant” (h1285, Nu.10:33, e.g.), the “Ark of the Lord” (h3068, Jsh.3:13), and the “Ark of God” (h430, 1Sm.3:3).

Christ was the God and good Shepherd of ancient Israel.  His glory dwelt above the Ark, upon the mercy seat between the cherubim (cf. Ex.25:22, Ps.80:1, Jn.10:11.  see the topic “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.)  The Ark represented the Lord’s Presence and Name!  2Sm.6:2 “The ark of God which is called by the Name, the very name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim.”

This two-part topic traces the journeys of the Ark of the Testimony/Covenant through the history of ancient Israel.  Part 1 covers the time from its construction in the aftermath of Israel’s exodus from Egypt…until the capture of the Ark by the enemy Philistines circa (c) 1100 BC.

Using Rev. Martin Anstey’s The Romance of Bible Chronology, v.2, Israel’s exodus from Egypt occurred c 1612 BC and the sacred tabernacle tent & sanctuary was erected c 1611 BC.

Ex.19:1 “In the third month after the sons of Israel went out from Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai.”  While Moses was up on Mt Sinai for 40 days (Ex.24:18), the Lord gave him instructions for the tabernacle (mishkán h4908), its furnishings, and the Ark.  (also see “God Tabernacles With Humans”.)

Ex.25:1, 10-21 “The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘They [Israelites] shall construct an ark of acacia wood. Overlay it with pure gold. You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, and two cherubim of gold at the two ends of the mercy seat, their wings spread upward. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I shall give you.”

The dimensions of the Ark were about 45 in. wide, 27 in. deep, 27 in. high.  It was a gilded rectangular chest.  The Ark had rings on the sides through which two long poles were inserted to carry it from site to site.  (The Lord said the descendants of Levi’s son Koháth were to carry it, Nu.4:4-6 & 7:9).

Continuing with Ex.25:22, “There I will meet with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony”.  The Lord Christ would seat Himself atop the mercy seat, from where He would command Moses and Israel’s high priests of His principles & ways.

It was called the “Ark of the Testimony” because God’s own testimony of moral principles against sin, written on tablets, was placed inside.  Gill Exposition Ex.25:16 “This was put into the ark…which may signify the law was in the heart of Christ.”  The law reflected the character of Christ, ‘seated’ above.

Ex.31:18 “When He [the Lord] finished speaking with him [Moses], He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, inscribed with the finger of God.”  These principles were the Ten Words (h1697 dabarim), called the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue.

Moses recounted in De.10:4 LXX NETS, “He wrote on the tablets the Ten Words (g3056 lógos, Greek), which the Lord spoke to you in the mountain out of the midst of the fire [Ex.20:1-18], and the Lord gave them to me”.  Also cf. De.4:13 LXX, where the Greek term for “words” is g4487 rhéma.  The Decalogue was both logos and rhema.  In addition…a jar of manna (Ex.16:32-34), Aaron’s rod (Nu.17:10), and later God’s book of the law (De.31:26, 2Ch.34:14-15) were placed in or by the Ark.

The Ark with the mercy seat resided in the Holy of Holies room of the tabernacle (Ex.26:34).  Aaron the high priest was authorized to enter that compartment only once each year, on the Day of Atonement.  There he would sprinkle blood on the mercy seat of the Ark, to atone for Israel’s sins (Le.16:2, 14-17).  The Ark with the mercy seat signified God’s judgment and mercy.

Ex.30:26 initially Moses was to mix holy anointing oil and “anoint the tabernacle and the ark of the testimony”.  Ex.40:17-21 the Ark was brought into the completed tabernacle at Sinai 11 ½ months out of Egypt.  v.34-35 the Holy Spirit glory cloud filled the tabernacle on the occasion!  v.36-38 “In all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up, the sons of Israel would set out.”  They weren’t to leave a site until the Shekínah glory lifted; Nu.9:21-22 “Whether it was after two days, a month, or a year.”

For much of ancient Israel’s BC history (subsequent to Egypt), the Ark and the tabernacle were together at the same site/location.  But they weren’t together during all that period of time, as we’ll see.

Nu.10:11-13, 33 in the 2^nd month of the 2^nd year, they departed Sinai with the ark for a 3-days’ journey to the Parán Wilderness.  Nu.11:3, 34-35 their first stops after Sinai were Taberáh/Kibróth-hattaváh and Hazeróth.  De.1:1-3, 19 it was an 11-day march by way of Mt Seir from Horéb/Sinai to the Kadésh-barnéa spring/oasis in Paran (Ge.14:6-7 spring of judgment, Nu.12:16, 13:3, 26, 32:8).  De.1:46 “They remained in Kadesh many days.”  Nu.14:33-34 they won’t enter the Promised Land until the 40^th year!

Nu.20:1-2, 13-14, 27:14, 33:36 in the 40^th year, they camped at Meribáh Kadésh (not an oasis!) in the Wilderness of Zin.  Nu.33 lists in order their 40–45 encampments made during the 40-year journey to the promised Land of Canáan.  Moses died just before they entered-in (De.34:5).

Jsh.3:3-ff after 40 years, priests with the Ark went before Israel as they finally crossed the Jordan River, c 1572 BC.  Jsh.4:19 “The people came up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgál on the eastern edge of Jericho.”  The Ark is at Gilgal in the Promised Land.  Jsh.6:1-20 in their conquest of Jericho, Israelite warriors marched behind the Ark, circling Jericho for 7 days.  Jsh.14:6 Joshua’s HQ location is Gilgal.

Then Jsh.18:1, “The sons of Israel assembled at Shilóh and set up the tent of meeting there.”  God’s tent of meeting/tabernacle and Ark were moved from Gilgal to Shiloh.  Centuries later the Lord recounted in Je.7:12, “…My place which was in Shiloh, where I made My Name dwell at the first”.  Christ ‘dwelled’ atop the Ark at Shiloh.  Jsh.22:9 Israel had “gathered together at Shiloh.”  (Jsh.24:1, 25 the LXX and Arabic versions have “Shiloh”.)  Joshua’s HQ became Shiloh; it means ‘place of rest’.

Jg.2:6-9 Joshua died c 1547 BC.  (see “Chronology – the Exodus to Samuel”.)  Jg.2:1 LXX “The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal…to Bethél, to the house of Israel.”  Jg.2:5 Israel sacrificed there (Bethel/‘Bochím’, where they ‘wept’).  The Divine Captain of God’s host had earlier appeared to Joshua while Israel was camped at Gilgal (Jsh.5:10-15), prior to Shiloh.  Shortly before Joshua’s death, the Ark and tabernacle where sacrifices were made were moved from Shiloh to nearby Bethel (the Luz of Ge.28:19, Jg.1:23).  Cambridge Bible Jg.2:1 “A transference of the sanctuary [to Bethel] (Jdg 2:5b).”

{Sidelight: Jg.17–21 these ending chapters of Judges are a flashback to side events which occurred earlier in the book, but weren’t inserted then (to not interrupt the timeflow).  Henry Commentary Jg.17:1 “What is related in…the rest of the chapters to the end of this book, was done soon after the death of Joshua.”  Pulpit Commentary “Two detached histories [Jg.17–21], which fill up the rest of the book, are long prior to Samson [Jg.13–16].”  In Jg.20:28, Aaron’s grandson Phineás the high priest is still alive (cf. Nu.25:7)!  Gill Exposition Jg.17:1 and Barnes Notes connect Jg.17:1 & Jg.18:1-2 “Dan” to Jg.1:34 “Dan”.  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 5:2-3 places Jg.17–21 before Othniél’s early judgeship of Jg.3.  Jg.3:8-11 the warrior Othniel judged Israel 40 years, c 1524 BC – 1484 BC.  Caleb’s nephew Othniel acceded a few years after the time of the “elders who outlived Joshua” (Jg.2:7), c 1547 – 1532 BC.}

Jg.18:31 echoes the tabernacle had been at Shiloh earlier.  Jg.20:18 LXX “They went to Bethel and inquired of God.”  Not long after Joshua’s death, the Ark was at Bethel.  Pulpit Commentary Jg.20:18 “At this time the ark of God, with the tabernacle, was at Bethel, only 7–8 miles from Shiloh.”

Jg.20:27 “The sons of Israel inquired of the Lord, for the ark of the covenant of God was there [Bethel] in those days.”  Ellicott Commentary Jg.20:27 “At Bethel.”  Again, Bethel was near to Shiloh.  Jg.21:19 an annual pilgrim feast was held at Shiloh, “on the north side of Bethel”.  Situated in the tribal territory of Ephráim, Shiloh-Bethel became the Ark & tabernacle location (after Gilgal).  350 years elapse….

Jg.16:30-31 Samson the warrior-judge died, c 1142 BC.  Eli and Samuel then conclude the long period of the judges.  1Sm.1:1-3 Elkanáh (Samuel’s father) annually went to Shiloh to sacrifice to the Lord.

The Ark is again at Shiloh.  Ellicott Commentary 1Sm.1:3 “Shiloh was the religious center of Israel during the whole period of the judges. On rare occasions the sacred tent, and the holy furniture, seems to have been temporarily moved to such places as Mizpáh and Bethel, but its regular home was Shiloh.”  1Sm.3:3, 21 the Ark is at Shiloh, where the Lord revealed Himself to young Samuel.

In the latter years of Eli the high priest & judge, Israel had become very backslidden.  1Sm.4:1-5 the Ark is carried into the battle of Ebenézer against the Philistines, c 1102 BC.  v.17-18 the heathen Philistines sack Shiloh, and capture the Ark.  Eli dies when he hears the news.  v.22 “The glory is departed from Israel, for the ark of God is taken.”

The Ark would never return to Moses’ tabernacle!

Cambridge Bible 1Sm.1:3 “It [Shiloh] ceased to be the national sanctuary. Samuel sacrificed at Mizpeh, at Ramáh, at Gilgal, never, so far as we read, at Shiloh.”  Barnes Notes Ps.78:60 “The place of worship was finally and forever removed from the tribe of Ephraim, within whose limits Shiloh was.”

The Ark had resided in the Holy of Holies innermost room (Ex.26:34) of Moses’ tabernacle for 500 years!  From c 1611 BC – 1102 BC (except when it was in transport or taken into battle.  cf. Nu.10:35 “Rise up, O Lord! And let Thy enemies be scattered.”)

The Ark now will reside elsewhere, apart from God’s tabernacle, for 110 years (til c 991 BC).  During these 110 years, the Holy of Holies compartment of Moses’ tabernacle was entirely empty!

1Sm.5:1-7 the Philistines took the captured Ark of God from Ebenezer to their city of Ashdód, to the temple of their pagan god Dagón.  But the idol of Dagon was then found fallen down before the Ark…and broken!  The Lord afflicted the Ashdodites with tumors and mice (LXX).  v.8-9 so the Philistines took the Ark to their city of Gath.  But the Lord afflicted them there with tumors.  v.10-12 so they took the Ark to Ekrón.  The hand of God was heavy upon them in Ekron; many men died or were smitten with tumors.  At that point the Philistines didn’t know what to do with the Ark, they cried out to heaven!

This topic is continued and concluded in “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys (2)”.

 

 

 

Job and the Land Of Uz (3)

This topic was begun in “Job and the Land of Uz (1)”, and continued in “Job and the Land of Uz (2)”.  In Part 1, the probable location of the land of Uz, where Job lived, was discussed.  In Part 2, Job’s four visitors were identified.  From both parts, the time period in which Job lived is being determined.  Most of the material presented in (1) and (2) won’t be repeated here in the concluding Part 3.

Jb.1:1-3 Job dwelt in the land of Uz (Ausítis LXX), and was the greatest of the “men of the East”.  Barnes Notes Jb.1:3 “East – The country which lies east of Palestine.”  Old Testament (OT) scripture shows that the general area of the “East” wasn’t the lands of: Canáan, Egypt, the Philistines, Edom, the Midianites, the Amalekites.  Egypt and Philistines were to the West; Edom and Midian to the South.

In the OT, the name Job (Strongs h347, Hebrew) appears only in the book of Job and in Ezk.14:14, 20.  In no other verses.  The name Jobáb (h3103) is a different name from Job (h347).  Jobab is seen in Ge.10:29, 36:33-34, Jsh.11:1, 1Ch.1:23, 44-45, 8:9, 18.  The name Iob (h3102) in Ge.46:13, also is a different name from Job (h347).  This Iob is Jashúb in Nu.26:24 & 1Ch.7:1.   (see Part 2 of this topic.)

The (supposed) Book of Jasher refers to the Jobab of Ge.10:29, and to the Iob of Ge.46:13.  Jasher 45:5-7 “Jobab the son of Yoktan [Joktán, Ge.10:29] had two daughters…Adinah and Aridah….Issachár took Aridah and came to the land of Canaan…And Aridah bore unto Issachar four sons, Tolá, Puváh, Job [Iob or Jashub, Ge.46:13, Nu.26:24, 1Ch.7:1], and Shomrón.”

However, the Job in the book of Job had three daughters, Jb.1:2…not two.  All Job’s children died, Jb.1:19.  JFB Commentary Jb.1:19 “Including the daughters.”  Later after his ordeal, Job had three more daughters, named: Jemimáh, Keziáh, Karenhappúch, Jb.42:13.  The Jobab (h3103) of Ge.10:29, traditionally having only two daughters (as per Jasher), is a different man from the Job (h347) in Job.

The Iob/Jashub/Job of Ge.46:13 & Jasher lived in the land of Canaan and then in Egypt.  That wasn’t the “East”.  But the Job in the book of Job was the greatest of the men of the “East” (Jb.1:3).  So Iob/Jashub (Nu.26:24 & 1Ch.7:1), the son of Issachar in Ge.46:13, isn’t the Job of the book of Job.

A postscript based on the Syriac version was added later to the Septúagint version of the book of Job.  This postscript appears immediately after Jb.42:17 in our Septuagint/LXX book of Job.  The postscript states that the Jobab (h3103) of Ge.36:33-34 was an Edomite and he was the Job (h347) of the book of Job.  The postscript to the LXX Jb.42:17 follows (scripture references are inserted by me [in brackets]):

“It is written that he [Job] will rise with those whom the Lord resurrects.  This man is described in the Syriac book as living in the land of Ausitis, on the borders of Edom and Arabia.  Previously his name was Jobab.  He took an Arabian wife and begot a son named Ennon.  But he [Job] himself was the son of his father Zare [LXX Ge.36:13, 17.  Zara v.33 name differs], one of the sons [or grandsons] of Esau [Ge.36:10, 13], and of his mother Bosorra.  Thus, he was the 5^th son from Abraham.  Now these were the kings who reigned in Edom, over which country he [Job] also ruled.  First, there was Balak the son of Beor [Ge.36:32], and the name of his city was Dennaba.  After Balak, there was Jobab, who is called Job [Ge.36:33].  After him, there was Asom [Ge.36:34], ruler out of the country of Teman.  After him, there was Adad the son of Barad [Ge.36:35], who destroyed Midian in the plain of Moab; the name of his city was Gethaim.  Now his [Job’s] friends who came to him were: Eliphaz, of the children of Esau, king of the Temanites [Ge.25:15]; Bildad, ruler of the Shuhites [Ge.25:2]; and Zophar [LXX Ge.36:15], king of the Mineans.”  That concludes the postscript/appendix and our LXX book of Job.

There are problems with this additional paragraph to the LXX book of Job…it ignores or contradicts other verses of the OT.  For example, in Ge.36:33 & 1Ch.1:44, Zara from Bozrah (LXX Bosorrha) was Jobab’s father.  Bozrah/Buzrah was east of Bashan near the Hauran and edge of the Syrian desert, 60-80 miles S of Damascus (People’s Dictionary of the Bible).  Another Bozrah became the capital city of Edom (ca 1000 BC?).  But in the LXX postscript to Jb.42:17, Bosorrha is Job’s mother, not a place!

Barry Setterfield Job and Jobab: “About the ending of the Book of Job in the Septuagint…we note that the LXX ends with chapter 42 verses 16 and 17 where we are given Job’s age. This is part of the Alexándrian Septuagint. However, there is a rather lengthy paragraph which is NOT numbered that appears separately after the close of verse 17. This is an addition, and we are plainly told where this addition came from. The opening of this additional paragraph reads ‘This man [Job] is described in the Syriac book as living in the land of Aúsis on the borders of Iduméa and Arabia…’ This, and all that follows, is clearly an editorial comment about the Syriac version of Job.”

Setterfield continues: “The first Syriac version of the Old Testament originated about 180 AD, which is well after the Council of Jamnia in 100 AD where the Masoretic Text originated. It therefore has nothing to do with the Alexandrian Septuagint Text which originated about 280 BC or over 450 years earlier. This inclusion therefore originates with the later Septuagints. This term Septuagint has come to mean any Hebrew to Greek translation. That is why we specify the Alexandrian LXX which was the most ancient. The time of 180 AD was about the time of Origen when he produced a number of Greek versions that conformed to the Masoretic Text of 100 AD.”

Setterfield indicates that the postscript to Jb.42:17 LXX is an insertion based on what the 180 AD Syriac version contained about Job.  The postscript wasn’t in the previous old Greek version (or Alexandrian) of the OT.  It was added over 400 years later to the Septuagint.

The Jobab of Ge.36:33 wasn’t the Job of the book of Job (neither was the Jobab of Ge.10:29).  This understanding also can be ascertained from internal evidence of the actual text.

In the text of LXX Ge.36:13, 17, the name of Esau’s grandson is Zare.  But in the LXX Ge.36:33 the name of Jobab’s father is Zara…not Zare.  Similarly, LXX 1Ch.1:37 Zare vs LXX 1Ch.1:44 Zara shows the same discrepancy.  Zare and Zara were two different individuals!  The LXX postscript addition to Jb.42:17 confuses the names found in the actual LXX text.

In the Book of Jasher: Jasher 36:23 “The sons of Eliphaz the son of Esau were Teman, Omar, Zepho…and the sons of Reuel [son of Esau] were Nachath, Zerach.”  Jasher 58:29 “Jobab the son of Zarach died.”  In Jasher, the name of Esau’s grandson is Zerach, but the name of Jobab’s father is Zarach…not Zerach.  Again, Zerach/Zera and Zarach/Zara were two different individuals.

Ellicott Commentary Ge.36:33 “Jobab – The LXX identifies him with Job, but on no probable grounds.”  Gill Exposition Ge.36:33 “Jobab…this king some have thought to be the same with Job, but neither their names, nor age, nor country agree.”  Pulpit Commentary Ge.36:33 “Jobab – identified with Job, an opinion which Michaelis declares to be insinis error.”

Catholic Encyclopedia: Characters of the Poem “The appendix to the book of Job in the Septuagint identifies Job with King Jobab of Edom (Gen.36:33). Nothing in the book shows that Job was ruler of Edom; in Hebrew the two names have nothing in common.”  King Jobab wasn’t Esau’s grandson.

The postscript which was added to the LXX Job has errors.  Gerard Gertoux The Book of Job, p.10 “This late comment (c. 160-150 AD) has many errors….Jobab died many years before Job’s death.”

And 1,000 years later, Ezekiel still referred to Job as Job, h347 (Ezk.14:14, 20)…not as Jobab, h3103.

Jasher 58:26-29 “The children of Esau took a man from the people of the east; Jobab the son of Zarach from the land of Botzrah. Jobab reigned in Edom over all the children of Esau ten years. At the end of ten years, Jobab died.”  The King Jobab from Bozrah (Ge.36:33) died.  That was circa 1767 BC.

{Sidelight: Here’s a brief chronology of the (foreign) kings of Edom from Ge.36:31-39 and the Book of Jasher:  Bela ruled ca 1807–1777 BC (Jash.57:41-45).  Jobab ruled ten years, ca 1777–1767 BC (Jash.58:26-28).  Hushám/Chushám ruled ca 1767–1747 BC (Jash.58:29).  Hadád the son of Bedád ruled ca 1747–1712 BC (Jash.62:3).  Samláh ruled ca 1712–1690 BC (Jash.66:1-2).  Shaúl ruled ca 1690–1640’s BC (Jash.69:1-3).  BáalHanán ruled ca 1640’s–1614 BC (Jash.74:1-2).  Hadár/Hadad (an Edomite) ruled ca 1614–1567 BC (Jash.78:1-3, 90:6-9).  Moses sent messengers to this Hadar in the 40^th year after the exodus, Nu.20:14-21; Moses died during his rule (ca 1572 BC).  Joshua allotted the land of Canaan among the tribes of Israel ca 1567 BC.  Dates are approximate.  also ref my topics “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus” and “Chronology: the Exodus to Samuel.”}

Annette Yoshiko Reed Job As Jobab “In one of his letters, Jerome states that, in contrast to the Christians, the Jews of his time denied that Job was “of the descendants of Esau” (Letter 73; ca 398 CE). Arguing explicitly against the LXX Job appendix, Jerome then asserts that Job’s lineage should be traced through Uz, the son of Abraham’s brother Nahór (Quaest. In Gen. ad Ge.22:20-22) – apparently following a rabbinic tradition about Job’s identity (see Gen. Rab. 57:4).”  See Part 1 for Nahor detail.

Time elapsed after the death of the Jobab of Ge.36:33-34 & Jash.58:26-28.  Later in Jasher 66:15, Job is a counsellor to Pharoah. “Job, from Mesopotámia, in the land of Uz.”  This was ca 1702 BC, or 65 years after the death of Jobab king of Edom.  Then Jasher 67:24 “The king [pharaoh] sent and called his two counsellors, Reuél the Midianite and Job the Uzite.”  That was ca the 1690s BC.

This Job the Uzite from Mesopotamia, summoned by Pharaoh, isn’t the Jobab who’d ruled in Edom and died 70 years earlier!  (The man Reuel/Jethró later became Moses’ father-in-law, cf. Jasher 67:41.)

Approximately 1,000 years later, Jeremiah wrote of the “kings of the land of Uz” in Je.25:20 (not in LXX).  Also Lam.4:21 (not in LXX), “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, who dwells in the land of Uz”.  Cambridge Bible Jb.1:1 “These words do not imply that Uz is identical with Edom, but they imply that Edomites had possession of Uz….”  Jeremiah indicated that Edomites, Esau’s descendants, dwelt in the land of Uz ca 600 BC.

Again, Jasher 66:15, the land of Uz in Mesopotamia was Job’s home.  Mesopotamia was in the East.  “Men of the East” dwelt there.  Jb.1:3 Job was in the “East”.  But Edom wasn’t in Mesopotamia nor part of the “East”.  Jasher 67:24 Job is called a Uzite.  see Part 1 about Mesopotamia.

ISBE: Uz “A kingdom of some importance somewhere in Southern Syria and not far from Judea.”  Ancient Syria/Arám was in upper Mesopotamia.

Cambridge Bible Ge.22:21 “Uz as a locality in the Syrian region. It may denote a branch of an Aramean tribe. It appears as the birthplace of Job.”  Catholic Encyclopedia: op. cit. “Job seems to have been an Araméan.”  Pulpit Commentary Jb.1:1 “Arabian tradition regards the region of the Hauran, northeast of Palestine, as Job’s country.”  The plain of ancient Hauran, towards SW Syria.

R.N. Coleman The Poem of Job “Josephus identifies the land of Uz with the territory of Damascus [Syria] and Trachonitis. The habitual residence of Job was in some portion of ancient Bashán.”

The book of Job refers to the Jordan River!  Jb.40:23 “The Jordan rushes to his mouth.”  So the land of Uz probably wasn’t all that far from the Jordan.  Ancient Bashan was NE of the Jordan River.

Og was an Amorite king of Bashan after the time of Job.  Moses recounted in De.3:13-14, “The rest of Gileád, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasséh. Jaír the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argób as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites”.  Gill Exposition De.3:13 “The region of Trachonitis, in Bashan.”  Pulpit Commentary De.3:14 “Geshuri and Maachathi were small Syrian tribes located to the east of [Mount] Hermon.”

It was ca 1572 BC when Moses/Israel conquered Og king of Bashan.  Job was probably dead by then.  R.N. Coleman op. cit. “The patriarch Job resided in Bashan, having been the predecessor of Og.”

In Job, there’s no mention of the nation of Israel dwelling in Canaan.  Jewish Encyclopedia: Job “Jose b. Ḥalafta said that Job was born when Jacob and his children entered Egypt and that he died when the Israelites left that country.”  Jacob and his descendants went down to Egypt ca 1827 BC.  The exodus was 215 years later ca 1612 BC.  Chuck Swindoll: Job “Though we cannot be certain, Job may have lived during the time of Jacob or shortly thereafter.”  Jb.42:16 Job’s lifespan was 200 years or so.

The book of Job refers to the Temanites, Shuhites (Jb.2:11), Buzites (Jb.32:2), Sabeans (Jb.6:19b LXX).  Temá was a son of Ishmaél (Ge.25:13-16), son of Abraham.  Shúah was the son of Abraham by his concubine wife Keturáh (Ge.25:1-2).  Uz & Buz were sons of Abraham’s brother Nahor (Ge.22:20-22).  Shebá, from whom the Sabeans probably descended, was a grandson of Abraham & Keturah (Ge.25:3).

From Dr. Martin Anstey’s The Romance of Bible Chronology, p.8, Ishmael lived from 2031–1894 BC.  Uz & Buz, Shuah, and Ishmael were all four of the same generation.  These four would’ve been alive in the 1900s BC.  Tema and Sheba were of the next generation (as was Jacob & Esau).  Ishmael’s son Tema, progenitor of the Temanites, would’ve been alive in the 1900s BC.  So would Abraham’s grandson Sheba, progenitor of the Sabeans.  The Temanite and Sabean tribes also grew in the 1800s BC.  They had become peoples by the time Job lived.  So Job’s trials wouldn’t have been prior to the 1800s BC (before the Temanite, Shuhite, Buzite, and Sabean clans emerged as tribes).

Hyksos, Kings of Egypt and the Land of Edom: “Job speaks of ‘the troops of Tema’ (Jb.6:l9). Assuming that Tema is one of the tribes descended from Ishmael (Gen. 25:l5), we would then have positive proof that Job also lived after the time of Ishmael. At the same time Job speaks also of ‘the companies of Sheba’ [Jb.6:19] who would be descendants of Sheba, a half-brother to Ishmael. The orthodox view has been that the Book of Job belongs to the era before the Exodus.”  So the patriarch Job lived sometime between the time of Ishmael (died ca 1894 BC) and Israel’s exodus from Egypt (ca 1612 BC).

Stephen Vicchio Job in the Modern World, p 202 “Mugir el-Hambeli says, ‘Job came from the Damascan province of Batanea.’ [Batanea was the ancient land of Bashan, which lay NE of the Jordan River.] Moslem tradition suggests that after the death of his father, Job journeyed to Egypt to marry Rahme, the daughter of Ephráim [or Manasseh?], who had inherited from her grandfather Joseph his beautiful robe. Later, Job brought her back to his native Hauran.”

Joseph’s sons Ephraim & Manasseh were born in Egypt ca 1833 BC (cf. Jash.50:15).  Their children would’ve been born in the (early) 1700s BC.  Jasher recorded that Job spent time in Egypt as counselor to Pharaoh as late as the 1690s BC (Jash.66:15, 67:24).  So Job and the daughter of Ephraim (or Manasseh) feasibly could’ve met in Egypt during the 1700s BC, and married.

Conclusion: Considering the several sources…they indicate that Job lived from approximately 1800–1600 BC.  His land of Uz was most likely located NE of the Jordan River in Bashan, towards the Hauran of Mesopotamia and the Syrian desert.

 

 

Job and the Land Of Uz (2)

This topic was begun in “Job and the Land of Uz (1)”.  This Part 2 is a continuation.  Most of the material that was presented in (1) to identify the land of Uz won’t be repeated here in (2).

Let’s now look to identify the ancestry of Job’s four visitors, and associate the time period when Job lived.  The lineages of the four visitors differ, although it seems their common ancestor is Térah, father of Abraham.  All four are gentiles, descending from: Nahór, Abraham/Keturáh, Ishmaél, probably Esau.

Jb.2:11 LXX “When Job’s three friends heard of all the evil that had befallen him, they came each one from his own country: Elipház king of the Temanítes, Bildád king of the Shuhítes, Sophár king of the Mináeans.”  The LXX refers to these three friends as kings of their respective peoples.

Yet Job was the “greatest of the men of the East” (Jb.1:3), greater than his kingly friends.  Job had more wealth, power, authority and influence.  He said in Jb.29:25, “I dwelt as a king among his troops”.

After the three kings had conversed or argued with Job, Job’s fourth friend speaks up.  He is Elihú, Job’s younger countryman.  We’ll identify Elihu first.

Jb.32:2 LXX “Elihu the son of Baráchiel, the Buzite [Strongs h940 Hebrew], of the kindred of Ram [Arám?], of the land of Ausítis [Uz].”  In the Greek LXX, Uz is called Ausitis.  Job too was from Ausitis/Uz.  Jb.1:1 LXX “There was a man in the land of Ausitis [Uz] whose name was Job.”  Job, in the land of Uz/Ausitis, was one of the “men of the East”.  His fellow Uzite Elihu was too.

The Buzites probably descended from Buz, the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor (Nahor was discussed in Part 1).  Ge.22:20-23 “Milcáh has born children to your [Abraham’s] brother Nahor, Uz [h5780] his firstborn and Buz [h938] his brother, and Kemuél the father of Aram…and Bethuél.”  Ellicott Commentary Ge.22:21 “Buz – probably he was the ancestor of Elihu (Job 32:2).”  Benson Commentary Jb.32:2 “[Elihu] of the posterity of Buz, Nahor’s son.”  Book of Jasher 22:21 “The sons of Buz [Nahor’s son] were Barachiel….”  Elihu is descended from a Barachiel (Jb.32:2).  Pulpit Commentary Jb.32:2 “By ‘Ram’ we are probably to understand ‘Aram’, the son of Kemuel, a brother of Uz and Buz.”  In 2Chr.22:5, Araméans/Syrians are “Ram-mée (h7421 Ramites).  So Job and Elihu, dwelling in Uz/Ausitis, were probably Arameans geographically.  Both may descend from Abraham’s nephew Uz.  Nahor, the father of Uz, had dwelt in Arám-naharáim/Mesopotámia (Ge.24:10).

Job’s friend Bildad was king of the Shuhites (h7747, Jb.2:11).  Ellicott Commentary Jb.2:11 “Bildad the Shuhite probably derived his origin from Shúah, the son of Abraham by Keturáh.”  Shuah was one of the six sons had by Abraham and his concubine wife Keturah.  Ge.25:1-2 “Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. She bore to him Zimrán, Jokshán, Medán, Midián, Ishbák and Shuah [h7744].”  (Moses’ wife Zipporáh descended from Midian.)  JFB Commentary Ge.25:2 “From Shuah, Bildad seems to be descended, Job 2:11.”

So Bildad too descended from Terah and Terah’s son Abraham.  Jasher 25:5 “The sons of Shuach [son of Abraham] were Bildad….”  Barnes Notes Jb.2:11 “The country of the Shuhites,’ says Gesenius, ‘eastward of Batanea.”  Batanea was the ancient land of Bashán, which lay NE of the Jordan River.

Job’s friend Sophar/Zophar was king of the Minaeans or Naamathites (Jb.2:11).  The Minaean region was in Arabia; they did extensive spice trade.  TimeMaps: History of Arabia “There is evidence for Minaean trading activity as far north as Gaza (in Palestine), and indeed as far afield as Egypt, and even Greece.”  The boundaries of the territory ruled by Sophar are uncertain.

ISBE: Naamathite “A dweller in Naaman’; ho M(e)inaion basileus.”  The king of Naaman/Minaean.  Smith’s Bible Dictionary: Naamathite “Probably the Naamah where he lived was on the Arabian borders of Syria.”  (Also, a Naamah was a town in the land which later was allotted to the tribe of Judah, Josh.15:41, “toward the coast of Edom southward”.)  Zophar’s territory & ancestry isn’t certain.

Some sources tie Zophar to Esau’s grandson Zephó.  Ge.36:15-16 “The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau, are chief Temán, chief Omár, chief Zepho (Sophar LXX)….chief Amalék. These are the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom.”  Wesley’s Notes Jb.2:11 “Zophar is thought to be the same with Zepho (Ge.36:11), a descendant of Esau.”  W.H. Bennett Genesis “Zepho is Zephí in Chronicles [1Ch.1:36], or according to the LXX, Zophar, which is probably the original form, cf. Zophar in Job.”

Ge.36:11-12 “The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho [LXX Sophar], Gatám, Kenáz…and Amalek”  An Eliphaz was a son of Esau (Jacob’s twin brother).  A Sophar/Zepho was Esau’s grandson.  Job’s friend Zophar was perhaps this individual, the grandson of Esau.

If King Zophar of Jb.2:11 was the Zepho of Ge.36:11, then most likely the King Eliphaz of Jb.2:11 wasn’t the Eliphaz of Ge.36:11.  It would be unusual for a father and his son Zophar (of Ge.36:11) to be ruling two different kingdoms simultaneously.

Jasher 64:6, 25 “Zepho reigned over all the children of Chíttim [Italy or Cyprus]….Zepho the son of Eliphaz [Ge.36:11] the son of Esau king of Chittim, and Hadád the son of Bedád king of Edom [Ge.36:35], encamped together.”  This traditional book says Zepho (Zophar Ge.36 LXX) was a king and son of Eliphaz.  But it doesn’t indicate that his father Eliphaz (Esau’s son) reigned over any peoples.

Was Job’s friend Eliphaz, king of the Temanites (Jb.2:11)…a descendant of Esau, or Ishmael?  There’s no Eliphaz in Genesis before Ge.36:4 (a son of Esau).  But Temá occurs earlier in Genesis:

Tema h8485 “desert”; of foreign derivation.  5 usages: Ge.25:15, 1Ch.1:30, Jb.6:19, Is.21:14, Je.25:23.  Strongs Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary “Tema, a son of Ishmael, and the region settled by him.”

Tema h8487 “south”.  11 usages: Ge.36:11, 15, 42, 1Ch.1:36, 53, Je.49:7, 20, Ezk.25:13, Am.1:12, Ob.1:9, Hab.3:3.  These verses relate to Esau/Edom.

Temanite h8489 “south to the right”.  8 usages: Ge.36:34, 1Ch.1:45, Jb.2:11, 4:1, 15:1, 22:1, 42:7-9.

“Tema” first appears in Ge.25:13-16, “The names of the sons of Ishmael are Nebaióth [the Nábateans], Kedár…Tema [h8485].”  Ishmael (son of Abraham & Hagar) had 12 sons, one of whom was Tema.  The tribe of the Temanites descended from this Tema, the son of Ishmael and grandson of Abraham.

Jb.6:19a “The caravans of Tema [h8485] looked for them [streams].”  Ishmael fathered Tema.  JFB Commentary Jb.6:19 “N of Arabia Déserta, near the Syrian desert, called from Tema son of Ishmael (Gen.25:15).”  Barnes Notes Jb.6:19 “This was the country of Eliphaz, and the image would be well understood by him. The caravans from Tema, journeying through the desert, looking for those streams.”

Is.21:11-17 is the oracles concerning Edom, Arabia, the caravans of Dedanítes (Ge.25:3), the land of Tema (Ge.25:15), and Kedar (Ge.25:13).  These were 5 different tribes of peoples, all descended from Abraham.  e.g. Edomites weren’t Temanites originally.  Je.25:23-24 “Dedán, Tema, Buz.”  These are 3 different tribes.  Eliphaz was a Temanite (Elihu was a Buzite, Jb.32:2).

Pulpit Commentary Jb.2:11 “There was an Eliphaz, the son of Esau, who had a son Teman (Ge.36:4; 1Ch.1:35-36); but it is not supposed that this can be the person here intended [Job’s friend Eliphaz].”  Fathers precede their sons.  In Ge.36:11, Eliphaz was the father, Teman his son (not vice versa).  To refer to King Eliphaz as a Temanite, carrying his son’s name, isn’t patrilogical.  That’s backwards.  Whereas, the son Teman might be called an ‘Eliphazite’ or ‘Eliphazian’, after his father.

Christopher Schwinger Origin of the Book of Job “Eliphaz the Temanite is obviously not Eliphaz the father of Teman in Gen 36’s Edomite genealogy [Ge.36:11], unless the father is living in the city of Teman which his son established.”  But in Jb.2:11 LXX, Eliphaz was king of his “own country”.

Nave’s Topical Bible: Tema “A people of Arabia, probably descendants from Tema, Ishmael’s son.”  Easton Bible Dictionary: Tema “South; desert, one of the sons of Ishmael and father of a tribe so-called (Ge.25:15), some 250 miles SE of Edom in the N part of the Arabian peninsula, toward the Syrian desert; the modern Teymá.”  Wikipedia: Tayma “Tayma or Tema, located in NW Saudi Arabia, about 400 miles N of Medina. The Biblical eponym is apparently Tema, one of the sons of Ishmael.”

Ge.36:34b circa 1767 BC, Hushám from the land of the Temanites became king of Edom (for 20 years, Jasher 58:29).  He was from the land of Tema, the son of Ishmael (Ge.25:15).  Wikipedia: Land of Tema “The place where descendants of Ishmael’s son Tema dwelt. The Land of Tema was most likely in N Saudi Arabia, and has been identified with the modern Teima, an oasis. Noted people associated: Husham, Eliphaz the Temanite.”  They were both from the land of Tema, the son of Ishmael.

So Job’s friend Eliphaz probably was a Temanite descended from Ishmael, not an Edomite descended from Esau.  Jash.57:9 whereas Eliphaz the son of Esau as military leader was killed ca 1810 BC at age 83 in Rameses, Egypt.  That Eliphaz, an Edomite from Esau, wasn’t a Temanite.

Another people in the book of Job are the Sabéans.  Jb.6:19b “Travelers from Shebá [Sabeans LXX] search for them [streams].”  Joseph Jacobs Sabeans “In Job 6:19 the Sabeans are mentioned in close association with the Temeans, an Ishmaelitish stock (Gen.25:15) that dwelt in Arabia (Isa.21:14, cf. Jer.25:23-24). Sheba must be carefully distinguished from the Cushite or African Seba (Gen.10:7).”

Sheba, from whom the Sabeans are thought to have descended, was a son of Jokshan and a grandson of Abraham by his concubine wife Keturah (Ge.25:1-6).  JFB Commentary Jb.1:15 “Sabeans, descending from Sheba, grandson of Abraham and Keturah.”  Sheba’s brother Dedan was a grandson.  Shuah, from whom the Shuhites (Bildad) seem to be descended, was a son of Abraham & Keturah.  So was Midian.

The Sabeans (from Sheba) and Minaeans were Arabian peoples.  Joseph Jacobs op. cit.  “Sabeans territory was situated between those of the Mineans and Cattabanes [of Arabia].”  Catholic Encyclopedia, Arabia, p.665 “The two most important kingdoms of ancient Arabia are that of the Minaens and that of the Sabeans, whence the Queen of Saba [Sheba] came to King Solomon.”

To recap…The above sources indicate that Job’s four visitors most likely descended from: Nahor (Elihu), Abraham/Keturah (Bildad), Esau (Zophar/Zepho), Ishmael (Eliphaz).  And all are from Terah.

Let’s now turn our attention to dating the time period in which Job lived.  Job lived for 140 years or so after his ordeal (Jb.42:16).  The Lord blessed Job double afterwards (cf. Jb.1:3 & 42:12).  So God extended Job’s lifespan to perhaps 200 years (indicative of a patriarch).  Also, Job’s wealth was measured in livestock…reflective of the patriarchal age (see Part 1).  Jb.42:11 the qeesetáw (Hebrew) piece/weight of money is ancient…the term occurs elsewhere in scripture only in Ge.33:19 & Jsh.24:32.

Job lived in the land of Uz long after the Noachian Flood.  Cambridge Bible Jb.22:16 “The reference is probably to the Deluge.”  Job fathered 20 children (Jb.1:2, 42:13), in two families.  He was a patriarch.

Uz & Buz, and Ishmael were all three of the same generation.  From Dr. Martin Anstey’s chart in The Romance of Bible Chronology, p.8, Ishmael lived from 2031–1894 BC.  (see the topic “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus”.)  Ishmael’s son Tema, progenitor of the Temanites, would’ve been alive in the 1900s BC.  So would Nahor’s son Buz, progenitor of the Buzites.  The Temanite (Jb.2:11) and Buzite (Jb.32:2) clans grew in the 1800s BC.  They had become peoples by the time Job lived.  So Job’s trials wouldn’t have been prior to the 1800s BC (before the Temanites & Buzites emerged as tribes).

Hyksos, Kings of Egypt and the Land of Edom: “Job speaks of ‘the troops of Tema’ (Jb.6:l9). Assuming that Tema is one of the tribes descended from Ishmael (Gen. 25:l5), we would then have positive proof that Job also lived after the time of Ishmael. At the same time Job speaks also of ‘the companies of Sheba’ [Jb.6:19] who would be descendants of Sheba, a half-brother to Ishmael. The orthodox view has been that the Book of Job belongs to the era before the Exodus.”  So Job lived sometime between the time of Ishmael (died 1894 BC) and Israel’s exodus from Egypt (ca 1612 BC).

In the Old Testament, the name “Job” (h347) appears only in the book of Job and in Ezk.14:14, 20.

Ge.10:23 the first Uz was a son of an earlier Aram.  Ge.10:26-29 & 1Ch.1:19-23: Jobáb (h3103) and a Sheba were 2 of the 13 sons of Joktan.  Jobab was a name similar to Job.  Joktan and Peleg were the two sons of Eber (the first “Hebrew”).  Joktan is considered the ancestor of many southern Arabian tribes.  This Jobab was the same generation as Peleg’s son Reu.  (Jobab and Reu were 1^st cousins.)  Reu was great-great-grandfather to Abrám.  That would place Reu and Jobab four generations before Abraham!

But since there were no Buzite, Ishmaelite, or Temanite tribes until at least a few generations after Abraham… it’s highly unlikely that the early Jobab (h3103) of Ge.10:29 is the man in the book of Job.

There may have been a Iob who was an Israelite, a grandson of Jacob.  Ge.46:13 lists the sons of Issachár (born ca 1870 BC) who went to Egypt with Jacob (ca 1827 BC), “Tolá, Puváh, Iob [h3102, Asum in LXX], Shimrón”.  Cambridge Bible Ge.46:13 “Observe that Iob is a different name than Job in Jb.1:1.”  And in Nu.26:24 & 1Ch.7:1, Issachar’s 3^rd son is named “Jashúb”, not Iob.  In Ge.46:13, “Iob” may be a transcription error (according to Strongs).  Whatever this man’s correct name, he could have been alive in the 1700s BC.

But Iob/Jashub the son of Issachar, having gone to Egypt with Jacob ca 1827 BC, would’ve died in Egypt prior to the exodus of ca 1612 BC.  Even if he was an infant in 1827 BC, and lived for 200 years, he wouldn’t have lived much past 1627 BC.  That’s before the exodus.  Also, Job was the “greatest of the men of the East”.  Job probably lived many years in “the East” to attain such status.  The tribe of Issachar (later) was allotted territory west of the Jordan River in the land of Canáan (Israel/Palestine).  They weren’t “men of the East”.  The land of Canaan itself wasn’t “the East” from the land of Canaan.

Catholic Encyclopedia: The Characters of the Poem “Job evidently didn’t belong to the chosen people [Israel]. He lived, indeed, outside of Palestine. Job belonged to the ‘people of the East’. Job seems to have been an Aramean.”  (see Part 1 for Aramean detail.)

So it’s unlikely that the book of Job is about an Israelite, a descendant of Jacob/Israel.

Next, a postscript which was added to the Septúagint version of the book of Job will be considered, as well as names & chronologies from the (supposed) Book of Jasher.

This topic is concluded in “Job and the Land of Uz (3).

Added in the Old Covenant (2)

This Part 2 is the continuation of “Added in the Old Covenant (1)”.  Most of the background material in Part 1 won’t be repeated here.  In this topic, we’ve been addressing two main passages of scripture:

#1) The apostle Paul wrote in Ga.3:18-19, “For if the inheritance is based on law [Strongs g3551 nómos, Greek], it is no longer based on a promise, but God granted it to Abraham based on a promise. Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions [g3847 parábasis, seven New Testament (NT) occurrences: Ro.2:23, 4:15, 5:14, 1Ti.2:14, He.2:2, 9:15]…until the Seed should come.”

The majority of Bible students think the apostle Paul meant the Lord’s Old Covenant for ancient Israel was added.  Others think Paul mostly had in mind the detailed sacrificial system which was added.

#2) The prophet Jeremiah wrote in Je.7:22-23, “I didn’t speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey [hearken to, h8085 shemá, Hebrew] My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people.”

The Lord had said of Abraham in Ge.26:5, “Abraham obeyed [h8085] My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws”.  Due to transgressions of God’s pre-existing moral laws/principles (seen in Genesis), the Old Covenant Law of Moses was subsequently added for ancient Israel.  (ref Part 1)

God’s Old Covenant included His pre-existing moral laws that date from Adam (which Abraham obeyed)…plus pilgrim feasts, Levitical ceremonial tabernacle/temple rituals and the sacrificial system.  Gentiles in Genesis didn’t have pilgrim feasts or recurring animal sacrifices, sin/guilt offerings, etc.

Part 1 ended with two related questions: What prompted the Lord to command the detailed sacrificial system for ancient Israel?  Why did God add recurring burnt-sin-guilt sacrifices to the (pre-existing) moral precepts which He brought into the Old Covenant (OC) from Genesis?

God did so because…upon leaving Egypt, Israel proceeded to transgress and disobey God, and evidenced unbelief (prior to Ex.21 judgments at Sinai).  Let’s briefly trace their history leaving Egypt:

Ex.14:11-12 Israel rebelled at the Reed Sea (ref Ps.106:7).  The Lord parted the sea for them, and the pursuing Egyptian army drowned.  Ex.15:22-25 Israel then grumbled about water at Maráh.  So the Lord showed Moses a tree and Moses threw it into the waters; the waters miraculously became sweet.

Ex.16:27-28 Israel then broke God’s 7^th day sabbath.  (see the series, “Sabbath 7^th Day”.)  The Lord gave them manna to eat.  Ex.17:1-7 Israel tested the Lord at Massáh/Meribáh; they even wanted to stone Moses!  Moses obediently struck a rock and water gushed forth for them (ref Ps.106:14).  Ex.18:5, 16 in the wilderness, Moses made known to them pre-existing statutes and laws of God.

The Lord kept intervening for His people Israel…yet they kept sinning in unbelief.  Prior to Sinai.

Ex.20:1-18 at Sinai, Christ spoke the Decalogue.  (De.4:13 the Ten Commandments or ten “words”, h1697 debarim, was the heart of the OC.)  The people heard His voice!  Ex.20:19-20 but they’re afraid of God and only want to hear Moses, not God.  v.21 so Moses alone approached the Lord in the cloud.

The Lord won’t speak directly to His people after that; He speaks through Moses the mediator.

Then the Lord instructed Moses in Ex.21:1-ff, “These are the judgments which you are to set before them….”  Civil judgments and the sacrificial system are seen in remaining chapters of the Péntateuch.

In the beginning, Adam & Eve heard (h8085) the Lord’s voice…but they hid themselves, Ge.3:8.  Israel later didn’t hearken to (h8085) God’s voice.  Nu.14:22 the Lord said of Israel, “Ten times you haven’t listened to [h8085] My voice”.  De.4:12, 5:25, 18:16 the people didn’t want to hear (h8085) God’s voice at Sinai.  Later, Joshua wrote that those coming out of Egypt didn’t obey (h8085) God’s voice, Jsh.5:6.

Again, Je.7:22-23 “I didn’t speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey [h8085] My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people.”

Ge.26:5 father Abraham had obeyed (h8085) God’s voice.  After God miraculously provided water at Marah for Israel, Moses told the people in Ex.15:26, “If you will earnestly heed [h8085] the voice of the Lord, and do what is right in His sight and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon you which I have put on the Egyptians”.  Obedience to God’s pre-existing moral principles was expected of them…in Ex.15:26 there is no sacrificial system for sin.

Before He gave the Ten Commandments, the Lord said to Moses/Israel in Ex.19:5, “If you will obey [h8085] My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all peoples”.  Later, De.5:2-3 “The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horéb [Sinai]. The Lord didn’t make this covenant with our fathers.”  The fathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob didn’t have the OC (although they knew God’s moral principles/commandments, which later became part of the OC).  For example, A-I-J didn’t have individual sin or guilt/trespass offerings; none of those sacrifices appear in scripture before Le.4–6, given to Moses later at Sinai (ref Le.27:34).  see “Abraham Obeyed Which Commandments?”.

In Ex.24:7-8, Israel affirmed they would obey the Lord’s OC. “The people said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do and be obedient [h8085]!’ So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you.”  The OC was a blood covenant between the Lord and ancient Israel.  It was ratified.

But in Ex.32:1-10, Israel then held an idolatrous golden calf feast with burnt/peace offerings!  Ps.78:10-20 they disobeyed, didn’t keep God’s covenant.  Ps.78:17 “They continued to sin against Him.”

The Lord recapped in Je.11:7-8, “I solemnly warned your fathers in the day I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, saying, ‘Obey [h8085] My voice’. Yet they didn’t obey, but each walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart.”  Most of them repeatedly refused to hearken to God.

The Lord is holy.  God won’t dwell with sin.  Sin must be atoned.  God told Moses in Ex.25:8, “Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them”.  The tabernacle was the place of God’s Name, where Christ (the good Shepherd, Ps.80:1 & Jn.10:14) dwelt among His ancient people.  (also see “Jesus Was The Old Testament God”.)

A purpose of animal blood sacrifices at God’s tabernacle was to expiate sins.  see “Day of Atonement (1)”.  Thus the sacrificial system was instituted for a holy God to dwell with them.  However, 1Sm.15:22-23 “To obey [h8085] is better than sacrifice, to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.”  Obeying the Lord is much preferable to disobeying and then having to sacrifice to expiate the sin.  Where there’s no transgression or sin, there’s no need to offer an atoning sacrifice!

From Are Christians Freed from the Old Covenant?: “When Paul states, in Galatians 3:19, ‘It (the body of law governing sacrifices) was added because of transgressions,’ he is referring to a contractual provision, one that would not have been put into effect had Israel obeyed God. How do we know this? Notice Hosea 6:6: ‘For I (the Eternal) desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.’ (Also notice Psalm 40:6, 8.) But animal sacrifices were not instituted by God as an afterthought, any more than was Christ’s sacrifice.”  see “Sacrifices and Burnt Offerings”.

David wrote of God in Ps.40:6-8, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire. To do Your will, my God, I desired. Your Law is within my heart.”  The Lord didn’t take pleasure in the flesh of sin offerings.  He desires obedience to His righteous moral principles (which predate the OC) more than animal sacrifices.

Again, the Lord said in Ho.6:6, “I desired mercy rather than sacrifice, and an acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings”.  By comparison, animal sacrifices were secondary in importance.  JFB Commentary Ho.6:6 “God valued moral obedience as the only end for which positive ordinances, such as sacrifices, were instituted.”  In Mk.12:32-34 of the NT, Jesus confirmed that to love God and to love one’s neighbor is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices!

Je.6:20 “Your burnt offerings are not acceptable. Your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”  At that time (ca 600 BC), Judah was offering them from an evil and insincere heart.  Barnes Notes “God rejects not the ceremonial service, but the substitution of it for personal holiness and morality.”

So after centuries of disobedience, God eventually sent His people into captivity…Israel to Assyria, and Judah to Babylon in 597 BC.  The Lord ceased to honor their feigned sacrifices, offered insincerely.

The fault was with the people…not with God’s Old Covenant!  He.8:8 “Finding fault with them….”  Not, “with it.”  A purpose of the OC was to reflect: the Lord’s standard of law, so crime wouldn’t run rampant in the streets…a standard of order, to prevent chaos in society.  The Law given to Moses/Israel also contained judgments and case law to govern an orderly society.

Again, Ga.3:19 “Why the Law [of Moses]? It was added because of transgressions.”

Paul said transgression, sin, law-breaking…doesn’t exist without law.  Ro.4:15 “Where there is no law, there is no transgression [g3847].”  And Ro.5:13, “For until the Law [of Moses], sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law.”  Ro.3:20 “Through law comes the knowledge of sin.”  So there must be some form of law in existence for there to be sin/transgression (of that law), as per Paul.

Earl Henn What Was the Law ‘Added Because of Transgressions’? “For years, people have wondered how anyone could have transgressed the laws before they were given. Simply put, Paul is talking about the laws of God which have been in full force since Creation! When he writes that the Old Covenant was added ‘till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made’, he means that the Old Covenant was temporary; Christ would replace it with the New Covenant. Rather than saying that God’s [moral] laws had become obsolete, he is explaining how important it was to preserve the knowledge of God’s laws in Israel….Paul is showing that the Old Covenant was an interim, temporary addition to the [prior] covenant made with Abraham. It was necessitated by Israel’s transgressions of God’s holy laws that had been—AND STILL ARE!—in full force and effect since Creation.”

James Bruckner Implied Law in the Abraham Narrative, p.207 “In the pre-Sinai narrative, Biblical law is set in the context of creation.”  p.67 “Genesis is embedded with law.”

John Sailhamer The Law Was Added Because of Transgressions “As Israel continued to transgress the laws given to them, God continued to give them more. God did not give up on His people. When they sinned, he added laws to keep them from sinning further….The laws were added to keep them from disappearing into the world of sin around them. It thus was the transgressions of the people that provided the motivation for God’s giving the Mosaic law.”

After 39 years of wilderness experience, Moses repeated to the next generation in De.13:4. “You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him, and you shall keep His commandments and obey [h8085] His voice, and remain loyal to Him.”  Although they didn’t obey then either…they eventually will obey God!

De.4:30 “When you are in distress, in later time, you will return to the Lord your God and obey [h8085] His voice.”  Eventually Israel will obey the Lord with a steadfast heart.  Benson Commentary De.4:30 “Particularly in the days of the Messiah.”  And Paul wrote in Ro.11:26, “All Israel will be saved”.

Animal sacrifices and the detailed sacrificial system for Israel are no more!  Yet there are righteous moral principles of God brought into the OC Mosaic Law which predated and transcend that OC.

As Paul wrote in Ro.8:4, “That the righteousness [g1345] of the Law may be accomplished in us, who live not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”.  Gill Exposition Ro.8:4 “By the righteousness of the law, is not meant the righteousness of the ceremonial law, though that was fulfilled by Christ; but of the moral law, which requires holiness of nature.”

Yes, Christians are able to obey God’s moral principles (also contained in the Old Covenant), via the Holy Spirit (HS).  Whereas carnal-minded ancient Israel, most of whom didn’t have the HS, was unable to obey.  Ro.8:7 “The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God; it doesn’t subject itself to God’s law, because it is powerless to do so.”  But the HS will figuratively write God’s righteous principles, seen in Genesis also for gentiles, on the minds & hearts of New Covenant Christians (He.8:10).

Also Ro.2:26-27, “If the uncircumcised man keeps the righteousness [g1345] of the Law…if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you [Jews] who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor [g3848] of the Law?”  The HS enables uncircumcised gentile Christians to obey God’s moral laws.  Barnes Notes Ro.2:26 “It could not be supposed that a pagan would understand the requirements of the ceremonial law; but reference is had here to the moral law.”

That’s the moral laws, commandments and statutes which the gentile Abraham obeyed (Ge.26:5), and which Moses made known (Ex.18:16)…prior to Sinai and the OC.  Meyer’s NT Commentary Ro.2:26-27 “The uncircumcised person, who observes what the law has ordained, i.e. the moral precepts of the law, shall one day be awarded the same salvation….The standard of judgment remains the [moral] law of God.”  God’s moral principles/laws…seen even in Genesis for gentiles prior to Moses.  see “Genesis Principles Predate Moses” and “Ten Commandments in Genesis & Job”.

bible.org The Mosaic Law “The moral principles embodied in the law of Moses Paul calls ‘the righteousness of the law’ (Rom 8:4), and shows that such principles are the goal of the Spirit-directed life in the same context in which he teaches the believer is not under the Mosaic law (Ro 6–8).”

Jesus said in Jn.10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me”.  Unlike most of faithless ancient Israel, real believers do desire to follow and obey Christ the Lord.

The Christian isn’t under the Mosaic law as such…since it included sacrifices and Levitical rituals.  Those are impossible to perform without a tabernacle/temple.  Those are inapplicable today.

The Old Covenant was added for ancient Israel…added because of sins/transgressions of God’s prior eternal laws, Ga.3:19 (ref Part 1).  The OC also contains judgments which governed civil society.

The Lord isn’t an anarchist!  God’s moral principles/laws existed for gentiles prior to the OC.  And those just principles were then put into the OC for ancient Israel.  Those principles/laws of God are still valid for humanity/Christians today!  The HS enables the willing heart to obey them.  (see “Two Covenants – Heart of the Matter”.)  The character and principles of Jesus Christ, the God of ancient Israel, are the same…yesterday, today, and forever (He.13:8).  He is Lord and Master!

Added in the Old Covenant (1)

Paul wrote in Ga.3:19, “Why the Law [of Moses]? It was added because of transgressions”.  What prior law(s) was transgressed that led to God adding the law of Moses?  And what all did the Lord then add (for Moses/Israel) to His more ancient prior laws after those were transgressed?

The majority of Bible students think the New Testament (NT) apostle Paul meant the Lord’s Old Covenant for ancient Israel was added.  Others think Paul mostly had in mind the detailed sacrificial system which was added.  In this topic, we’ll explore the issue.

Paul said transgression, sin, law-breaking…doesn’t exist without law.  Ro.4:15 “Where there is no law, there is no transgression [Strongs g3847, Greek].”  And Ro.5:13 “For until the Law [of Moses], sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law.”  Ro.3:20 “Through law comes the knowledge of sin.”  So there must have been some form of law already in existence for there to be sin or transgression (of that law), according to Paul.

Since the Bible mentions sin several times in Genesis (Ge.4:7, 13:13, 18:20, 20:9, 31:36, 39:9, 42:22, 50:17), prior to the Law of Moses…Divine Law must have existed and been revealed to humanity prior to Moses, for sin to have been present!  1Jn.3:4 “Sin is the transgression of the law [lawlessness].”

Sin occurred in the Garden of Eden (Ge.3)…long before sin was described in God’s theocratic laws for Moses & ancient Israel and identified elsewhere.  1Jn.3:8 “The devil sins from the beginning.”  Divine Law, which the serpent violated (Ge.3:3-4) and Cain violated (Ge.4:7-11)…existed from the beginning!

Ge.26:5 the Lord said, “Abraham obeyed [h8085 shemá, Hebrew] Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws”.  Abraham did all that…prior to the Law of Moses!  He was very obedient to God.  Also Wisdom of Sírach 44:20 “Abraham kept the law of the Most High.”  God Most High had laws in Abraham’s day (centuries before Moses).  Abraham had much faith/belief, to obey God!

There were (eternal) laws of God in existence during the period from Adam to Moses.  Those laws were kept by early righteous gentiles such as Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Job, etc.  1Enoch 99:2 “Woe unto them who pervert the words of uprightness, and transgress the eternal law.”  1Eno.106:13-14 “Some of the angels of heaven commit sin and transgress the law.” (cf. 1Jn.3:4)  An eternal law existed before the Law of Moses, according to 1Enoch.  Abraham was aware of God’s earlier moral laws, and he obeyed.

The topic “Abraham Obeyed Which Commandments?” references some of those more ancient (eternal) laws.  They won’t be listed here.  James Bruckner Implied Law in the Abraham Narrative, p.208 “Law is presented, in the first canonical book of scripture [Genesis], as part of the created order.”  There are scriptures that show principles of all the Ten Commandments reflected in Genesis, long before Moses.

Paul also indicated that a moral sense of God and of sin has always existed in man’s consciousness.  Ro.1:19-21 “That which is known of God is evident within them. For since the creation of the world, even though they knew God, they [most] did not honor Him as God.”  Early humans knew of God.

God’s moral principles/laws seen in Genesis, and given to ancient Israel…weren’t new in Moses’ day!

Evangelical Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser wrote in God’s Promise Plan and His Gracious Law: “So endemic is the moral law to the whole of the Mosaic law that evidences for its abiding nature can be found in the fact that even before it was given on Sinai it was held to be normative and binding on all who aspired to living by faith. In fact every one of the Ten Commandments is already implicitly found in the Genesis record even before their publication on Sinai. Moses did not invent the moral law; God did, and He had already been holding men and women responsible for heeding it millennia before he finally wrote it on tablets of stone.”  Yes, real ‘living by faith’ includes living by God’s moral law.

Then in the Old Covenant, God included His preexisting moral commandments, statutes, laws (which Abraham obeyed)…and added to them.  Added new in the Old Covenant Law of Moses were: pilgrim feasts (Ex.12:1-13:7, Ex.23:14-18); the daily morning & evening sacrifice (Ex.29:38-43); sin & guilt offerings (Le.4–6); the tabernacle/temple sequence of offerings, rituals, ceremonies (Nu.28–29); etc.

Conspicuously absent in Genesis are the (later) three pilgrim feasts and the Levitical ritualistic aspects with the detailed sacrificial system.  In Genesis, there’s no tabernacle/temple, and no Passover before the Lord later ‘passed over’ Israelite homes (Ex.12:13).  see “Feasts of the Lord  and the Jews”.

Ga.3:18-19 “If the inheritance is based on law [g3551 nómos], it is no longer based on a promise, but God granted it to Abraham based on a promise. Why the Law [of Moses] then? It was added because of transgressions [g3847 parábasis].”  (7 NT occurrences: Ro.2:23, 4:15, 5:14, 1Ti.2:14, He.2:2, 9:15.)

Meyer’s NT Commentary Ga.3:19 “It [Law of Moses] was, after the covenant of promise was already in existence, superadded to the latter.”  Cambridge Bible Ga.3:19 “It was added’, yet so as not to interfere with the promise.”

Expositor’s Greek Testament Ga.3:19 “But there could obviously be no transgressions until the law existed. The prohibitions of the Ten Commandments….these sins prevailed before the law.”  Yes, laws of the Ten Commandments, and several other laws, existed for Abraham and gentiles in Genesis.  There could be no transgressions, if there’s no existing laws to transgress (according to Paul, Ro.4:15).

God’s moral principles/laws existed, for gentiles, prior to the Old Covenant.  The Lord carried-over those principles/laws into the Old Covenant as codified for Israel and for aliens among them. The prior laws remained applicable to gentiles.  (see “Genesis Principles Predate Moses”.)

Moses wrote in De.11:1, “You shall love the Lord your God and keep His charge, His statutes, ordinances, and His commandments”.  Notice the similarity of that verse to what all Abraham had obeyed earlier in Ge.26:5 (without an Old Covenant Law of Moses).

Barnes Notes Ga.3:19 “The Law [of Moses] was given [by the Lord] to show the true nature of transgressions, or to show what sin was.”  Benson Commentary Ga.3:19 “To restrain the Israelites from transgressions.”  Restrain them from transgressions of God’s prior enduring moral laws.

Also, the Old Covenant law contained judgments and case law to govern an orderly society.

Paul wrote in Ro.4:13, “The promise [g1860 epangeleéah] to Abraham or to his seed that he would be heir of the world [g2889 kósmos] wasn’t through law, but through the righteousness [g1343 dikaiosúnay] of faith”.  Vincent Word Studies Ro.4:13 “Paul here takes the Jewish conception of the universal dominion of the Messianic theocracy prefigured by the inheritance of Canáan, divests it of its Judaistic element, and raises it to a christological truth.”  Gill Exposition Ro.4:13 “Not through the law of circumcision, or on their obedience to that, for this promise was made before that was enjoined; see Genesis 12:2; nor through the law of Moses, which was not yet given.”  God made the promise to Abrám back when there were no pilgrim feasts (no Passover), Levitical rituals, sin offerings, etc.

God’s promise to Abraham wasn’t made through the Law of Moses or the Old Covenant.  The gentile Abraham didn’t have that.  But Abraham knew God’s moral principles/laws which predated “the promise”.  However, the focus of this topic isn’t “the promise” to Abraham…but what was added later, according to Paul in Ga.3:19.  Yet the promise was made to the Abraham who…“obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws”, Ge.26:5!  He knew God’s righteous precepts…and they were later incorporated into the Old Covenant, which God codified for Moses/Israel.

{Sidelight: Moses too had known God’s preexistent righteous precepts.  After Israel exited Egypt, Moses’s father-in-law Jethró came to Moses/Israel in the wilderness in Ex.18:5.  Moses said to Jethro, Ex.18:16, “I judge between a man and his neighbor, and make known the statutes of God and His laws”.  Moses made known God’s preexistent laws/principles and justice…prior to the Old Covenant (Ex.24), and even prior to God speaking the Ten Commandments (Ex.20)!}

Early gentiles like Abraham didn’t have the detailed sacrificial system.  It was added for Israel…added after Israel rebelled against the Lord in unbelief as they left Egypt.

Je.7:22 “I didn’t speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.  Gill Exposition Je.7:22 “These are not in the decalogue or ten commands…but are an appendage or addition to it; and though they are of early institution and use, yet they never were appointed for the sake of themselves.”  JFB Commentary Je.7:22 “The ten commandments having been delivered first.”  (see “Ten Commandments in Genesis & Job”.)  Cambridge Bible Je.7:22 “In general it may be said that obedience to the moral law always ranked first.”  Ellicott Commentary Je.7:22 “The ritual in connection with sacrifice was prescribed partly as a concession to the feeling which showed itself, in its evil form, in the worship of the golden calf.”

Again, the (eternal) laws which Abraham and other righteous gentiles in Genesis obeyed, and the Decalogue spoken by the Lord (Ex.20)…were absorbed into the Old Covenant Law for Israel.  It was ratified in Ex.24:1-8, and repeated/amplified in Deuteronomy as Israel was finally entering the Land.

Je.7:23 “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey [hearken to, h8085] My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people.”  Barnes Notes Je.7:23 “Sacrifice is never the final cause of the [old] covenant, but always obedience.”  God wants obedience first, not recurring sacrifices.

But Matthew Poole Commentary Je.7:22 “They [sacrifices] have been of Divine institution ever since Adam, Ge.4:3-4. God doth not condemn them, or deny them, save only comparatively in respect of obedience, not so much these as obeying His [moral] commands.”

The Lord didn’t institute the detailed sacrificial system for Israel until after they faithlessly rebelled against Him.  Yet there was animal sacrifice before Moses/ancient Israel, and before Abraham.

Claude Mariottini Why Did God Ask For Animal Sacrifice? “As early as the 4^th millennium BC, animal sacrifices were offered in Egypt at the temples at Abýdos, Thebes, and On….Babylon had centers of worship at Éridu, Níppur, Érech, Ur, and other places that can be dated from the 4^th and the 3^rd millenniums BC. Babylonian records give evidence of an elaborate system of worship and sacrifices at these temples. One document says that the animals offered in sacrifice by King Gúdea included oxen, sheep, goats, lambs, and birds. As for animal sacrifice in the Bible, the biblical record is very clear that animal sacrifice goes back to the earliest days of biblical history. For instance, the garments of skins for Adam and Eve (Ge.3:21) were made from animals slain in sacrifice.”

Sacrifice was ordained by God, and it’s probable He told Adam how to do it.  After Adam & Eve sinned, God required the first sacrifice, providing them with clothing (Ge.3:21).  It’s unlikely Cain & Abel invented sacrifice on their own (Ge.4:3-5).  The practice was passed down to others.

Animal sacrifice to (pagan) deities was customary in much of the ancient world.  Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, (Job) offered sacrifices to the Lord long before ancient Israel left Egypt.  see “Sacrifices and Burnt Offerings”.  Yet no verse in Genesis commanded anyone to do recurring animal sacrifices.

Later, in Ex.3:18, 5:3, 8:27, 10:24-26, Moses was to ask permission from Pharaoh for Israel to have a sacrificial 3-day feast in the wilderness (his request was denied).  Animal sacrifice wasn’t new to those Egyptians.

Ex.12:1–13:7 God ordained the Passover for Israel and the accompanying days of unleavened bread as they were leaving Egypt.  Ex.12:51 the Lord brought them out of Egypt.

What prompted the Lord to command the detailed sacrificial system to ancient Israel?  Why did God add recurring animal sacrifices to His prior moral precepts which He brought into the Old Covenant?

Those questions are addressed as this topic is concluded in “Added in the Old Covenant (2)”.

Chronology: the Exodus to Samuel

In this topic, Bible chronology is traced from the exodus out of Egypt until the judgeship of Samuel.  Earlier chronology is addressed in “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus” and “Chronology: Septuagint versus Masoretic Text”.  My basic position is the so-called maximalist view, that Bible history is correct unless archaeology clearly proves it wrong.

However, exact dating cannot be done for Israel’s exodus, or for the years of the many judges which followed in the Land.  Also there’s no consensus among Bible historians regarding the dates when Saul, David, and Solomon were kings.  Their years cannot be pinpointed by dates from ancient histories.  (There’s no ‘BC’ or ‘BCE’ dates written in scripture.)  The dates in this topic are approximate.

A date of 1612 BC for the exodus of Israelites & the mixed multitude from Egypt was taken from Dr. Martin Anstey’s The Romance of Bible Chronology, v.2.  I use that date, 1612 BC.

Moses was born around (circa or c) 1692 BC.  Moses is the son of Amrám and the grandson of Koháth (who’d gone to Egypt with Jacob c 1827 BC, Ge.46:8, 11).  Moses’ father Amram was born in Egypt, while Joseph was still alive.  see “Levites and the Exodus Multitude (1)”.

Moses fled to Midian at age 40 (Ex.2:15, Ac.7:22-29), c 1652 BC.

Caleb was born in Egypt c 1651 BC.  (cf. Nu.13:25-30, the 2^nd year of the exodus…with Jsh.14:6-10.)

Moses is 80 when he returns to Egypt from Midian (Ac.7:30-34), c 1612 BC.  Ex.7:7 “Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron 83, at the time they spoke to Pharaoh.”  The exodus occurred then (Ex.12:39-41).

When they exited Egypt c 1612 BC, Joshua is a young man, compared to Moses (Ex.33:11, Nu.11:28).  Joshua is 44 or so.  Caleb is 39 (born c 1651 BC).

The Israelites left Egypt, and then had to spend 40 years in the wilderness (Nu.32:13), until c 1572 BC.

{Sidelight: Ge.41:51 Joseph fathered Manasséh.  Ge.50:23 Manasseh fathered Machír.  Machir’s son Gileád was the same generation as Moses/Aaron.  Joshua’s father Nun was the same generation as Gilead & Moses/Aaron.  Zelophehád, Hépher’s son, was Gilead’s grandson (1Ch.7:14-27, Nu.26:28-37, 27:1, Jsh.17:3).  Zelophehad’s daughters are seen in the 40^th year of the exodus (Nu.27:1-ff, 36:1-ff).}

Nu.21:23-26 & De.3:12 in the 40^th year Israel took Heshbón and Aroér, and began to dwell in that area east of the Jordan River.  (Nu.25:7 Phineás’ bold action occurred in the 40^th year in the wilderness.)

The Israelites entered the Promised Land c 1572 BC.  De.34:7-9 Moses died that year at age 120.

Jsh.11:15-19 Joshua then waged war with the kings in the Land for 5 years at least, and defeated them.

Jsh.13:1 Joshua is old, near 90.  Cambridge Bible Note Jsh.13:1 “The Hebrew leader was now about 90 years of age.”  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 5:1:19 “The 5^th year was now past, and not one of the Canaanites remained.”  Josephus implied there were 5 years of conquest.  The supposed Book of Jasher 89:54, “For 5 years did Joshua carry on the war with these kings…the land became tranquil”.  The land of Canáan became relatively tranquil for a while.

Jsh.14:6-11 indicates there were 5 years of conquest.  Caleb says he’s 85.  45 years have passed since he was age 40 in the 2^nd year of the exodus (c 1611 BC), when he and Joshua spied out the Land.  Ellicott Commentary Jsh.14:7 “Caleb would be 40+38=78 years old when they crossed the Jordan. He was 85 when they began to divide the country.”  Joshua allotted the Land among the tribes of Israel c 1566 BC.

Jsh.23:1, 14 “a long time” (19-20 years) after the Land division, Joshua knows it’s his time to die.  Jsh.24:29 Joshua dies at age 110, c 1546 BC.  (Joseph previously also had died at age 110, Ge.50:26.)

Joshua was in the Land for around 25-28 years: 6-7 years of conquest/settlement, 19-20 years of ‘rule’.

Josephus op. cit. 5:1:29 “Joshua…became their commander after his [Moses’] death for 25 years.”  Jasher 90:32 indicates that Joshua died 28 years after crossing the Jordan, 68 years after leaving Egypt.  Eusebius Chronicles, p.111 “The Hebrews say that he [Joshua] was leader for 27 years, as so he was 43 years old when Moses went out of Egypt.”  Elihu Schatz “The traditional interpretation assumes that Joshua ruled for 28 years (Seder Olam Rabbah, ch. 12), which means that he was 83 when he began to rule, since he lived to be 110 years old (Jsh.24:29).”  Again, Joshua was 4 or 5 years older than Caleb.

Jsh.24:31 & Jg.2:7-10 the elders who outlived Joshua continued to serve the Lord…for several years.

Josephus op.cit. 6:5:4 “After the death of Joshua, for 18 years in all the multitude had no settled form of government, but were an anarchy; after which they then permitting themselves to be judged by…the best warrior…the Judges.”  The magistrate was usually a champion who delivered them from enemies.

bible.ca/archeology/chronology-of-judges “The 8 year oppression of Arám-naharáim (Jg.3:8) began…15 years after Joshua died.”  Jasher 91:12 “The elders judged Israel after the death of Joshua for 17 years.”

So Joshua and the elders who outlived him led the Israelites for 40 years or so in the Land, prior to the series of judges.  (6+19+15=40)  From c 1572 BC until c 1532 BC.

Jg.2:16 “Then the Lord raised up judges [shaphát Strongs h8199, Hebrew] who delivered them from those who plundered them.”  These judges were warriors, military leaders, or ad hoc rulers in the early loose confederation of Israel.  Succeeding Joshua, there are no ruling judges before this verse.  Barnes Notes Jg.2:16 “This is the first introduction of the term judge, which gives its name to the book.”

How long did the judges lead Israel (prior to the people asking Samuel for a king to rule them, 1Sm.8:4-5)?  Before we identify those judges, a pertinent passage was spoken by the apostle Paul in retrospect:

Ac.13:16-21 “The God of Israel chose our fathers…with a mighty arm He led them out from it [Egypt]; for 40 years He put up with them in the wilderness. When He had destroyed seven nations in the Land of Canaan, He divided by lot to them their Land, about 450 years. After this He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul…for 40 years.”  Our translations of the passage differ.  Barnes Notes “This is a most difficult passage, and has exercised all the ingenuity of chronologists.”  To what centuries was Paul referring?

Most commentaries interpret the 450-year period as…from when God chose the “fathers” until Joshua divided the Land.  The Land was divided in c 1566 BC.  Isaac the son of promise was born c 2017 BC.  That’s 451 years earlier.  Abram was called at age 75, c 2042 BC.  That’s 476 years earlier, perhaps still close enough to the “about 450 years” Paul indicated. (see “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus”.)

Ellicott Commentary Ac.13:20 “The 450 years in this case referred to the interval between the choice of ‘our fathers’, which may be reckoned from the birth of Isaac.”  Benson Commentary Ac.13:19 “The apostle is not to be understood as signifying how long God gave them judges, but when he gave them….computed from the birth of Isaac….it will be 448 years.”

But some commentaries interpret the 450-year period as…from when the judges began until the days of Samuel.  Joshua and the elders had died by c 1532 BC.  Samuel was living 450 years later, c 1082 BC.

Meyer’s NT Commentary Ac.13:20 “Until the end of the series of judges.”  Eclectic Notes Ac.13:20 “Judges characterized the period of 450 years.”

I’ll leave it to the reader to decide which of the above two interpretations better fits the history.

Let’s now look at the period of the several judges/deliverers, until Samuel the prophet-judge.

After the deaths of Joshua and the elders who outlived him, c 1532 BC, the Israelites began to do evil.  Jg.2:10 “There arose another generation after them [Joshua and the elders] who did not know the Lord.”  Jg.3:7 they served heathen gods and angered the Lord.  So He allowed an oppressor to subjugate them.

Jg.3:8 the first oppressor was Cushán-rishatháim of Aram-naharaim for 8 years, until c 1524 BC.

Jg.3:9-11 the people cried out to the Lord.  He was merciful and raised up Othniél (Caleb’s nephew, the son of his younger brother Kenáz, Jsh.15:17) as warrior-judge.  Othniel prevailed, and the Land had rest 40 years, from c 1524 BC to c 1484 BC.

A pattern will repeat throughout the time of the judges:  Israel would disobey the Lord, come under foreign domination, the people will cry out to God, God mercifully raises up a judge to defeat the oppressor, the Land has peace.  Then the people disobey again, God allows them to be subjugated, they cry out to God, He sends a deliverer, the Land has rest again, etc.  The same cycle, over and over again.

Jg.3:12-14 Israel does evil.  So they must serve Eglón king of Moab for 18 years, c 1484 BC – c 1466 BC.  Jg.3:15-30 Ehúd of Benjamin subdues Moab, and the Land has rest 80 years, until c 1386 BC.

Jg.3:31 Shamgár saved Israel from Philistines.  Josephus op.cit. 5:4:3 said Shamgar died in his 1^st year.

Jg.4:1-3 Jabín of Canaan oppresses Israel for 20 years, c 1386 BC – c 1366 BC.  Barák, Deboráh and Jaél defeat Jabin and his general Siserá (Jg.4:4–5:31), and the Land has peace 40 years, until c 1326 BC.

Jg.6:1-ff Israel does evil again, so the Lord gives them over to the Midianites for 7 years, until c 1319 BC.  Gideon is called; he defeats Midian.  Jg.8:28 the Land has peace 40 years, until c 1279 BC.

Jg.9:1-22 Abimélech, Gideon’s son, rules over Israel 3 years, until c 1276 BC.  After Abimelech dies, Tolá of Issachár judges Israel 23 years (Jg.10:1-2), until c 1253 BC.  After Tola, Jaír the Gileadite judges Israel 22 years (Jg.10:3-5), until c 1231 BC.

Jg.10:6-8 Israel does evil, so God gave them over to the Philistines and Ammonites for 18 years, from c 1231 BC – c 1213 BC.  Jg.11:8-11 Jephtháh the Gileadite warrior became Israel’s deliverer.  Jg.11:12-28 the king of Ammón wanted back old Amorite land east of the Jordan River, which Israel had taken possession of over 300 years previously.  It seems that land had belonged to the Ammonites before it became the Amorites’.  The Israelites had taken possession of that land from Sihón king of the Amorites at the end of the 40 years in the wilderness (again Nu.21:23-26 & De.3:12, also Jsh.12:1-2), c 1572 BC.

Jephthah’s messengers said to the king of Ammon in Jg.11:26-27, “While Israel lived in Heshbon and in Aroer and in the towns that are on the banks of the Arnón [LXX Jordan], 300 years, why didn’t you recover them within that time? I therefore have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by warring against me.”  However, 340 years had elapsed from c 1572 BC to the oppression of c 1231 BC.

Matthew Poole Commentary Jg.11:26 “300 years; not precisely, but about that time.”  ESV Study Bible “300 years’ may be a round number giving an approximate date.”

Also, some judgeships possibly had overlapped since Joshua divided the Promised Land of Canaan, or were concurrent in different tribal areas of the Land.

Jg.12:7 having ended the Ammonite war in c 1213 BC, Jephthah judged Israel 6 years, until c 1207 BC.

Jg.12:8-10 Ibzán of Bethlehem succeeds Jephthah as judge, for 7 years, until c 1200 BC.  After Ibzan, Elón the Zebulunite judges Israel 10 years (Jg.12:11-12), until c 1190 BC.  Then Abdón judges Israel 8 years (Jg.12:13-15), until c 1182 BC.

Jg.13:1 “Israel again did evil, so the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines 40 years.”  Actually, the Philistines warred against Israel on & off for hundreds of years (2Ki.18:1 even 8 years in King Hezekiah’s day).  This 40-year period of Philistine oppression was from c 1182 BC – c 1142 BC.

Jg.13–16 is the account of Samson fighting against the Philistines during this time.  Jg.16:30-31 Samson sacrifices his life, having judged Israel for 20 years.  This ended Philistine oppression temporarily.

Jg.15:20 “He [Samson] judged Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines.”  It is thought by some that Samson’s heroic judgeship was during the latter 20 years, c 1162 BC – c 1142 BC, of that 40-year Philistine oppression.  Anstey op. cit., p.18 “The judgeship of Samson, 20 years, is included in the 40 years of the 6^th servitude under the Philistines.”

James Jordan Puzzling Out the Era of the Judges “The Philistine oppression lasted 40 years (Jg.13:1). Samson was born about this time. Samson judged for 20 years, and in his death killed all five Philistine kings as well as a large number of the Philistine nobility and priesthood (Jg.15:20; 16:27). It is unlikely, if not impossible, in the light of Nu.1:3, that Samson began judging before he was 20. Thus, his 40 years seem to be the same as those of the Philistine oppression.”  Samson died at age 40, c 1142 BC.

{{Sidelight: Jg.17–21 these ending chapters of Judges are a flashback to events which occurred earlier in the book, but weren’t inserted then (to not interrupt the timeline).  Henry Commentary Jg.17:1 “What is related in…the rest of the chapters to the end of this book, was done soon after the death of Joshua.”  Pulpit Commentary “Two detached histories [Jg.17–21], which fill up the rest of the book…are long prior to Samson.”  Josephus op. cit. 5:2-3 places them before Othniel’s early judgeship of Jg.3.}}

Again, it is possible that some judgeships were contemporaneous, or they began within the years listed as foreign servitude (such as Samson’s judgeship).

Generally the book of Judges was a period of less restraining authority.  The final verse in the book is Jg.21:25. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”  The syndrome was ‘I did it my way’, not God’s way.  Israelites didn’t want to be governed by the Lord or His laws.  It was a time when self-will ruled, for the most part.  But Pr.28:26 says, “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool”.  Benson Commentary Jg.21:25 “There was no supreme governor, such as Moses and Joshua were…none that had power sufficient to punish public wrongs…and thereby check the progress of vice and profaneness, and keep the people in order. ”  Most didn’t have the Holy Spirit.  Wrong covetousness was the norm.  This is a lesson we can glean from the book of Judges.

1Sm.4:15-18 Eli judges Israel for 40 years til age 98, c 1142 BC – c 1102 BC.  Samuel is judge after Eli.

Recap: The exodus from Egypt was c 1612 BC.  After 40 years of wilderness wandering under Moses, the Israelites entered the Promised Land under Joshua c 1572 BC.  After Joshua’s wars of conquest, the Land was divided to the tribes of Israel by lot c 1566 BC.  That was approximately 450 years after the birth of Isaac in c 2017 BC, and 464 years before the time Samuel succeeds Eli as judge c 1102 BC.

My other topics in the timeline are “Chronology: Samuel to Rehoboam”, “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus”, “Chronology: Septuagint versus Masoretic Text”.

 

Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus

Knowing the time when Biblical events occurred and the chronology of Bible characters helps us see the word of God in its historical context.  Also we learn the time frame of His ancient people in their generations.  My basic position is the so-called maximalist view, that Bible history is correct unless archaeology clearly proves it wrong.  This topic traces Bible chronology from Abraham to the exodus of ancient Israel from Egypt.  (For pre-Abraham, see “Chronology: Septuagint versus Masoretic Text”.)

Exact dates for the births and deaths of the Bible patriarchs are unknown.  The dates for the birth of Abrám/Abraham and the exodus from Egypt are taken in part from Martin Anstey’s The Romance of Bible Chronology, v.2.  His chart placed the birth of Abram in 2117 BC, the exodus in 1612 BC.

If Abram was born in 2117 BC, he moved from Harrán to Canáan at age 75 (Ge.12:4-5) in 2042 BC.  Ex.12:40 LXX “The children of Israel sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan for 430 years.”  The Masorétic text omits “and the land of Canaan”.  But the accounts in the Samaritan Péntateuch, the Talmud and Josephus agree with the LXX.  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 2:15:2 “They left Egypt 430 years after Abraham came into Canaan, but 215 years only after Jacob removed into Egypt. It was the 80^th year of Moses.”  They stayed 215 years in Canaan and 215 years in Egypt.

John Gill Exposition “Certain it is, that Israel did not dwell in Egypt 430 years.”  JFB Commentary “The period of sojourn in Egypt did not exceed 215 years.”  Philip Mauro The Wonders of Bible Chronology, p.34 “The 430 years began with God’s promise to Abram, made at the time he entered into Canaan at the age of 75 (Gen.12:1-4).”  And the apostle Paul confirms a period of 430 years (Ga.3:16-17).

A date of 1612 BC for the exodus…that’s 430 years after 2042 BC (when Abram was age 75).

He.11:8-9 “By faith he [Abraham] sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country.”  Ge.15:1-7 after Abram had sojourned in Canaan for around 10 years to age 85, God promised him a son, Isaac.

But before Isaac, Abram’s son Ishmaél was born when Abram was 86 (Ge.16:16), around 2031 BC.

Ge.17:24-25 around (circa or c) 2018 BC, Abraham is circumcised at age 99, Ishmael at age 13.

Ge.21:5 Abraham is 100 years old when his promised son Isaac is born, c 2017 BC.  Ge.17:17 Isaac’s mother Sarah is 90 (born c 2107 BC).  Ishmael is 14.

The Lord said to Abram in Ge.15:13, “Your seed will be sojourners in a land not their own; and they shall afflict them 400 years”.  Ge.21:8-9 after Isaac was weaned, he was mocked by Ishmael.  If Isaac was around 5 years old at the time of the mocking, it’s 2012 BC (Ishmael was 19).  The exodus from bondage in Egypt was 400 years later, c 1612 BC.  Benson Commentary Ge.15:13 “This persecution began with mocking, when Ishmael, the son of an Egyptian [Hagár, Ge.16:3], persecuted Isaac.”

This 400–year period doesn’t contradict the 430 years of Ex.12:40.

Again, if Abram was born c 2117 BC, he arrived in Canaan at age 75 in 2042 BC.  Isaac was born when Abraham was 100, c 2017 BC.  At age 60, Isaac fathered the twins Jacob & Esau (Ge.25:26) c 1957 BC.  Then when Jacob was age 130 (Ge.47:9), he and his moved from Canaan to Egypt c 1827 BC.

Abram’s sojourn in Canaan (c 2042 BC) until Jacob’s move from Canaan (c 1827 BC) = 215 years in Canaan.  And Jacob’s move to Egypt (c 1827 BC) until the exodus (c 1612 BC) = 215 years in Egypt.  The total of both = 430 years…2042–1612 BC.  As per the LXX/Septúagint, Josephus, Eusebius, etc.

Following is the chronology from Abraham and the persecution of Isaac (c 2012 BC), in more detail:

Ge.23:1-2 Abraham’s wife Sarah dies c 1980 BC at age 127.  Abraham is 137, Isaac is 37, Ishmael 51.

Ge.25:20 Isaac marries his cousin Rebekah c 1977 BC.  Isaac is 40, Abraham is 140, Ishmael 54.

Ge.25:25-26 Isaac is 60 when his sons Jacob & Esau are born c 1957 BC.  Abraham is 160, Ishmael 74.

Ge.25:7 Abraham dies at age 175, c 1942 BC.  Ishmael is 89, Isaac is 75, Jacob & Esau are 15.

Ge.26:34 Esau marries two Hittite wives c 1917 BC.  He and Jacob are age 40, Isaac is 100.

Ge.25:17 Ishmael died at age 137, c 1894 BC.  Isaac was age 123, Jacob & Esau were 63.

Ge.28:5 Isaac sends Jacob to Padán-Arám in Mesopotámia, to escape from Jacob’s twin brother Esau.  This was sometime around 1886 BC.  Jacob & Esau are age 70 or 71, Isaac is 131.

It is uncertain at exactly what age Jacob left the land of Canaan for Padan-Aram, fleeing from Esau.  There, Jacob would marry his first cousins Leáh & Rachél, daughters of his uncle Labán (Rebekah’s brother).  Jacob served Laban for at least 20 years (Ge.31:38-41), part of which was the bride price for Leah & Rachel (Ge.29:16-ff).  Initially, Jacob contracted to work only 7 years…for Rachel (Ge.29:18).

Jacob worked for Laban for 7 years, and in return was given…Leah, not Rachel!  Jacob then agreed to work 7 more years for Rachel.  Ancient sources differ in regards to when Rachel actually became his wife.  Josephus op. cit. 1:19:7, Philo The Works of Philo p.211, the Orthodox Bible LXX Ge.29:27 Note…they indicate that Rachel became Jacob’s wife after he’d worked the entire second 7-year period.  But the more recent Hebrew Masoretic text Ge.29:27-28, the (supposed) Book of Jasher 31:12-13, the traditional Book of Jubilees (Jub) 28:8-9…they indicate that Rachel became Jacob’s wife only one week following Leah, before he worked the second 7-year period.  The historical sources differ.

Jacob fathered 12 sons (11 born in Padan-Aram), Ge.35:23-26.  Their descendants would become the 12 tribes of Israel.  God changed Jacob’s name to Israel (Ge.32:28).

Ge.29:31-35 Jacob/Israel’s first 4 sons…Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah…were born to Leah.  see the topic “Levites and the Exodus Multitude (1)” for the lineage chronology of Jacob’s 3^rd son Levi.

Ge.30:4-8 Dan and Naphtalí are born to Rachel’s maidservant Bilháh (Jacob’s concubine wife).

Ge.30:9-13 Gad and Ashér are then born to Leah’s maidservant Zilpah (Jacob’s other concubine wife).

Ge.30:16-20 Leah resumes childbearing; she gives birth to Issachár, then Zebulún.

Ge.30:21 a daughter, Dinah, was also born to Leah.  Some think Zebulun and Dinah were twins (the scripture doesn’t say Leah ‘conceived’ for Dinah’s birth).  Written c 150 BC, Jub.28:23 “She [Leah] conceived, and bare two children, a son and a daughter. Zebulun and Dinah in the 7^th of the 7^th month.”

Ge.30:22-24 Rachel finally gives birth to her first child, Joseph, c 1867 BC.  Jacob (and Esau) was 90, Isaac 150.  Joseph is called the son of Jacob’s old age (Ge.37:3), and Jacob loved him the most.

Ge.30:25, 31:20-21 Jacob & family flee Laban/Padan-Aram, having been there 20 years or more.

Ge.33:1-16 while returning to Canaan, Jacob meets his twin Esau en route.  They’re in their early 90s.  Isaac is over 150.  v.17-20 Jacob journeys to Succóth, and afterwards settles in the town of Shechém.

Ge.34:1-31 Dinah, near age 12 (ref Jub.30:3), is taken by Shechém the son of Hamór.  Her brothers Levi, age 18 (ref Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (T12P) Levi 12:5), and Simeon, age 20, kill every male in the town and loot it.  Jacob is near age 100.

Ge.35:1-15 as a result, Jacob must then depart Shechem.  He goes to Bethél and elsewhere.

The time frame in which Jacob’s 13 children were born (12 in Padan-Aram) is a narrow fit.  Having returned to Canaan c 1865 BC, Jacob’s daughter Dinah wasn’t taken at age 3 or 4!  Enough years must have elapsed for her to be at least 10–12.  And her brothers Levi & Simeon weren’t only age 8 or 10 when they killed the men of Shechem!

Ge.35:16-20 Rachel dies near Ephráth (Bethlehem) while giving birth to Jacob’s 12^th son, Benjamin, c 1857 BC.  Jacob is 100 or so, his son Judah is 16, Joseph is close to 10, Isaac is near 160.

Ge.37:1-2, 26-36 Joseph’s older brothers sell him into slavery at age 17, c 1850 BC.  Joseph is taken to Egypt.  Judah is near age 23, Jacob age 107, Isaac 167.

Ge.35:28-29 Isaac will die at age 180, c 1837 BC.  Jacob & Esau are 120, Judah is 36, Joseph 30.

Ge.38:1-30 after Jacob had returned to Canaan c 1865 BC, Judah at age 20 married Shúa c 1853 BC.  (ref T12P Judah 7:10, 8:1-2, 9:1-3.)  Judah fathered 3 sons – Er, Onán, Sheláh.  Er and Onan (successively) married Tamár, and each died shortly thereafter.  Then Judah fathered the twins Pérez & Zérah (v.29-30) by his daughter-in-law Tamar.  Ge.46:12 Perez later fathered Hezrón & Hamúl, probably in Egypt, near 1827 BC.  Barnes Notes Ge.46:12 “Hezron and Hamul may have been born at the arrival of Jacob’s household in Egypt.”  Poole Commentary “Hezron and Hamul seem to have born in Egypt.”  Jacob and his descendants go to Egypt c 1827 BC.

Only 40 years elapsed from the birth of Judah’s brother Joseph (Jacob’s 11^th son) in Padan-Aram, c 1867 BC, until Judah went to Egypt with Jacob c 1827 BC.  Judah must have been close to 6 years older than Joseph.  And Jacob had fathered 3 sons prior to Judah (in Padan-Aram)!  Benson Commentary Ge.38:1 “This chapter must here be placed out of the order of time.”  JFB Commentary Ge.38:1-30 “Judah was married some years before the selling of Joseph. Judah was now about 20 years old when he married, and the 3 first years he hath 3 sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. The two first marry each when they were about 17 years old. Three years after both their deaths, and when Shelah had been marriageable a year or two, and was not [levirate marriage] given to Tamar, Judah lies with Tamar and begets upon her Pharez.”  T12P Judah 12:1 she conceived Pharez two years after she became a widow.

Ge.41:38-46 in the year Isaac died, c 1837 BC, Pharaoh made Joseph prime minister of Egypt at age 30 (cf. Jub.40:12).

Ge.41:47 for the first 7 years that Joseph was prime minister, Egypt experienced great abundance.  This period would be followed by 7 years of famine (Ge.41:29-30).  Ge.45:6 by this time, 2 years of famine had elapsed.  Joseph is now age 39, Jacob is 129.

Ge.47:9 then Jacob/Israel, at age 130, goes to Egypt to join Joseph c 1827 BC.  Levi was age 48 (T12P Levi 12:5), Judah age 46 (T12P Judah 12:11-12).  Ge.41:46-47 & 45:6 Joseph was age 39 or 40.  That places Joseph’s birth c 1867 BC, when Jacob (and Esau) was age 90 or 91.

Jacob’s move to Egypt culminates the 215 years he and his ancestors spent in the Land of Canaan.

Recap: Ge.12:4 Abram is age 75; Ge.21:5 he’s age 100 when Isaac is born…25 years had elapsed.  Ge.25:26 Isaac is age 60 when Jacob and Esau are born…60 years more.  Ge.47:1, 9 Jacob is age 130 when he and the family all went to Egypt…130 years more.  25 + 60 + 130 = 215 years in Canaan.

Now follows the 215-year period during which the Israelites dwelt in Egypt, until the exodus:

Again, when Jacob moved to Egypt at age 130, c 1827 BC, Joseph is 40 (Ge.41:46-47, 45:6, 47:1, 9).

Ge.46:1-34 lists Jacob’s seed who went with him to Egypt.  v.8-12 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah are age 46–51.  Levi’s son Koháth (Jacob’s grandson) had been born.  (Kohath is Moses’ grandfather!)  v.21-22 Benjamin must be at least 30 (John Gill “10 sons are in his loins”).  All go to join Joseph in Egypt.

Ge.47:28 Jacob lived 17 years in Egypt.  Jacob dies in Egypt at age 147, c 1810 BC.  Joseph is age 57.

Twin Esau was slain in Canaan at the time of Jacob’s burial there, traditionally (Jasher 57:64-66)!

Amrám, the son of Kohath and the father of Moses & Aaron, is born in Egypt sometime between c 1827 and c 1757 BC (1Ch.6:1-3); perhaps around 1811 BC.  cf. Ex.6:18-20.

Ge.50:26 Joseph dies in Egypt at age 110, c 1757 BC, 70 years after Jacob & family moved to Egypt.

Ex.1:8 “A new king [pharaoh] arose who didn’t know Joseph.”  Joseph had been dead for some years.

Aaron, the son of Amram and elder brother of Moses (Nu.26:57-59), is born in Egypt c 1695 BC.

Moses is born c 1692 BC.  P.J. Wiseman Ancient Records and the Structure of Genesis, p.99 “He was born 64 years after Joseph had died.”  Moses is the son of Amram and grandson of Kohath (young Kohath had gone to Egypt with Jacob).  Amram was born in Egypt, while Joseph was still alive!

Moses fled to Midian (at age 40, c 1652 BC; ref Ex.2:15, Ac.7:23-29).  Josephus ibid 2:10-11 adds an account of Moses as general of the Egyptian army against Ethiopia/Cush, and his marriage to a Cushite princess.  Jasher 73:1-2 traditionally says that Moses even then reigned for a few decades in Cush.

Caleb was born in Egypt c 1651 BC…cf. Nu.13:26-30 (the 2^nd year of the exodus) with Josh.14:7-10.

Moses is age 80 when he returns to Egypt from Midian, c 1612 BC.  The exodus from Egypt occurs then.  Ex.7:7 “Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron 83, at the time they spoke to Pharaoh.”

Ex.12:40 LXX “The children of Israel, while they sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan, was 430 years.”  Breakdown of the 430 years: 215 years in Canaan til Jacob’s move (with Moses’ grandfather Kohath) to Egypt, 70 years til Joseph’s death, Moses’ age of 80 at the exodus…65 years remain.  So Moses was born nearly 65 years after Joseph died.  Mauro op. cit., p.40, “The interval between the death of Joseph and the birth of Moses was 64 years.”  70 + 65 + 80 = 215 years in Egypt.

{Sidelight: The original Ípuwer Papýrus recorded calamities that were occurring in ancient Egypt.  In it, Ipuwer was speaking to the Lord of All, ‘a term used for the king and the creator god’.  Free-online-bible-study.org “The Ipuwer Papyrus is a single papyrus holding an ancient Egyptian poem, called The Admonitions of Ipuwer. It describes the affliction of Egypt by natural disasters and by a state of chaos in which the poor have become rich, and the rich poor; violence, famine and death are everywhere. A symptom of this chaos is the lament that servants are leaving their servitude and acting rebelliously. The probable date of the composition of the Papyrus, 1850 BCE and 1600 BCE.”  Egyptology.org.uk “The date for the Ipuwer Papyrus is not certain. Van Seeter dated it to around the end of the Middle Kingdom (c 1600 BCE). Most scholars generally agree to this dating.”

The enormous Minoan volcano eruption of Thera (now called Santorini) anciently happened 120 miles SE of Greece in the southern Aegean Sea.  Some geologists think it was the most powerful explosion on earth.  It altered the course of the Mediterranean Sea.  Wikipedia “Radiocarbon dates, including analysis of an olive branch buried beneath a lava flow from the volcano gave a date between 1627 BCE and 1600 BCE (95% confidence interval).”  Live Science: How the Eruption of Thera Changed the World “The eruption has also been loosely linked with the Biblical story of Moses and the exodus from Egypt. The effects of Thera’s eruption could have explained many of the plagues described in the Old Testament, including the days of darkness and polluting of the rivers, according to some theories.”

Whether or not the Ipuwer Papyrus and the Santorini eruption do directly relate to Israel’s exodus from Egypt, is beyond the scope here.}

Eusébius (265–340 AD) was a bishop and church historian. Chronicle [30] “All versions agree that 505 years transpired from Abraham until Moses and the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. It is calculated as follows. When Abraham was 75 years of age, God appeared to him and said that He would give the promised land to his descendants. For it is written [Ge.12:4-5]: ‘Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Harran.’ In the same passage, further on [Ge.12:7] it states: ‘Then the Lord appeared to Abraham and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ Thus 75 years of Abraham plus 430 years [from God’s promise] until the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. The Apostle Paul confirms this [Ga.3.17-18]: ‘The law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void.’ Then he adds: ‘God gave it to Abraham by a promise.’ When Abraham was 100 years of age his son Isaac was born, 25 years after God’s promise.  405 years transpired from that event until the exodus from Egypt. Consequently, from the promise [until the exodus] 430 years elapsed.”  75 + 430 = 505 years.

Placing the birth of Abram in 2117 BC…505 years later is 1612 BC for the exodus from Egypt.

In this topic, the ages of the patriarchs and the sequence of their lives are according to scripture.  The chronological dates are approximate.  Exact dates cannot be proven as of now.

My other topics about the timeline are “Chronology: the Exodus to Samuel”, “Chronology: Samuel to Rehoboam”, “Chronology: Septuagint versus Masoretic Text”.