Subject: Jacob's age when Joseph was born |
Bible Note: Hi All, The traditional view is Jacob was 91 years old when Joseph was born. As stated in previous notes Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharoah plus 7 years of plenty and 2 years of famine before Jacob and Joseph's brothers arrived. Jacob was 130 years old minus Joseph's age of 39 equals Jacob being 91 years old when Joseph was born. An alternate view is "Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt" (Gen 41:46) represents the 30 years from Joseph's calling by God. This would indicate that Joseph was 56 years old (17 plus 30 plus 7 plus 2) when Jacob arrived at age 130. Jacob was 74 years old when Joseph was born. A clear example of this type of calling is encountered in 1 Samuel 13:1 talking about King Saul. A literal translation reads as follows; 1Sam 13:1 A son of a year Saul when he became king .... The text makes it clear Saul was not one year old, yet on the surface this verse appears to be stating he was. This verse is actually stating that Saul was crowned king in the first year since being called by God. Saul became king in the same year he was anointed by God as commander over God's inheritance (1 Sam 10:1). In the traditional view Joseph was in Egypt 22 years (13 plus 7 plus 2)before his father and brothers arrived. In the alternate view Joseph was in Egypt 39 years (30 plus 7 plus plus 2). How can we determine which is correct. We need to look at what the Bible records during those years that Joseph was in Egypt before his family arrived. Joseph was 17 years old when he was sold into slavery by his brothers. His younger brother Benjamin was an infant or very young child. Joseph was born shortly after his half-sister, Dinah (Gen 30:21-25), at the end of Jacob's 14 years of service to Laban. Jacob then worked an additional 6 years (Gen 31:41). After that Jacob moved his family to Shechem. At Shechem Dinah was defiled (Gen 34). She was of an age to be married, 14-16 years old. Then Jacob was told by God to go up to Bethel and dwell (Gen 35:1). On this journey Benjamin was born (Gen 35:18-19). When Benjamin arrived in Egypt he would have been about 22-24 years old (traditional view) or 39-41 years old (alternate view). When he arrived in Egypt, he had ten sons (Gen 46:21). So Benjamin either married very young or the traditional view is incorrect. Also, after Joseph was sold into slavery, his brother Judah married a Canaanite woman (Gen 38). They had three sons who all grew to be adults. This would take at least 20 years. Then Judah had twin sons by Tamar. Their names were Perez and Zerah (Gen 38:27-30). When Perez arrived in Egypt, he had two sons. This would not be possible within 22 years. Therefore, the traditional view is incorrect. Jacob was 74 years old when Joseph was born. Yours in Christ, Jim Estes |