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Creation

Jacob's Sons - Birth Order

Moses




It is generally thought that the son's of Jacob were born in the sequence
they are listed in chapters 29 and 30 of Genesis.

                    Reuben            to Leah
                    Simeon            to Leah
                    Levi              to Leah
                    Judah             to Leah
                    Dan               to Rachel's handmaid
                    Naphtali          to Rachel's handmaid
                    Gad               to Leah's handmaid
                    Asher             to Leah's handmaid
                    Issachar          to Leah
                    Zebulun           to Leah
                    Joseph            to Rachel

     subsequently   Benjamin          to Rachel (Gen 35:16-18)


However, the problem with this perspective is that Scripture seems to
allow less than 7 years from the birth of Reuben to Joseph.


Reuben is the firstborn son after the marriage of Jacob to Leah. The
marriage to Leah occurring after the initial seven years that Jacob
worked for Laban.

    Gen   29:20  So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they
                 seemed only a few days to him because of the love
                 he had for her.
            :21  Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my
                 days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her."
            :22  And Laban gathered together all the men of the
                 place and made a feast.
            :23  Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took
                 Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; ...


Joseph is born prior to the end of the second span of seven years. That
is prior to Jacob agreeing to work another 6 years for Laban.

    Gen   30:25  And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph,
                 that Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I
                 may go to my own place and to my country.
            :26  Give me my wives and my children for whom I have
                 served you, and let me go; for you know my service
                 which I have done for you."
            :27  And Laban said to him, "Please stay, if I have
                 found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by
                 experience that the Lord has blessed me for your
                 sake."
            :28  Then he said, "Name me your wages, and I will
                 give it."

          31:41  Thus I have been in your house twenty years;
                 I served you fourteen years for your two daughters,
                 and six years for your flock, and you have changed
                 my wages ten times. 


So the question arises, "Is seven years enough time?".

          For Leah to:

          1) give birth to four sons,
          2) identify a period when she is barren (Gen 30:9),
          3) then give birth to a further two sons.


Leah may have given birth to the first four sons in the first four
years, ceased bearing children in the fifth year, and had her last
two children in years six and seven.

While it may be hypothetically possible, it does seem as though the
text is suggesting these events actually spanned a longer period of
time.


Could the last two sons of Leah have been born during the subsequent
period of six years when Jacob was working for the flock of Laban? 


Is the text discussing the mandrakes, encountered prior to the birth
of the last two sons of Leah, trying to indicate a relevant timing?


There is within the mandrake text an unexpected comment from Leah.


    Gen   30:15  But she [Leah] said to her [Rachel],
                 "Is it a small matter that you have
                 taken away my husband? ..."


So while Rachel was initially the wife Jacob sought, it was Leah
that gave him his initial sons. This caused Rachel to blame Jacob,
and as a result Jacob became angry with Rachel (Gen 30:1-2).
So Rachel fought back by trying to gains sons via her handmaid.
After this, when Leah became barren, Leah also offered her handmaid.


Yet despite these events it is clear from the comment of Leah,
"you have taken away my husband", that at the time of the mandrake
incident that Rachel had gained the upper hand. That Rachel had
regained the favour of Jacob. Won again the love of Jacob!
For this reason Leah had said, "you have taken away my husband".


Given the context of Genesis chapter 29 and 30, the only event which
is likely to have been significant enough to have fully captured the
love of Jacob, would have been the birth of Rachel's first son. The
birth of Joseph!


As we know the birth of Joseph just prior to the end of the second
span of seven years, then the birth of Leah's last two sons must have
occurred during the subsequent period of six years.  


If we are questioning the birth order placement of Leah's last two sons
then we may need to also consider the birth order of the second sons of
both the handmaids.


So what does this mean?


It means that Joseph, the firstborn of Rachel, would not have been the
eleventh son of Jacob.


We have already discussed that Gen 37:3 should be understood to mean,

     Gen   37:3    Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children,
                   because he was the builder of his old age. ...

                   Not translated as, "son of his old age".
Refer:

THE AGE OF JACOB WHEN
JOSEPH WAS BORN

                   That this verse refers to when Joseph was
                   17 years old and chosen by God to be the
                   'builder' of the family.
                   The confusion arises because the word 'son'
                   is derived from a word meaning to 'build'.


The true 'son' of Jacob's old age was Benjamin.                   

     Gen   44:20   And we said to my lord, 'We have a father,
                   an old man, and a child of his old age,
                   who is young; his brother is dead, and he
                   alone is left of his mother's children,
                   and his father loves him.


So what was the birth order of Jacob's sons?


It seems there is some lack of clarity on this issue. However we can
conclude the following.


***  SUMMARY  ***  


1) Leah's first four sons were older than Joseph.

2) It is reasonable to assume the firstborn sons of the
   handmaids were also older than Joseph.

3) There is uncertainty about whether the second sons of
   the handmaids were older or younger than Joseph.

4) It is quite possible that the last two sons of Leah
   were younger than Joseph.

5) Benjamin was the youngest.


OTHER ISSUES


1) The 'week' for Leah. (Gen 29:27-28.)

   This may have been a literal week, but perhaps more likely was
   a reference to the 7 Sabbaths prior to the Feast of Weeks. A
   period which started in the first month and ended in the third
   month.
   (Start of the second period of seven years.)


2) The mandrakes incident occurred at the time of the wheat harvest. 
   In the Spring at the start of the year.

   (At the start of the final six years.)
   
     Gen   30:14   Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest
                   and found mandrakes in the field, and brought
                   them to his mother Leah.


3) In Scripture, the tribes are listed in various sequences.
   These sequences are documented in the webpage which discusses
   the 144,000.

THE 144,000 OF REVELATION



Return To:

THE AGE OF JACOB WHEN
JOSEPH WAS BORN





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