Difference between revisions of "The Births and Relative Ages of Yaakov's Children/2"
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<p>Yosef was born only after the completion of Yaakov's first fourteen years working for Lavan, and the twelve children were born over a span of up to twelve years. The incident with Shekhem happened only much later when Shimon and Levi were already twenty years old.</p> | <p>Yosef was born only after the completion of Yaakov's first fourteen years working for Lavan, and the twelve children were born over a span of up to twelve years. The incident with Shekhem happened only much later when Shimon and Levi were already twenty years old.</p> | ||
<mekorot> | <mekorot> | ||
− | <multilink><a href="Jubilees28-1" data-aht="source">Jubilees</a><a href="Jubilees28-1" data-aht="source">Chapter 28:1-32</a><a href="Jubilees30-1" data-aht="source">Chapter 30:1-3</a><a href="Jubilees" data-aht="parshan">About Jubilees</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RDZHoffmannBereshit30-22" data-aht="source">R. D"Z Hoffmann</a><a href="RDZHoffmannBereshit30-22" data-aht="source">Bereshit 30:22-24</a><a href="RDZHoffmannBereshit32-23" data-aht="source">Bereshit 32:23</a><a href="R. David Zvi Hoffmann" data-aht="parshan">About R. D"Z Hoffmann</a></multilink> | + | <multilink><a href="Jubilees28-1" data-aht="source">Jubilees</a><a href="Jubilees28-1" data-aht="source">Chapter 28:1-32</a><a href="Jubilees30-1" data-aht="source">Chapter 30:1-3</a><a href="Jubilees" data-aht="parshan">About Jubilees</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RDZHoffmannBereshit30-22" data-aht="source">R. D"Z Hoffmann</a><a href="RDavidZviHoffmannBereshit34-1" data-aht="source">Bereshit 34:1</a><a href="RDZHoffmannBereshit30-22" data-aht="source">Bereshit 30:22-24</a><a href="RDZHoffmannBereshit32-23" data-aht="source">Bereshit 32:23</a><a href="R. David Zvi Hoffmann" data-aht="parshan">About R. D"Z Hoffmann</a></multilink> |
</mekorot> | </mekorot> | ||
− | <point><b>Birth of Yosef</b> – According to both Jubilees and R. D"Z Hoffmann, | + | <point><b>Birth of Yosef</b> – According to both Jubilees and R. D"Z Hoffmann, Yosef was born only some time after Yaakov had already completed both of his seven year stints. R. D"Z Hoffmann suggests that after finishing his work for Lavan, Yaakov worked for other employers, and only at the end of this unmentioned period, was Yosef born.<fn>According to him, then, Yaakov's stay in Charan could have been even 25 or more years (14 years working for his wives, an unspecified number of years in independent employment, and another six years working for Lavan at the end). At first glance, this would seem to contradict the later verse, זֶה לִּי עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה בְּבֵיתֶךָ עֲבַדְתִּיךָ אַרְבַּע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה בִּשְׁתֵּי בְנֹתֶיךָ וְשֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים בְּצֹאנֶךָ (Bereshit 31:41), which speaks of only 20 years.  R. D"Z Hoffman responds that the verse refers only to the years during which Yaakov was employed by Lavan, not to the entire duration of his stay in Charan.</fn> Thus, Yaakov's request for leave (and then for a change in the terms of his salary) was unconnected to the completion of his fourteen years which had occurred much earlier.<fn>Thus, the verse says only "וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה רָחֵל אֶת יוֹסֵף", and does not mention the fourteen years being finished. Ralbag, in contrast, rejects the entire notion of Yosef being born later ("ואין לאומר שיאמר, שכבר עבדו אחר הארבע עשרה שנה, עד שילדה רחל את יוסף"). However, his proofs are not airtight.</fn></point> |
− | <point><b>Birth of Dinah</b> – Jubilees says that Dinah was born three months after Yosef. R. D"Z Hoffmann, on the other hand, suggests that she may not have been born until after Yaakov returned to Israel, and that this would account for her absence in Bereshit 32:23 and her being mentioned separately in Bereshit 46:15.<fn>Cf. Ibn Ezra above. According to both Jubilees and R. D"Z Hoffmann, "וְאַחַר יָלְדָה בַּת" in 30:21 is recorded out of chronological order so as to complete the list of all of Leah's children.</fn></point> | + | <point><b>Birth of Dinah</b> – Jubilees says that Dinah was born three months after Yosef. R. D"Z Hoffmann, on the other hand, suggests that she may not have been born until after Yaakov returned to Israel, and that this would account for her absence in Bereshit 32:23 and her being mentioned separately in Bereshit 46:15.<fn>Cf. Ibn Ezra above. According to both Jubilees and R. D"Z Hoffmann, "וְאַחַר יָלְדָה בַּת" in 30:21 is recorded out of chronological order so as to complete the list of all of Leah's children. This, though would seem make her just a toddler during the incident in Shekhem. R. D"Z Hoffmann, however, posits that the family might have spent some years living in both Sukkot and Shekhem itself before the rape took place, allowing her to be 8-9 at the time. Though this might sound young to the modern reader, in ancient times, it would not have been too young to be taken in marriage.</fn></point> |
<point><b>Fitting in all of the births</b> – This more elastic time frame affords ample time for all of the pregnancies,<fn>Jubilees offers a detailed accounting including exact days, months, and years.</fn> and even provides enough of a break between Leah's pregnancies to enable her to nurse each of her children for several months<fn>Jubilees add even more time by additionally postulating both that there was overlap between the pregnancies of Bilhah, Zilpah, and Leah and that Zevulun and Dinah were twins – see above.</fn> before becoming pregnant again.<fn>Jubilees makes a lone exception in the case of Yissakhar. After his birth, Jubilees says that Leah handed him over to a nursemaid. It is unclear why Jubilees felt a need to maintain this, as the interval between the births of Yissakhar and Zevulun (according to him) was no shorter than that between Leah's other children.</fn></point> | <point><b>Fitting in all of the births</b> – This more elastic time frame affords ample time for all of the pregnancies,<fn>Jubilees offers a detailed accounting including exact days, months, and years.</fn> and even provides enough of a break between Leah's pregnancies to enable her to nurse each of her children for several months<fn>Jubilees add even more time by additionally postulating both that there was overlap between the pregnancies of Bilhah, Zilpah, and Leah and that Zevulun and Dinah were twins – see above.</fn> before becoming pregnant again.<fn>Jubilees makes a lone exception in the case of Yissakhar. After his birth, Jubilees says that Leah handed him over to a nursemaid. It is unclear why Jubilees felt a need to maintain this, as the interval between the births of Yissakhar and Zevulun (according to him) was no shorter than that between Leah's other children.</fn></point> | ||
− | <point><b>Shimon and Levi</b> – According to Jubilees | + | <point><b>Shimon and Levi</b> – According to both Jubilees and R. D"Z Hoffman several years elapsed between leaving Lavan's home and the incident in Shekhem.  Jubilees, thus, asserts that Shimon and Levi were over twenty<fn>R. D"Z Hoffmann does not provide specific ages, but his expanded time frame for both the stay in Charan and in Sukkot before arriving in Shekhem similarly allows for the brothers to be mature adults at the time of the incident.</fn> when they killed the males of Shekhem<fn>See also Demetrius and Ralbag cited above and <a href="TestamentofLevi2-2" data-aht="source">Testament of Levi</a>. As with Demetrius above, this reconstruction is likely motivated by the position (also found in Qumran) that the age of majority, which would allow the term "אִישׁ" to apply to Shimon and Levi, was twenty (see Shemot 30:12-14). Cf. Chazal's position above that Shimon and Levi were 13 or 14.</fn> and Dinah was twelve.<fn>This allows Jubilees to account for Dinah's description as a נַּעֲרָה. See above note that R. D"Z Hoffmann suggests that, if Dinah was born after leaving Charan, she could be eight or nine at the time.  However, if one posits that she was born around the time of Yosef, she would have been closer to fifteen. Cf. Demetrius who says that Dinah was sixteen at the time.</fn></point> |
<point><b>Yehuda's offspring</b> – According to R. D"Z Hoffmann, Yaakov's extra years of employ in Charan make Yehuda old enough at the time of the descent to Egypt to have sired multiple generations of offspring.<fn>We do not possess R. D"Z Hoffmann's commentary on Bereshit 46, and he does not address the question explicitly in Bereshit 30-31, but his reconstruction of the chronology allows for Yehuda to be several years older than normally thought at the time of the descent.</fn> According to Jubilees, Peretz was only one year old when they descended to Egypt, and Chetzron and Chamul were not alive to be counted among the seventy souls who arrived.<fn>This approach would appear to be incompatible with the Biblical text which counts Chetzron and Chamul in the list of seventy. However, see <multilink><a href="Cassuto" data-aht="source">U. Cassuto</a><a href="Cassuto" data-aht="source">Sifrut Mikrait veSifrut Kenaanit, pp.108-117</a><a href="Prof. Umberto Cassuto" data-aht="parshan">About Prof. U. Cassuto</a></multilink> and <a href="http://www.etzion.org.il/vbm/archive/9-parsha/13vayigash.php">R. Yaacov Medan</a> who suggest that Chetzron and Chamul were born in Egypt but were mentioned in the list as they later replaced Er and Onan who had died before the descent.</fn></point> | <point><b>Yehuda's offspring</b> – According to R. D"Z Hoffmann, Yaakov's extra years of employ in Charan make Yehuda old enough at the time of the descent to Egypt to have sired multiple generations of offspring.<fn>We do not possess R. D"Z Hoffmann's commentary on Bereshit 46, and he does not address the question explicitly in Bereshit 30-31, but his reconstruction of the chronology allows for Yehuda to be several years older than normally thought at the time of the descent.</fn> According to Jubilees, Peretz was only one year old when they descended to Egypt, and Chetzron and Chamul were not alive to be counted among the seventy souls who arrived.<fn>This approach would appear to be incompatible with the Biblical text which counts Chetzron and Chamul in the list of seventy. However, see <multilink><a href="Cassuto" data-aht="source">U. Cassuto</a><a href="Cassuto" data-aht="source">Sifrut Mikrait veSifrut Kenaanit, pp.108-117</a><a href="Prof. Umberto Cassuto" data-aht="parshan">About Prof. U. Cassuto</a></multilink> and <a href="http://www.etzion.org.il/vbm/archive/9-parsha/13vayigash.php">R. Yaacov Medan</a> who suggest that Chetzron and Chamul were born in Egypt but were mentioned in the list as they later replaced Er and Onan who had died before the descent.</fn></point> | ||
<point><b>"מָלְאוּ יָמָי" and "מַלֵּא שְׁבֻעַ זֹאת"</b> – Jubilees and R. D"Z Hoffmann both understand "מָלְאוּ יָמָי" to mean that Yaakov had completed his first seven years of work before marrying Leah. Consequently, they both interpret "מַלֵּא שְׁבֻעַ זֹאת" to refer to the seven days of nuptial celebration.<fn>R. D"Z Hoffmann points to Shofetim 14:12 as a Biblical source for "שִׁבְעַת יְמֵי הַמִּשְׁתֶּה".</fn></point> | <point><b>"מָלְאוּ יָמָי" and "מַלֵּא שְׁבֻעַ זֹאת"</b> – Jubilees and R. D"Z Hoffmann both understand "מָלְאוּ יָמָי" to mean that Yaakov had completed his first seven years of work before marrying Leah. Consequently, they both interpret "מַלֵּא שְׁבֻעַ זֹאת" to refer to the seven days of nuptial celebration.<fn>R. D"Z Hoffmann points to Shofetim 14:12 as a Biblical source for "שִׁבְעַת יְמֵי הַמִּשְׁתֶּה".</fn></point> |
Version as of 01:36, 16 November 2018
The Births and Relative Ages of Yaakov's Children
Exegetical Approaches
Overview
In attempting to make sense of the various chronological issues relating to the the births and lives of Yaakov's children, commentators offer an array of possibilities. Many of them are consistent in the methodologies they apply to resolve each of the issues.
A first approach, taken by many Midrashim, reads the text both literally and chronologically, and resolves all issues by positing that events were supernatural. This allows for seven month pregnancies, youngsters capable of massacring cities, and eight year old parents. Others take a more rationalist approach, preferring to resolve the problems by suggesting minor chronological changes in the order of the recorded events. They assert that some of Yaakov's wives' pregnancies overlapped, that Yaakov spent some years in Shekhem before Dinah was raped, and that the story of Yehuda and Tamar occurred before the sale of Yosef. A final approach expands the time frame in which Yaakov's children were born, making Shimon, Levi, and Yehuda older during the subsequent events.
Premature & Precocious
The pregnancies for each and every one of Yaakov's children were extraordinarily short, and were thus able to fit within a seven year time span. Similarly, Yaakov's children reached physical and sexual maturity at supernaturally early ages, and this accounts for the very young ages of Shimon and Levi and Yehuda's descendants when they sired offspring in the subsequent stories.
Achronological Order
The Torah favors thematic order over chronological order and therefore presents the pregnancies and births as consecutive, even though they needed to overlap with each other to fit into the seven year time frame. Similarly, positing achronology resolves the difficulties in the later stories of Sefer Bereshit, with the story of Shimon and Levi in Shekhem transpiring only many years after Yaakov returned from Lavan's home, and Yehuda's first marriage occurring several years before the sale of Yosef.
Expanded Time Frame
The births of Yaakov's first twelve children took place over a period of almost fourteen years, rather than seven. This approach subdivides over whether it is the starting line or end point which needs to be adjusted to gain the additional years.
Yaakov Married Earlier
Yaakov married Leah immediately upon starting working for Lavan, and thus Yaakov's first twelve children were born over the course of thirteen years. As a result, Shimon and Levi were about twenty at the time of the incident in Shekhem, and there is additional time for Yehuda's descendants to sire their own offspring before descending to Egypt.
Yosef Born Later
Yosef was born only after the completion of Yaakov's first fourteen years working for Lavan, and the twelve children were born over a span of up to twelve years. The incident with Shekhem happened only much later when Shimon and Levi were already twenty years old.