Aramaic in the Bible (1) – Old Testament

Our Bible books were written in (at least) three ancient languages; Hebrew, Aramáic, koine Greek.  This two-part topic is about Aramaic.  Part 1 discusses Aramaic in Old Testament (OT) times, BC. 

Noah and his family survived the Flood (Ge.7:13, 8:15-16).  Ge.9:18 “The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Jápheth; and Ham was the father of Canáan.”  Ge.10:22, “The sons of Shem were Elám, Asshúr, Arphaxad, Lud and Arám.”  Aram and Canaan were grandsons of Noah.

Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 1:6:4 “Asshur lived at the city of Nineveh, and named his subjects Assyrians. Arphaxad named…the Chaldéans. Aram…called Syrians.” 

Semític languages are named from Shem.  The Aramaic language is named from Shem’s son Aram.  Cambridge Bible “The people denoted by Aram were destined to exercise great influence. The Araméan language gradually prevailed over the other Semitic dialects, even Hebrew.”

Ge.10:24 Septúagint/LXX “Arphaxad begot Kaínan [not Canaan], Kainan begot Shélah; Shelah begot Éber.”  The Hebrew people were named after Eber.  Josephus ibid “Eber, from whom they originally called the Jews, Hebrews.”  Eber was the great-grandson (or grandson) of Aram’s brother Arphaxad.

Much later, a language in the “Land of Canáan” Holy Land would be called Hebrew.  Tel Aviv’s Bar-Ilan Univ: Daf Parashat Hashavua (No.112) “It’s clear from extant epigraphic material that Hebrew is a Canaaníte language.”  Aramaic and Canaanite are classed as NW Semitic languages.  Hebrew and Phoenícian are sub-classed as NW Semitic Canaanite languages.  All four are primary-classed as Áfro-Asiátic languages.  Aramaic would become widely used geographically in the Near East.

Wikipedia: Aramaic “Ancient Aram, now called Syria, is considered the linguistic epicenter of Aramaic, the [later] language of the Arameans who settled the area during the Bronze Age. Aramaic is a Semitic language. By around 1000 BC, the Arameans had a string of kingdoms in what is now part of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the fringes of southern Mesopotamia [Ac.2:9, 7:2] and Anatólia [Turkey]. Aramaic rose to prominence under the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BC), under whose influence Aramaic became a prestige language after being adopted as the língua fránca [common tongue] of the empire. Its use spread throughout Mesopotamia, the Levánt and parts of Asia Minor. At its height, Aramaic, having gradually replaced earlier Semitic languages, was spoken in several variants all over what is today Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, E. Arabia, Bahrain, Sinai, parts of SE and south central Turkey, and parts of NW Iran.”  Aramaic became the language of Mesopotamia.

Wikipedia: History of Mesopotamia “Mesopotamia literally means ‘between the rivers’ in ancient Greek. The oldest known occurrence of the name Mesopotamia dates to the 4^th century BC, when it was used to designate the land east of the Euphrates in north Syria. Later it was more generally applied to all the lands between the Euphrates and the Tigris, thereby incorporating not only parts of Syria but also almost all of Iraq and SE Turkey. The neighboring steppes to the west of the Euphrates and the western part of the Zágros Mountains are also often included under the wider term Mesopotamia. A further distinction is usually made between Upper or N. Mesopotamia and Lower or S. Mesopotamia. Upper Mesopotamia, also known as the Jazíra, is the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris from their sources down to Baghdad. Lower Mesopotamia is the area from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf.”

Prior to Aramaic, the main language of the ancient Near East was Akkádian, an East Semitic Afro-Asiatic language, now extinct.  Holman Bible Dictionary: Akkadian “Akkadian was the international language of diplomacy & commerce in the Near East before 1000 BC.”  Wikipedia: Akkadian Language “Its gradual replacement by Akkadian-influenced Old Aramaic among Mesopotamians.”  The ancient Old Aramaic period was c 1000–700 BC.  (Historians differ some in their period designations/dates.)

The OT term for “Aramaic language”, Aramíth Strongs h762 Hebrew (rendered “Syrian language” in the LXX), occurs 4 times: 2Ki.18:26, Is.36:11, Da.2:4, Ezr.4:7.  The term for a Syrian/Aramean person is Arammíy h761, 11 occurrences.  Aram h758 is both a man’s name and the Syrian region, occurring over 100 times.  Mesopotamia/Arám Naharáyim h763 (Aram-of-the-two-rivers, rendered Mesopotamia in the LXX), occurs 6 times: Ge.24:10, De.23:4, Jdg.3:8, 10, 1Ch.19:6, Ps.60:1.

Ge.12:5 Abrám (born c 2100 BC) migrated to the land of Canaan from Harrán (Akkadian “Harránu”), which was in the region of Aram.  Harran is in far south Turkey, 10 miles from the north Syrian border.

Abraham told his servant in Ge.24:2-4, “Don’t take a wife for my son from the Canaanites, among whom I live; but go to my country to my relatives and take a wife for Isaac”.  v.10 “He went to Aram-of-the-two-rivers, the city of Nahór.”  The city of Abraham’s brother Nahor was in N. Mesopotamian Syria, 400 miles distant.  The servant brought back Rebekah for Isaac.  Ge.25:20 “Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuél the Aramean of Paddán-Arám, the sister of Labán the Aramean [Arammiy h761].”  Bethuel, the son of Nahor, was Abraham’s nephew (Ge.22:20-23).  Then Ge.28:5 “Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-Aram,to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean.”  Jacob later brought back his wives, daughters of Laban on the Syrian “plain of Aram”…to the land of Canaan.

Of the Israelites’ ancestor, De.26:5 “My father was a wandering Aramean”.  Referring to the semi-nomad Abraham, or Jacob.  Abraham and grandson Jacob (born c 1950 BC) had spent several years in Aram/Syria.  Ge.14:13 Abram the “Hebrew” (Ibríy h5680) descended from Eber.  The term “Hebrew”, Ibriy h5680, occurs 34 times in the OT.  But that OT term always meant a people, not a language!

Circa 1865 BC, Laban and Jacob made a “heap of witness” at Mizpáh of Gilead, E. of the Jordan River (Jephtháh later lived there, Jg.11:34).  Ge.31:44-47 “They took stones and made a heap, and ate there. Laban called it Jegár–sahaduthá, but Jacob called it Galéed.”  Laban the Aramean called the memorial by a pre-Aramaic word, but Jacob called it by a pre-Hebrew word.  Jacob had learned both developing dialects growing up in Canaan, pre-Hebrew and his mother Rebekah’s pre-Aramaic.

Later, God’s nation of ancient Israel knew the developing Old Hebrew dialect (and Phoenician) in the Land of Canaan.  In 1954 AD, Solomon Birnbaum coined the term “Paleo-Hebrew alphabet” for the Old Hebrew.  The Old Hebrew script would be used from c 1000–500 BC to record Biblical texts.

There’s no evidence that Old/Paleo Hebrew was spoken in Mesopotamia.  Cambridge Bible Ge.11:1 “That Hebrew was the primitive language….has been disproved by the scientific comparative study of languages, and of Hebrew and the Semitic languages in particular.”  The ‘Old Hebrew’ alphabet script became a Canaanite language of (south) Canaan.  Is.19:18 “language of Canaan”, Israel’s language. 

Historians say the Phoenician language was spoken in north Canaan.  Phoenícia was a 150-mile coastal region.  (cf. Mk.7:26 “the woman was a Syrian-Phoenician”.)  Phoenicia included the cities of Tyre, Byblos, Sidón .  Ge.10:15 Sidon was the firstborn son of Canaan.  Old Hebrew and Phoenician were very similar; both contained the same 22 (consonantal) letters.  Aramaic too has 22.  Wikipedia: Paleo-Hebrew Alphabet “There is no difference between Paleo-Hebrew vs Phoenician letter shapes.”

Wikipedia: Old Aramaic “Emerging as the language of the city-states of the Arameans in the Levant in the early Iron Age [c 1000 BC]. From the 10^th century BC, the alphabet seems to be based on the Phoenician alphabet. From 700 BC, different dialects emerged in Assyria, Babylonia, the Levant and Egypt. The Akkadian-influenced Aramaic of Assyria, and then Babylon, started to come to the fore.”  Circa 800 BC, Aramaic was becoming the trade language of the Near East.  It generally was spoken by Syrians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, etc., E. of the Euphrates.  (cf. “Patriarchs’ Bronze Age Languages”.)

encyclopedia.com aramaic-language “Aramaic is the general name for various dialects often difficult to classify.” 

Canaanite is the general name/class for the Hebrew, Phoenician, Moabite, Edomite, Ammonite dialects; these developed gradually and were ‘mutually intelligible’. 

Presently, no Old Aramaic or Old Hebrew inscriptions have been discovered that predate 1000 BC; all are more recent!  No evidence has been found yet as proof either script existed prior to 1000 BC.

Ancient Jews called their language Judahite (Jehudíth h3066), not “Hebrew” (Ibriy h5680).  Jehudith occurs 6 times in the OT: 2Ki.18:26-28, Is.36:11-13, 2Ch.32:18, Ne.13:24.  2Ki.18:26-28 Jewish officials in Jerusalem wanted the threatening Assyrian commander Rabshakéh to speak to them in Aramaic (Aramith h762), not Judahite/Judean, so as not to frighten people on the wall.  In King Hezekiah’s day, 700 BC, common Jews in Judah didn’t speak Aramaic.  However, the Jewish officials understood Aramaic, the language of diplomacy in the Near East from c 800 BC (after Akkadian).

Nowhere in the OT is the language of Israelites/Jews called the ‘Hebrew language’!  James F. Driscoll Hebrew Language and Literature “The name Hebrew [Hebraistí g1447, Greek] as applied to the language is quite recent in Biblical usage, occurring for the first time in the Greek Prologue of Ecclesiásticus [Wisdom of Sirách], about 130 BC.”  Not occurring until that book in the Apócrypha.

In 721 BC, the northern kingdom of Israel was deported to Assyria.  2Ki.17:23-24 “Israel was exiled from their land to Assyria.”  Aramaic-speaking foreigners from Babylon etc. were brought into north Israel.  They’d assimilate as the “Samaritans”.  (see the topic “Israelite Deportations By Assyria”.)

In 597 BC, the southern kingdom of Judah was taken captive to Babylon, the next empire.  Je.10:11 is in Aramaic…Jeremiah was telling his Jewish people what to say to their Aramaic-speaking captors. 

Aramaic was the lingua franca of both the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) empires.  Israelites and Jews learned to speak Aramaic in their places of captivity beyond the Euphrates.  The Aramaic language was also called Cháldee (a misnomer?).  Easton’s Bible Dictionary “Chaldee is the Aramaic dialect, as it is sometimes called, as distinguished from the Hebrew dialect.”  Aramaic was also the official language of the Persian/Achaeménid Empire (559–333 BC), which followed.  The period of Old Aramaic (c 1000–700 BC) evolved into the period of Imperial/Official Aramaic (c 700–300 BC).

Wikipedia: Biblical Aramaic “King Darius the Great declared Imperial Aramaic to be the official language of the western half of his empire in 500 BC, and it forms the basis of Biblical Aramaic.”   

God inspired some scriptures of the OT from this time to be written in Aramaic.  The following chapters were written in Aramaic: Da.2:4b-7:28, Ezr.4:8-6:18, 7:12-26.

Of the total verses comprising Daniel & Ezra, 56% are written in Hebrew, 44% in Aramaic.  Jews then knew Aramaic.  Da.2:4 “The Chaldeans spoke to King Nebuchadnézzar in Aramaic [Aramith h762].”  Ezr.4:7 “The text of the letter was written in Aramaic [Aramith].”  To Artaxérxes, king of Persia.

{Sidelight: The Divine Name or Tetragrámmaton YHVH (h3068) occurs 6,500 times in the OT.  But the Name never occurs in any of the OT Aramaic chapters.  It seems that Daniel and Ezra weren’t ‘sacred name’ advocates who thought that God’s (Old Hebrew) Name must be commonly used!}

The hand from God even wrote in Aramaic the “handwriting on the wall” (539 BC)!  Da.5:24-28 “This is the written inscription: ‘MÉNE, MÉNE, TÉKEL, UPHÁRSIN.”  The words are monetary weights.  The wise men of Babylon spoke Aramaic, but Daniel could decipher the writing.  Wikipedia: Belshazzar’s Feast “The Chaldean wise men are unable to…interpret it. As Aramaic was written with consonants alone, they may have lacked any context in which to make sense of them.” 

Jews began returning to the Land of Canaan from captivity in 538 BC.  They returned with Zerubabbél, Ezra, Nehemiah.  These returnees brought the Aramaic language with them to the Land of Canaan. 

By the time of Nehemiah (450 BC), many Israelites and Jews no longer knew Judahite.  Ne.13:24  “As for their children…none of them was able to speak in the language of Judah [Jehudith h3066].”

The Holman Christian Standard Bible indicates they “could not speak Hebrew”.  Benson Commentary Ne.13:24 “The language which the Jews then spoke was Chaldee; this language they learned in their captivity, and after their return never assumed their ancient Hebrew tongue.”  Commoners didn’t resume the lip of Canaan or Judahite in Judea.  Pulpit Commentary Ne.13:24 “All the children [450 BC] spoke a jargon half Ashdódite and half Aramaic.”  (Áshdod was on the old Philistine coast.)

Ne.8:1-8 Ezra the priest-scribe read publically the Hebrew scriptures in Jerusalem on Rosh Hashánah.  v.8 “They read from the book of the law of God, translating so the people could understand.”  The returnees no longer could read the Judahite scriptures.  Pulpit Commentary Ne.8:8 “They translated the Hebrew words into the popular Aramaic or Chaldee.”  Ellicott Commentary “They naturally translated into the vernacular Aramaic dialect.”  Aramaic was the trade language of the then Persian Empire.

Some Bible scholars think that Ezra translated (or redacted) OT books into Aramaic/Chaldee.  Talmud: Sanhedrin 21b “In the times of Ezra, the Torah was given in Áshuri [Neo-Assyrian] script and Aramaic language.”  Juanjo Gabina How Similar Was the Phoenician Language to the Hebrew Language? “The ‘Paleo-Hebrew’ language is a Canaanite Phoenician language with writing. As evidenced by the Samaritan Torah that preserves these ancient [Old Hebrew] texts. According to tradition, Ezra adopted the square script of the Aramaic alphabet instead of the Canaanite Phoenician, nicknamed the Paleo-Hebrew [1954 AD], during the post-exile restoration of Israel in the 5^th century BC. When the Aramaic alphabet became the Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew parchments were written mainly in Aramaic characters.”

{{Sidelight: The Jewish philosopher Philo (c 20 BC – 50 AD) lived in Alexandria, Egypt.  Philo On the Life of Moses 2:5:26 “In olden time [450 BC?] the laws were written in the Chaldean language, and for a long time they remained in the same condition as at first, not changing their language.”  Then prior to 132 BC, Jewish scholars translated the OT into the old Greek version.  ibid 2:7:38-40 “In the case of this translation of the law, exactly corresponding Greek words were employed to translate literally the appropriate Chaldáic words, being adapted with exceeding propriety to the matters which were to be explained. If Chaldeans were to learn the Greek language, and if Greeks were to learn Chaldean, and if each were to meet with those scriptures in both languages, namely, the Chaldaic and the translated version, they would admire and reverence them both as sisters, or rather as one and the same….to go along with the most pure spirit of Moses.”  ibid 2:41:224 “The Passover is celebrated, which in the Chaldaic language is called páscha.”  Philo On the Embassy to Gaius 1:4 “This nation of the suppliants is in the Chaldaic language called Israel.”  Marg Mowczko The Septuagint “Philo refers to the original language of the Old Testament as Chaldean rather than Hebrew.”  Ezra had translated the OT into Chaldee?  (And Philo didn’t use the Greek term Hebraís, “Hebrew” g1446 noun, to refer to Aramaic.)}}

Omniglot: Paleo-Hebrew “By the 6^th century BC the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet was gradually replaced by the Imperial Aramaic alphabet, which developed into the Hebrew square script.”  The Ashuri script.

In 330 BC, Greece conquered the Persian Empire.  Greek became the trade language for the Grecian Empire.  No longer was it the Aramaic of the Persian Empire.  Koine/common Greek, a (Hellénic) Indo-European language, was now spoken.  Many Jews in the diáspora (dispersion) accepted Greek culture, becoming Héllenized and speaking Greek.  Some continued to speak Aramaic.  Most Jews in Judea kept speaking Aramaic.  During this period, regional dialects of Imperial Aramaic began to emerge.

Most Jews everywhere no longer knew the lip of Canaan, Old Hebrew Judahite.  So Jews translated all the OT scriptures into koine Greek.  This old Greek version was completed before 132 BC.  Literate Greek-speaking Jews in the diaspora could then read the OT text!  The old Greek version later became our Septuagint/LXX.  The LXX wouldn’t have been so needed if most Jews still knew Judahite.

The Grecian Empire lasted until the 1^st century BC.  The Roman Empire followed. The Greek language continued as the commercial language of the Roman Empire too.  (Latin would become the language of the Roman army and higher administration.)  Many Jews, Hellenists, spoke Greek.

This topic is continued and concluded in “Aramaic in the Bible (2) – New Testament”.  It notes the Aramaic Tárgums, Aramaic words seen in the gospel accounts, and traces Aramaic to the present day.

Skins Made For Adam Were Passed Down?

This topic tells, according to tradition, the history of those original animal skins God made for Adam.  There are two versions of the legend; they differ in regards to who those skins were passed down through.

Adam & Eve’s first sin and its ramifications are discussed in the topic “Tree Symbolism in Scripture”.  Ge.3:1-7 after the first humans sinned they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves.  v.7 “Their [Adam & Eve’s] eyes were opened and they knew they were naked; they sewed fig leaves together and made loin coverings.”  Nakedness can be physical, being unclothed…and/or symbolic of sin and shame.  Their sin also brought guilt and shame to their psyche.

But the fig leaves they sewed, indicative of human devices/ways, are inadequate to cover sin.  So….

Ge.3:21 “The Lord God made garments of skin [owr Strongs h5785, Hebrew] for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”  God Himself covered them with animal skins, perhaps leather garments of kidskin or calfskin.  (In so doing, the Lord showed that to cover the nakedness symbolic of sin and their fallen condition, humans must be “clothed” by means of the death of another.  see the topic “Sacrifices and Burnt Offerings”.)  Ge.3:22-24 the Lord cast them out of the garden of Eden.

Adam died at age 930 years (Ge.5:5).  But what happened to the skins the Lord made for him?

Presumably, those skins were passed down through succeeding generations…to eventually come into the possession of Isaac’s son Esau!

Isaac’s sons Esau and Jacob were twins.  Ge.25:21-26 is the account of Esau and Jacob striving together while in the womb of Isaac’s wife Rebekah.  They were rivals even before birth.  Benson Commentary Ge.25:22 “The children struggled within her’ – in an unusual and painful manner; a presage of these two sons and their posterities.”  The firstborn son customarily inherited the birthright.  (cf. Ge.43:33 “The firstborn according to his birthright.”)  Esau and Jacob striving in the womb preluded the twins vying for the birthright (and the blessing).

Esau came out first.  Then Jacob came out, with his little hand holding onto the heel of brother Esau the firstborn.  Jacob’s name means ‘supplanter’ (Ge.27:36).  And Jacob would supplant or supersede Esau.

Ge.25:27-34 Isaac loved Esau more, but Rebekah loved Jacob.  Esau sold his birthright to Jacob.  JFB Commentary Ge.25:31 “Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright’. That is, the rights and privileges of the firstborn, which were very important, the chief being that they were the family priests [cf. Ex.24:5] and had a double portion of the inheritance (De.21:17).”  Esau disrespected his birthright.

Ge.27:1-7 Isaac had become nearly blind.  Before dying, Isaac wants to eat and bless his firstborn son Esau in the presence of the Lord (v.7 NASB).  Ge.27:8-17 but while Esau was out hunting game for Isaac…v.15 “Rebekah took the desirable [chemdáw h2532] garments of Esau her elder son, which were in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.”  v.16 garments of skins (owr h5785).  She wants her favorite son Jacob (not Esau) to receive Isaac’s blessing.  Rebekah hopes that Jacob wearing the skin garments of Esau will cause blind Isaac (age 120?) to think he’s Esau…and bless him/Jacob.

The Hebrew term chemdaw h2532 is used in v.15 to describe those particular skins.  It means desirable, choice, goodly, precious, valuable, beloved!  The root term is chamád h2530, desire or covet.

Let’s compare the use of chemdaw h2532 in other Old Testament (OT) verses:  Da.10:19 “O Daniel, a man greatly beloved [h2532 chemdaw].”  2Ch.32:27 NASB “Hezekiah had immense riches…and all kinds of valuable [h2532 chemdaw] articles.”  2Ch.36:10 ESV “King Nebuchadnézzar brought him [King Jehoiachín] to Babylon, with the precious [h2532 chemdaw] vessels of the house of the Lord.”  The term chemdaw h2532 was even used here to describe the holy vessels of God’s temple!  Ezr.8:25-27 utensils for the house of the Lord, were as “precious [h2532 chemdaw] as gold”.

Book of Jubilees 26:11 (written pre-100 BC) reads, “Rebecca took the goodly raiment of Esau, her elder son, which was with her in the house, and she clothed Jacob, her younger son, (with them)….”

So Isaac thought Jacob was Esau (Ge.27:21-24).  Ellicott Commentary Ge.27:15 “Evidently the clothing was something special, and such as was peculiar to Esau. For ordinary raiment, however handsome, would not have been kept in the mother’s tent.”  Cambridge Bible Ge.27:15 “Goodly,’ lit. ‘choice, desirable.’ By this is meant the clothes worn by Esau on festivals and solemn occasions.”  Poole Commentary Ge.27:15 “Either the sacerdótal garments which the eldest son wore in the administration of that office which belonged to him; or rather some other suit better than ordinary.”  Not Esau’s usual attire.  As the firstborn son, Esau might have later assumed the role of family priest, after the death of his father Isaac.  Pulpit Commentary Ge.27:15 “The firstborn didn’t serve in the priesthood while his father lived.”

But how had Esau come into the possession of those desirable special garments or vestments?

According to traditional sources, those skin garments were passed down from Adam to his descendants!  Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (Palestinian), sec.6 “Rebekah took the pleasant vestments of Esau her elder son which had formerly been Adam’s; but which that day Esau had not worn, but they remained with her in the house, and (with them) she dressed Jacob her younger son. And the skins of the kids she laid upon his hands and the smooth parts of his neck.”  Benson Commentary Ge.27:16 “Goats’ hair is very like the human.”  It resembled human hair.

Antiquities scholar Louis H. Feldman of Yeshiva University wrote, “Even the fact that Rebekah took the special garments of Esau (which he had inherited from Adam by virtue of his being the eldest son) and gave them to Jacob was justified by the rabbis”.  They excused the deception.

Louis Ginzberg Legends of the Jews, v.2, pp.96-97 “She [Rebekah] dressed him [Jacob] in them, for those garments were the garb of the priesthood, and the Holy One, blessed be He, had clothed Adam in them, for he was the glory of the world; and prior to the construction of the Tabernacle, sacrificial worship was performed by firstborns. Primordial Man bequeathed them to his firstborn, and so they passed from firstborn to firstborn until they reached Noah. Noah gave them to his son Shem [Shem the firstborn?], Shem passed them on to Abraham [the firstborn?]; Abraham to Isaac, and Isaac to Esau, who was his firstborn. Since Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob, Rebekah considered that henceforth it was proper for Jacob to wear these garments, because he now had the status of firstborn.”

The above version of the skins legend is…Esau inherited those skins, Adam’s original garments, by line of descent.  But there’s a second version, which follows:

Louis Ginzberg adds op. cit., “These were the garments that Esau coveted from Nimrod, and killed him and took them.”  Midrash Rabbah 65:15 “Rebekah then took the best [Heb. ha-hamudot] clothes of her older son Esau, which he had coveted [chamad] from Nimrod.”  In this second version, Esau got Adam’s garments of skin…from Nimrod.

Gill Exposition Ge.27:15 “They were, as some Jewish writers say (Targum Jonathán), the garments of Adam the first man, which Esau seeing on Nimrod, greatly desired them, and slew him for them; and hence called desirable garments.”  Esau’s wrong covetousness resulted in murder.

But how had the skins come into Nimrod’s possession?  Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer, Higger ed., ch.24 (written ca 833 AD) “Rabbi Hakhinai says Nimrod was mighty in strength, as it is said, ‘Cush also begot Nimrod’. Rabbi Judah says the garment that the Holy One, blessed be He, made for Adam and his wife were taken by Noah and his sons into the ark. When they came out of the ark, Noah’s son Ham took it with him [cf. Ge.9:20-23] and passed it on to Nimrod; when he wore them, any beast or animal that saw the writing would prostrate themselves before him. Human beings believed it was due to his might and therefore they made him king over them. Hence the saying, ‘Like Nimrod a mighty hunter by the grace of the Lord [cf. Ge.10:9].”  Earlier, Nimrod’s ancestor Ham had those skins.

Ge.9:22 “Ham, the father of Canáan, saw the nakedness of his father [Noah], and told his two brothers [Jápheth and Shem] outside.”  According to this second version of the legend, Ham stole the skins from the sleeping Noah (the priest).  Adam’s (priestly) garments then came into the possession of the line of Hamites…Ham → Cush → Nimrod.  Traditionally, that’s how Nimrod got his power and might.

Ge.10:8 “Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on earth.”  Nimrod’s kingdom was in ancient Mesopotámia.  (In Mic.5:6, Assyria is called the “land of Nimrod.”)

Jewish Encyclopedia: Nimrod “His great success in hunting was due to the fact that he wore the coat of skin which God had made for Adam and Eve (Ge.3:21). They were stolen by Ham.”

Supposedly the desirable skin garment (which became Nimrod’s and Esau’s) contained special powers!  Targum Neofití Ge.3:21 “The Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of glory, for the skin of their flesh, and He clothed them.”  Those (glorious) leather garments were unlike any coats made since!

Our Bibles mention the Book of Jasher in Josh.10:13 and 2Sa.1:18 (LXX “Book of Right”).  The (supposed) Book of Jasher today contains this second version of the skins legend regarding Nimrod and Esau:

Jash.7:23-32 “Cush the son of Ham, the son of Noah, took a [another] wife in his old age, and she bare a son, and they called his name Nimrod. And the garments of skin which God had made for Adam and his wife [Eve] were given to Cush. For after the death of Adam, the garments were given to Enoch; he gave them to Methusélah his son. And at the death of Methuselah, Noah brought them to the ark. And in their going out, Ham stole those garments from Noah his father, and hid them from his brothers [Japheth and Shem]. And when Ham begot his firstborn Cush, he gave him the garments in secret. When Cush had begotten Nimrod, he gave him those garments, and when he was 20 years old he put on those garments. Nimrod became strong when he put on the garments, God gave him might and strength….And he reigned upon earth.”  In the Book of Jasher, Nimrod is contemporary with Esau.

Jash.27:3-14 “Jealousy was formed in the heart of Nimrod against Esau [both were hunters]. On a certain day Esau went in the field to hunt, and he found Nimrod walking in the wilderness. Esau concealed himself from Nimrod. Esau started suddenly from his lurking place, drew his sword, ran to Nimrod and cut off his head….And Esau took the valuable garments of Nimrod, which Nimrod’s father [Cush] had bequeathed to Nimrod, and with which Nimrod prevailed over the whole land. And he [Esau] ran and concealed them in his house. He came into his father’s [Isaac’s] house exhausted and was ready to die through grief. He approached his brother Jacob and said, ‘Behold I shall die this day, and why then do I want this birthright?’ Jacob acted wisely in this matter, and Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, for it was so brought about by the Lord. And Jacob wrote the whole of this in a book, and sealed it.”  Jash.27:15-16, “All the days that Nimrod lived were 215 years and he died. Nimrod reigned upon the people 185 years.”

Traditionally, Nimrod was empowered by those skins of Adam’s!  Esau took the skins from Nimrod.

Isaac was deceived by Esau’s garments, worn by Jacob (Ge.27:18-end).  Isaac blessed Jacob.  Those weren’t just any skins smelling of leather…God’s Presence was there (Ge.27:7)!  They were unique.

Book of Jasher says Nimrod was the son of Cush’s old age.  But there may be chronological problems with this second version of the skins legend.  Again, in Jasher, Nimrod and Esau are contemporaries.

Noah had three sons, born prior to the Flood…Japheth, Shem, Ham.  Ge.10:6-9 LXX Nimrod was the 3^rd generation after Noah.  Noah → Ham → Cush → Nimrod.  But Esau was the 12^th/13^th generation after Noah (Ge.11:10-26, 21:3, 25:21-25)!  Noah → Shem → Arphaxad → Cainán (cf. Lk.3:36) → Shélah → Éber → Péleg → Reú → Serúg → Nahór → Térah → Abraham → Isaac → Esau.  Quite a disparity!

{Sidelight: According to the LXX chronology, the Flood occurred ca 3189 BC.  Noah lived on after the Flood for 350 years, until ca 2839 BC.  Shem lived for 600 years; 502 of his years were after the Flood.  Correspondingly, Shem lived ca 3287–2687 BC.  And Shem’s son Arphaxad lived for 565 years.  Arphaxad (born 2 years after the Flood) lived ca 3187–2622 BC.  ref Ge.11:10-13 LXX NETS.  Perhaps Ham’s son Cush lived a much longer life than Shem’s son Arphaxad’s 565 years?  (Seems doubtful.)  And Ham’s son Cush fathered Nimrod very late in life? ref Jash.7:23, 9:21.  Genesis doesn’t say.  Noah, Japheth, Shem, Ham, and Ham’s son Canaan (Cush’s younger brother) are all alive in Ge.9:18-28.

Later, Esau, born ca 1957 BC, at age 40 married two Hittite wives (Ge.26:34), ca 1917 BC.  Esau sold his birthright prior to marrying (Ge.25:27-34).  If Esau was age 16 when he killed Nimrod and took the skins, it occurred ca 1942 BC.  Jash.27:15 Nimrod lived for 215 years.  That would place his birth ca 2157 BC, 215 years before his death in 1942 BC.  For the LXX chronology to fit, Cush lived a very long life (living past 2157 BC), and Nimrod was born late in Cush’s life.  The Hebrew OT Masoretic Text chronology fits this more easily.)  Or, Moses’ account in Ge.10:1-20 skips some of Ham’s generations.  see “Chronology: Septuagint versus Masoretic Text”, “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus”.}

Gill Exposition Ge.10:8 “Probably this [Nimrod] was his [Cush’s] youngest son.”  Pulpit Commentary Ge.10:8 “Cush begot’ – not necessarily as immediate progenitor.”  Ellicott Commentary Ge.10:8 “This does not mean that Nimrod was the son of Cush, but only that Cush was his ancestor.”  So there may have been more generations, not recorded in Genesis, between Cush and Nimrod.

Moses’ Genesis narrative summarizes thousands of years.  His compilation shows historical highlights.  Other ancient writings, e.g. Jasher, Jubilees, Targums… add details and convey traditional beliefs.

The New Testament (NT) too refers to earlier traditions, some not recorded in the OT.  Such as….

In 2Ti.3:8, Paul wrote of a Jannes and Jambres tradition.  Jánnes and Jambrés aren’t mentioned in the OT.  Perhaps Paul was referencing Jash.79:27; it notes Jannes and Jambres, and Pharaoh.  Jewish Encyclopedia: Jannes and Jambres “According to rabbinical tradition they were the two chiefs of the magicians at the court of Pharaoh who foretold the birth of Moses, ‘the destroyer of the land of Egypt,’ thereby causing the cruel edicts of Pharaoh (Soṭah 11a; Sanh. 106a).”

Jude 1:9 tells of Michael the archangel having disputed about the body of Moses.  That dispute isn’t recorded in the OT.  Life Application Bible Jude 1:9 “Here Jude may have been making use of an ancient book called the Assumption of Moses.”  The dispute was a traditional belief in the 1^st century.

In He.11:37, “They were sawn asunder” refers to the Martyrdom of Isaiah tradition.  Jewish Encyclopedia: Isaiah “Isaiah, fearing Manasséh, hid himself in a cedar-tree, but his presence was betrayed by the fringes of his garment, and Manasseh caused the tree to be sawn in half (Jerusalem Talmud Sanh. X).”  Also see the Ascension of Isaiah 5:1-ff, dating from the early 1^st century AD.

The above three ancient historical incidents, recorded in traditional sources, but not in our OT…are nonetheless incidents mentioned in our NT.  (Needless to say, the OT doesn’t show every single incident regarding God’s people that occurred between the creation of Adam and Jesus’ birth!)

However, several dozen miracles are recorded in the OT.  For example: Ex.4:1-5, 17 the Lord did miracles through Moses’ rod/staff.  Ex.34:28-35 Moses’ face shined after he’d been in God’s presence to receive the Decalogue.  2Ki.13:20-21 a dead man revived and stood up when his corpse came into contact with the bones of the prophet Elisha.  2Ki.2:7-8 the Jordan River parted when the prophet Elijah struck the waters with his mantle garment.  Also, in the NT, God performed healing miracles through cloths touched by the apostle Paul, Ac.19:11-12.

From the beginning, the Lord has done amazing things… sometimes even through garments and cloths!

The skins legend may not seem credible enough for us to believe?  However, the Biblical truth of all the wonders God has done…perhaps adds feasibility and credence to the legend that the skins God made for Adam were empowered, desired, and passed down to Adam’s descendants.

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).

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”.

 

Circumcision in the Bible

Approximately 55–60% of males in the USA are physically circumcised, 25-30% worldwide.  Most in Africa and Moslem nations are.  Few are in Europe, China, Russia, India, South America.  My two sons were circumcised as a health precaution when they were one week old.  They have no recollection of it.  Anesthetics reduce discomfort.  Yet hearing my little sons’ pitiful screams in the adjoining room was hard to bear!  It can be painful when something is cut out – physically, emotionally, or spiritually.

Circumcision is the procedure to remove the male foreskin from the penis.  That quick surgery can protect against urinary tract infections and STDs, decrease the risk of HIV and even some cancers.

Among the reasons people practice circumcision are: to aid hygiene/health (boys may not clean their foreskin well), to mark the transition to manhood, to afflict enemies, as a religious or status symbol.

Wikipedia: History of Circumcision “The origin of circumcision is not known with certainty. It likely has roots among ethnic groups in sub-equatorial Africa, Egypt [2300 BC], and Arabia. Heródotus, writing in the 5^th century BCE, lists Egyptians being the oldest people practicing circumcision, then Colchians [Black Sea area], Ethiopians, Phoenicians, and Syrians. He wrote disparagingly that ‘the Egyptians practice circumcision [at puberty] for the sake of cleanliness’. Josephus seems to suggest that the Edomites were uncircumcised until being forcefully converted to Judaism by John Hyṙcanus [120 BC]. Ancient Greeks considered circumcision a mutilation. Europeans, with the exception of Jews, didn’t practice circumcision.”  (I’m uncircumcised and not Jewish.)

Eve Feinstein Bathing in the Hebrew Bible “In biblical Israel, where water was scarce, bathing was often a momentous event, fraught with religious significance.”  Circumcision aided personal hygiene.

Of the peoples who’ve practiced circumcision, of note are the Jewish people.  Jews today don’t promote the religious circumcising of gentiles.  However, in antiquity Jews were more a próselytízing people.

Although circumcision aids cleanliness, there’s no evidence man was created circumcised!  Creation was good without circumcision (Ge.1:31)!  No scripture states that Noah or Enoch or anyone else before the Flood was circumcised.  Dr. Ralph F. Wilson The Covenant of Circumcision With Abraham “The earliest evidence we have for circumcision is from a number of bronze statuettes found at Tell Judéideh in northern Syria, dating to about 2800 BC. Circumcision was rather common in Abraham’s world.”

Biblical circumcision is for the lineage of Abraham-Isaac-Jacob (A-I-J), primarily living in the Holy Land (of Canáan).  Physical circumcision involves a male reproductive organ.

First, let’s look at the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 15.  v.1-7 the Lord promised Abrám that he will come to have numerous descendants (v.5) and they will possess the Land of Canaan (v.7).  Ge.15:6 LXX “Abram believed God.”  That is a key text; the apostle Paul will tie it to circumcision in Romans 4.

Biblical circumcision begins in Genesis 17, where God confirms His covenant with Abram.  Ge.17:1-2 “I Am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless, and I will establish My covenant with you.”

It is conditional.  Dr. Ralph Wilson op. cit. “To reaffirm the covenant, He introduces a performance requirement, a definite ethical emphasis. God expects Abraham to live a righteous life.”  Ronald W. Pierce Covenant Conditionality and a Future for Israel “The Abrahamic Covenant is seen to have emphasized a response on the part of the patriarch from the initial encounter in Harrán [Ge.12:1-3] to the climactic events on Mt Moriah [Ge.22:1-18]. An element of conditionality is sometimes explicitly stated, at other times implied, but always understood.”  And Abram was faithful & obedient to God. Ge.26:5 “Abraham obeyed Me, My charge, My commandments, My statues, and My laws.”

Ge.17:4-6 the gentile/non-Jew Abram’s name is changed to Abraham, as his line will reproduce many nations of descendants.  Kings will come forth from A-I-J.  v.7-13 the physical sign of the Lord’s conditional covenantal Land promise is physical circumcision!  v.14 any uncircumcised descendant in the Land would be cut off by God (other than via circumcision)!

Ge.17:15-27 Abraham’s household, with his son Ishmaél, living in the Land, becomes circumcised.  v.18-21 but the Land promise isn’t through Ishmael; not his lineage.  It will follow to Abraham’s son Isaac, 21:3-4…then to Isaac’s son Jacob/Israel, 28:13-15 (but not to Isaac’s son Esau, Jacob’s twin).

Physical circumcision didn’t apply to females.  (Wives shared in the status of their husbands.)  De.21:16-17 inheritance in God’s Holy Land went to the circumcised sons, not to (uncircumcised) daughters.  Daughters were usually allowed to inherit only if her father has no son, and even then she usually must marry a man belonging to the Israelite tribe of her father (ref Nu.27:8-10, 36:8-9).

Abrahamic Covenant promises: #1 Abraham (and grandson Jacob, Ge.35:11-12) to be the father of many nations; #2 the Land of Canaan (Ge.17:8-9); #3 the earth to be blessed through the Seed (Christ, according to Paul, Ge.22:18 & Ga.3:16) of the A (Ge.12:3), I (Ge.26:4), J (Ge.28:14) line.

Again Ge.17:21, this covenant is for the A-I-J line of descent.  ref Ex.2:24, Ps.105:8-11.  The covenant, with its sign of circumcision, doesn’t apply to descendants living elsewhere of: Ishmael, Abraham’s servants and other sons (except Isaac), Esau.  Though circumcised…Ishmael, Abraham’s other sons by his wife Keturáh, and Esau all moved elsewhere (Ge.25:6, 17-18, 36:8-9).  If their descendants living elsewhere choose to be circumcised traditionally or for whatever reason, they’re still not included in the Land promise.  Ac.7:7-8 reiterates this “covenant of circumcision” was for the A-I-J line.

Ge.21:4 Abraham circumcised Isaac.  When?  Green’s Literal Translation “A son of 8 days.”  LXX “On the 8^th day.”  Inclusive counting is used.  On the 8^th day of life, an infant is actually one week/7 days old.  cf. Jn.20:19, 26 “After eight days”; the margin reads “A week later”.  Evidence For The Bible “The 8^th is the optimum day for circumcision because of the highest presence of the clotting factor vitamin K.”

Ge.34:15-16 verifies that Jacob’s sons were circumcised (the 12 sons/tribes are of the A-I-J line).

Elsewhere 8^th day circumcision wasn’t universal.  Ex.4:24-26 later Moses, the leader of Jacob’s seed to re-enter the Land, must obey their covenant God…his son Gershóm becomes circumcised before entry.

Le.12:3 physical circumcision on the 8^th day was understandably a very important rite to Jews too…that is, descendants of Judah, Benjamin, Levi (3 of Jacob’s sons).  Jn.7:22-23 circumcision being treated with such importance perhaps was due in part to Moses’ experience of Ex.4:24.

Jsh.5:3, 6-10 physical circumcision and the Passover are linked in the Land of Canaan; here at Gilgál where the central sanctuary was then.  They must be circumcised.  Jsh.21:43 the Israelites took possession of the Land, as God had promised their patriarchs.

Ex.12:43-49 uncircumcised sojourners/tosháb (Strongs h8453, Hebrew) in the Land weren’t allowed to eat the Passover.  v.48 “No uncircumcised man may eat of it.”  But circumcised aliens/proselytes/ger h1616 could eat it in Canaan/Israel.  e.g. If any descendant of Ishmael or Esau coming back into the Land is circumcised, he too may eat the Passover.  De.16:5-6 Israel was forbidden from killing the Passover in any towns other than at the sole sanctuary location where God’s Name was (cf. 2Sm.6:2)!

Physical circumcision of the foreskin was a type of symbolic spiritual circumcision.  De.10:15-16 exhorts that the heart be circumcised figuratively, to enable Israel to keep God’s Law of Moses.  Ex.6:30 circumcised lips too.  Je.6:10 ears too.  But it was impossible for Israelites to (figuratively) circumcise their own hearts.  De.30:6 is Moses’ prophecy of a future non-physical heart circumcision which God would do…to the hearts of both men and women!  Je.9:25-26 the Lord to punish peoples outwardly (physically) circumcised but inwardly uncircumcised.  In the New Testament (NT), inward circumcision of the heart is a key concept.  (see the topic “Two Covenants – Heart of the Matter”.)

Fast forwarding…1Sm.18:25 Philistines were uncircumcised gentiles/non-Israelites, circa 1050 BC.

But the 12 tribes of Israel…they disobeyed God (unlike righteous Abraham, Ge.26:5).  So God expelled them from the Land, in 721 BC and 586 BC.  De.30:1-10 Moses had said the Lord would bring them back and bless them…if…they obeyed Him (v.10).  Again, retaining the Land promise was conditional.

Est.8:17 LXX/Septúagint in the 400s BC, many Persians became Jewish converts out of fear.  Samaritans living in the Land area of old northern Israel also were a physically circumcised people.  In the NT….

Lk.1:59, 2:21 both John the Baptizer and Jesus were circumcised on the 8^th day.  Both were Jews descended from Jacob and born in the Holy Land.  (Jewish boys were named at their circumcision.)

However…the scriptures don’t say that gentiles dwelling in their own nations are to be circumcised (made proselytes) by Israelites/Jews outside the Land!  The Israelites were instructed in De.12:32, don’t add to or lessen God’s written commands!  (It is understood that Rome reduced rights in the Land that circumcised residents held earlier as God’s theocracy, and enforced empirical laws.)

Mt.23:15 Jesus castigated the Jewish scribes & Pharisees for their man-made tradition of physically circumcising non-descendants of Jacob/Israel outside the Land.  Jews were adding to God’s written Law!  Jewish Hasmónean leaders had forcibly circumcised Iduméans (Edomites descended from Esau) in 125 BC and Ituríans (an Arabian or Araméan people) in Galilee in 103 BC!

What about the physical circumcision of Christian gentiles, grafted into ‘spiritual Israel’ (Ro.11:24)?  This was a huge issue in the early church!  Again, physical circumcision was required for physical descendants of A-I-J, as it related to the Land promise.

Ga.5:6 the (Jewish) apostle Paul said physical circumcision was essentially meaningless in Galatia, where there was no land promised or central sanctuary (for Passover).  1Co.7:18-19 physical circumcision was of no consequence in Corinth.  Non-Holy Land territory is ‘circumcision neutral’.

God’s Land promise didn’t pertain to gentile lands.  The gentile/non-Israelite adults in the early church outside the Land weren’t required to be circumcised or keep Passover at the Jerusalem temple/central sanctuary (soon to be destroyed).

Ac.15:1-10 the Jewish Christian apostles at the Jerusalem council of 50 AD ruled gentile converts to Jesus needn’t become physically circumcised to be saved.  It isn’t necessary to first convert to Judaism!  The Holy Spirit said circumcision was an unnecessary bondage for the church at large.

Adults in gentile lands could attend church without having to undergo any mandatory physical circumcision!  The Jewish apostles in the NT didn’t abrogate God’s written laws!  But many of His requirements involved rituals which were to be done only in the Land or at the temple.

Christians needn’t try to live by rituals applicable solely to the temple environment, or by the outward circumcision sign of the Land promise to A-I-J.  Ro.2:28-29 (Je.9:25) the heart is what matters…not the ceremonial work of physical circumcision.

Ro.4:2-3 Paul quotes the initial key verse of Ge.15:6. “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”  (cf. Ge.26:5.)  Ro.4:9 the “circumcised” were Jews, the “uncircumcised” were gentiles (probably including by that time the so-called ‘lost tribes’ of Israel elsewhere).  v.10-12 the gentile Abram’s physical circumcision signified his prior faith while he was still uncircumcised!  Physical circumcision had been the covenantal sign and the type of spiritual circumcision.

Paul taught that the practice wasn’t necessary even for Jews/Israelites who lived outside the Land!  Ac.21:21 “You are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children.”  The Abrahamic Covenant sign pertained to the Land, not elsewhere.

{Sidelight: Ac.16:1-4 Timothy didn’t have a Jewish father, but had a Jewish mother and he knew their customs.  Timothy too had faith while uncircumcised, as did Abram.  After Timothy was circumcised, disbelieving Jews in synagogues customarily would allow him to mingle with them (ref Ac.10:28).  Thereby he could better evangelize the truth, that Jesus is Lord.  Ga.2:3-5 but the gentile Titus wasn’t sent to evangelize Jews and didn’t become circumcised…Christian liberty was at stake here!}

Ga.5:11-12 Paul caustically says circumcision compellers in gentile lands should…mutilate themselves!  v.1-2 the Jews oral law requirement of physical circumcision elsewhere was a bondage of no Christian benefit in Galatia.  (Though 8^th day circumcision can still have health/hygiene benefits.)

Foreskin removal remains a personal/family choice.  Wikipedia op.cit. “By the 2^nd century [AD], the only circumcising groups in the Roman Empire were Jews, Samaritans, Jewish Christians, Egyptian priests, and Nabatean Arabs. The Catholic Church condemned the observance of circumcision as a moral sin and ordered against its practice at the Council of Florence in 1442 [What!?]. The tradition of circumcision is said to have been practiced within the British Royal Family. The practice is customary [today] among Coptic, Ethiopian, and Eritréan Orthodox Churches, and some other African churches.”

Ga.6:13-15 those with circumcised hearts are figuratively a new creation.  Col.2:11 fulfills De.30:6.  It’s not a physical circumcision.  Col.3:11 it’s no longer an antagonism of gentiles vs Jews, with racial implications.  Now the two believing sectors are progressing toward unity, in the love of Christ!

And that unified man is a global creation, becoming so in all nations!  The conditions required to maintain the Land promise to A-I-J were broken by the ancient Israelites/Jews.  ref Le.26:14, 38-43.  Ezk.33:27-29 God sent them into captivity and the Land became desolate.  Even though God did allow them to return later (538–400s BC), Jesus said their house would again become desolate, Mt.23:38.

Solomon had at one time sat on the throne of the kingdom of YHVH over Israel (1Ch.28:5).  Mt.21:43 but Jesus said the kingdom would be taken from those Jewish leaders in the Land, and given to another “nation” bearing fruit.  Ro.10:19 Israel would be made jealous by this seemingly foolish nation.  1Pe.1:1, 2:9 Peter wrote to believers who comprise that holy “nation”…the “Christians”, 1Pe.4:16!

Since the covenant of physical circumcision applied to the Land of Canaan, what about the Land today?  Now, even some Jews say that circumcision is unnecessary.  (cf. Paul’s teaching, Ac.21:21.)  Furthermore, after 3,500 years of intermarriage & proselytizing, today it’s difficult to ascertain who’s truly (biologically) of the A-I-J line!

When the Land allotments were originally assigned to the tribes of Israel, much of the West Bank area inheritance went to Ephráim, not to Judah or Benjamin (who, with Levites, became the Jews).  And in the NE, the area of the Golan Heights within Israel went to the tribe of Manasseh (and a fringe area to Naphtalí and perhaps Dan), not to Judah or Benjamin.  This is Bible history and geography from the book of Joshua (ref Jsh.15–19); it isn’t anti-Semitism.  see the topic “Israelites Identification“.

So it seems the explosive state of affairs in the Middle East & modern Israel is complicated by brothers possibly (unknowingly) expropriating for themselves some inheritances anciently belonging to other brothers!  (In the USA, the #1 cause of sibling estrangement is estate issues!)  Yet if the descendants of other Israelite tribes who intermarried with Jews over the centuries have returned to the Land in modern times, then they in Israel today perhaps do represent the A-I-J line.  Again, eventually the Land will be inhabited by a “holy nation” of Christians (with Jewish Christians)…a spiritually grafted-in Israel!

Ezk.36:26-27 is a prophecy of spiritual Israel with circumcised hearts able to obey God’s written moral precepts.  A circumcised or new or exchanged heart…all are interchangeable terms for a heart which now desires the things of God and is willing to obey the Lord (unlike most of ancient Israel & Judah).

The pain of physical circumcision (especially for Abraham at age 99!) was a type of the pain of self-denial involved in heart circumcision.  A circumcised heart/ears/lips will obey/listen for/speak the principles of the written word of God and inner promptings of the Holy Spirit.  (Ac.7:51 Stephen said those opposing Jewish leaders had uncircumcised hearts & ears.)

Christians put to death, remove, or cut out their own agendas and those things in our lives which aren’t God’s will for us.  Snip!  Females do too.  The mental pain involving the human will may be worse than physical pain.  God softens it by bringing us to surrender.  The Lord may cause us to (gradually) experience burnout or reduced interest in our selfish pursuits which aren’t of God’s choosing.  Sanctification/holiness/consecration is a process.  A tearing out, if you will, may involve submitting to some turmoil.

We’re bought with a price (1Co.6:20)…Jesus’ precious blood!  We’re God’s possession.  He owns us 24/7!  He changes/circumcises hearts.  God is good…so as we submit to God’s will in our lives, we can believe all things will work together for our eternal good (Ro.8:28)!