Unidentified Descendant of Jacob Who Went to Egypt

Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh

Let's take a look at a very interesting passage found in Genesis, which initially appears to have an error or contradiction, but upon further examination, it reveals the miraculous involvement of God's hand in preserving His people Israel.

According to Gen 46:8, “These are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt.” If you count the names, you will arrive at a different number than the totals indicated at the end of the passage. It is off by one person. In order to reconcile this, we need to identify that person.

I suggest reading Genesis 46 before reading the rest of this article, since it will make more sense to you. Now let me explain the apparent discrepancies and the questions they raise.

Females Included?
You may be wondering if the females were counted or not, since the passage refers to these listed people as “the sons of Israel” (Gen 46:8). The designation of "sons" seems to exclude females. However, Asher’s daughter Serah is included in the biblical count of sixteen children born to Jacob by Zilpah (Gen 46:17). That makes it very clear that females were included.

The question of whether Dinah (daughter of Jacob) is counted requires a bit more explanation. She is listed as a direct descendant of Jacob, and at first glance, she does appear to be counted as one of the thirty-three sons and daughters of Jacob from Leah (Gen 46:15). But then if you count up only the male descendants of Leah, they come to thirty-three, which seems to agree with the count of thirty-three in verse 15. However, since Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan (Gen 46:12), they are not counted among those who “went to Egypt” with Jacob (Gen 46:8). Moreover, since verse 15 specifically states that the thirty-three descendants of Leah include both “sons and daughters of Jacob,” it is certain that Dinah was included. By adding Dinah to the count of those who “went to Egypt” with Jacob, the total of Leah’s descendants only comes to thirty-two, not the stated thirty-three! Who is the missing person? This is the missing piece of the puzzle, and the crux of this article, which I will come to in a moment.

Having proven from Scripture that both Serah and Dinah were included in the count, we know that females who were direct descendants of Jacob were certainly counted. Therefore, we can easily deduce that the counts in this passage included both male and female direct descendants of Jacob, who went to Egypt, even though the passage opens by describing them as “the sons of Israel who went to Egypt” (Gen 46:8). I have also proven that the missing person is a descendant of Jacob through Leah.

Seventy Names Listed?
The passage concludes by stating, “All those who went to Egypt with Jacob—those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons’ wives—numbered sixty-six persons. With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all.” (Gen 46:26-27). This is one of three passages in the Old Testament, which states that seventy of Jacob's descendants went down to Egypt (cf., Ex 1:1,5; Deut 10:22). Let's look at the names listed in this passage:

1.    Reuben
2.    Hanok
3.    Pallu
4.    Hezron
5.    Karmi
6.    Simeon
7.    Jemuel
8.    Jamin
9.    Ohad
10.   Jakin
11.   Zohar
12.   Shaul
13.   Levi
14.   Gershon
15.   Kohath
16.   Merari
17.   Judah

Er (died in Canaan, not included in count)
Onan (died in Canaan, not included in count)

18.    Shelah
19.    Perez
20.    Zerah
21.    Hezron
22.    Hamul
23.    Issachar
24.    Tola
25.    Puah
26.    Jashub
27.    Shimron
28.    Zebulun
29.    Sered
30.    Elon
31.    Jahleel
32.    Dinah (daughter of Jacob)
33.    Gad
34.    Zephon
35.    Haggi
36.    Shuni
37.    Ezbon
38.    Eri
39.    Arodi
40.    Areli
41.    Asher
42.    Imnah
43.    Ishvah
44.    Ishvi
45.    Beriah
46.    Serah (sister)
47.    Heber
48.    Malkiel
49.    Benjamin
50.    Bela
51.    Beker
52.    Ashbel
53.    Gera
54.    Naaman
55.    Ehi
56.    Rosh
57.    Muppim
58.    Huppim
59.    Ard
60.    Dan
61.    Hushim
62.    Naphtali
63.    Jahziel
64.    Guni
65.    Jezer
66.    Shillem
67.    Joseph (already in Egypt)
68.    Manasseh (already in Egypt)
69.    Ephraim (already in Egypt)
70.    (Unidentified person)

As you can see, there are only sixty-nine names listed, and one seems to be unidentified, because there were supposed to be seventy, according to verse 27. Yet here are the total number of descendants reckoned to each of Jacob's wives in the passage:

Sons and Daughters from Leah = 33 (Gen 46:15)
Children from Zilpah = 16 (Gen 46:18)
Sons from Rachel = 14 (Gen 46:22)
Sons from Bilhah = 7 (Gen 46:25)
______________________
Subtotal = 70

Subtract Er and Onan (Leah’s descendants), who did not make it alive to Egypt = - 2
______________________
Subtotal = 68

Add Ephraim and Manasseh born in Egypt = 2
______________________
Total = 70

Who is the unidentified person that brings the total of Jacob's descendant's to seventy?

If you look at my subtotal above, the names of the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt came to sixty-eight, before you add Ephraim and Manasseh. So why does verse 26 state “sixty-six persons,” when sixty-eight names are listed after omitting Er and Onan? If we remove only the name of Joseph, who is one of the sixty-eight names listed above in the passage, we arrive at the odd number of sixty-seven, not the sixty-six stated in verse 26. So who is the missing person that must be omitted to bring the number to sixty-six? This person would have to have been in Egypt already, and yet be a descendant of Jacob when he arrived there.

Riddle Solved
We arrive at the only possible answer to this when we more closely consider Asenath, Joseph’s wife, as a possible candidate for the missing person. While Scripture refers to her as “daughter of Potiphera, priest of On” (Gen 41:45; 46:20), could she have been a direct descendant of Jacob? Hebrew tradition held that she was born to Jacob’s daughter Dinah when Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite raped her (Gen 34:2). It was believed that an Egyptian priest adopted Dinah’s baby, similar to the way that Pharoah’s daughter adopted Moses.

While the versions of this legend do not agree with each other, and some versions contradict the Bible on certain details, one thing the various Hebrew versions have in common is that Asenath was the daughter of Dinah and Shechem. There is also a Christian version recorded in an apocryphal book that depicts Asenath as an orphan and Potiphera as her foster father. Of course, the basis for our faith must be the Word of God alone, not the traditions of men, so we cannot put our trust in traditions.

However, if there is any truth at all to these legends with regard to Asenath's true parents, and if the priest of On was merely her foster father, then it resolves two questions in Genesis 46. In addition to identifying the seventieth descendant of Jacob who went to Egypt in verse 27, it also solves the puzzle I mentioned in the previous section as to who the missing person is among the thirty-three “sons and daughters of Jacob” through Leah that went to Egypt. By subtracting Er and Onan from the list of thirty-three sons, and then adding Dinah and Asenath, we get the total of thirty-three “sons and daughters of Jacob” through Leah in verse 15. Who else besides Asenath could be the one missing person who meets all the criteria in both verses 15 and 27?

Furthermore, it cannot be that Asenath was merely included among the seventy people in verse 27 merely because she was Joseph’s wife, if she were not one of Jacob's descendants. Otherwise, Jacob’s wives and his son's wives would have also been listed. But they were explicitly excluded, according to verse 26. The count in Genesis 46 specifically includes only the male and female direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt.

Putting it All Together
Therefore, the sixty-six direct descendants of Jacob who went with him to Egypt did not include Joseph and his wife Asenath, along with their sons Ephraim and Manasseh, who were already in Egypt when he arrived. By adding these additional four people (pictured in the above illustration) to the other sixty-six, it brings the total to seventy people. This provides a strong case to substantiate the Hebrew belief that Asenath was one of Jacob’s direct descendant’s. It also proves that there is no error in this passage of Scripture.

Finally it shows the amazing providence of God, who preserved Asenath in Egypt, so that no member of Jacob’s family would be lost. God moved the heart of Pharaoh to give her to Joseph as his wife (Gen 41:45), when he promoted him to ruler of Egypt. Not only did it ensure that none of Jacob’s offspring was lost, it also enabled Joseph to marry within his family, thus fulfilling the strict orders that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had been given to marry within their own family, and not take a wife from among the Canaanites.

If Joseph had actually married a true Egyptian woman, then his sons Ephraim and Mannaseh, who were born to her, would not be legitimate heirs of the Promised Land. But they were in fact listed among the twelve tribes of Israel (Gen 48:5-6; Dt 34:2; Num 1:32-33; Rev 7:5-8), and Jacob blessed them and Joseph on his deathbed before he blessed his other eleven sons (Gen 48:9-22). And when the Israelites possessed the land of Canaan, Ephraim and Manasseh received their own territories as directed by Jacob and Moses (Josh 14:3-4). Truly God’s miraculous hand was involved in enabling Joseph to marry his niece.

[1] Graves, Robert & Patai, Raphael, Hebrew Myths (New York: Greenwich House, 1964), p. 237. See also Ginzberg, op. cit., II: 38.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Painting of Jacob blessing Ephraim and Manasseh while Joseph and Manasseh look on is used here merely as an illustration for educational and commentary purposes only, according to the FAIR USE Act. No copyright violation intended.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the Home page, such as The Bible is the Word of God, All Scripture must be fulfilled, and The Bible Never Fails. You may also access other articles on the Home page for this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Oral Account of Creation from Adam to Abraham

In this study, I would like to show how the true account of creation was accurately passed down by word of mouth from Adam to Abraham.

Let's begin by looking at the relationships between Adam and his family line. In doing this, you will be able to draw many conclusions, as well as see how the true and accurate account of the creation was preserved by Adam up until the time of Noah. 

Adam lived to be 930 years old (Gen 5:5). The flood occurred 1,656 years after Adam was created, so Adam died 726 years before the flood.

Noah was born 1,056 years after Adam was created. Since Noah was 600 years old when the flood began (Gen 7:6), that means he was born 126 years after Adam died.

Since Noah was born when his father Lamech was 182 years old, Lamech would have known Adam or at least been alive during Adam’s lifetime.  In fact, Lamech would have been 56 years old when Adam died.

Since Lamech was born when his father Methuselah was 187 years old, then 56 years later, at the time when Adam died, Methuselah was 243 years old. 

126 years after the death of Adam, when Noah was born, Methuselah was 369 years old.  Since the flood came 600 years after Noah’s birth, that would make Methuselah 969 years old when the flood came.

Adam's Generations
In the table below, I have shown the generations from Adam to Noah (Gen 5:1-32), along with the year of birth and year of death for each person, according to the number of years from the creation of Adam (Hebrew years).

Name	Age at First Son's Birth	Year of Birth	Age at Death	Year at Death	Age at Adam's Death
Adam	130	0	930	930	930
Seth	105	130	912	1042	800
Enosh	90	235	905	1140	695
Kenan	70	325	910	1235	605
Mahalalel	65	395	895	1290	535
Jared	162	460	962	1422	470
Enoch	65	622	365	987	308
Methuselah	187	687	969	1656	243
Lamech	182	874	777	1651	56
Noah	500	1056	950	2006

Adam to Noah Chart
The chart below displays the data from the table above. Each yellow bar represents the life of the person named to the left, beginning with Adam at the bottom. Notice how all the bars above Adam's bar run concurrent with his life, except for Noah, showing that all these men except for him were contemporaries of Adam. You can see that the bar for Adam's life ends before the line that marks the year 1,000, and the bar for Noah's life begins after that same line. This shows that there was a gap between Adam's death and Noah's birth.

Conclusions about Methuselah
Methuselah was alive for 243 years of Adam’s life.  He and Adam were contemporaries. During that time, he would have heard the story of creation perhaps directly told by Adam. Methuselah’s father was Enoch, who walked with God for 365 years and was no more (Gen 5:24). We know that Methuselah died at the age of 969, so he died the same year the flood happened. He was the oldest man that ever lived and he died right before the flood came. He was alive for the entire period that Noah was building the ark.

Conclusions about Lamech
Lamech was 187 years old at the time of his son Noah’s birth and he died 590 years later at the age of 777, just 5 years before the flood.  Lamech would have been alive for most of the period when Noah was building the ark. Since Lamech was 56 years old when Adam died, he too would have heard the true account of creation perhaps directly told by Adam. Noah would have heard the creation story in stereo from his father Lamech and grandfather Methuselah, who both heard it directly from Adam. Methuselah and Lamech provided an unbroken, dual connection between Adam and Noah. Thus all things were established by the testimony of two witnesses. This preserved the true and accurate account of the creation, so that Noah was able to carry that with him and pass it on to his sons into the new world after the flood.

Incidentally, it is also hard to imagine how Lamech and Methuselah would not have been encouraging Noah as he was building the ark, since they were alive at that time.

Walking with God
I would like to highlight those who walked faithfully with God. One of them was Enoch. Scripture says, "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." (Ge 5:24). It does not say he died, which is how it describes the end of life for all the others in Adam's line. He did not die. God took him! In the book of Hebrews, it says, "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God." (Heb 11:5). What a glorious witness he obtained! He was pleasing to God.

"Noah's Preaching Scorned" by Harry Anderson

The other person that Scripture says walked with God was Noah. It says, "Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God." (Gen 6:9; 7:5).  It also says, "Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." (Gen 6:8). Noah did all that God commanded him (Gen 6:22). When God said to build the ark, Noah obeyed and built it according to the pattern God gave him. When God said to gather the animals, Noah gathered them. When God said to enter the ark (Gen 7:1), Noah obeyed and entered the ark (Gen 7:13). When God said to go out of the ark (Gen 8:16), Noah went out of the ark (Gen 8:18). The book of Hebrews says, "By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." (Heb 11:7). I hope this encourages you to walk by faith with God, too, and to do what God says in Scripture.

Noah's Generations
In the table below, I have shown the generations from Noah to Abraham (Gen 11:10-32), along with the year of birth and year of death for each person, according to the number of years from the creation of Adam (Hebrew years).

Name	Age at First Son's Birth	Year of Birth	Age at Death	Year at Death	Age at Noah's Death
Noah	500	1056	950	2006	950
Shem	100	1556	600	2156	450
Arphaxad	35	1656	438	2094	350
Shelah	33	1691	433	2127	315
Eber	34	1724	464	2188	282
Peleg	33	1758	242	2000
Reu	32	1791	239	2030	215
Serug	32	1823	232	2055	183
Nahor	29	1855	148	2003
Terah	70	1884	205	2089	122
Abraham	100	1954	175	2129	52

Noah to Abraham Chart
The chart below displays the data from the table above. Each yellow bar represents the life of the person named to the left, beginning with Noah at the bottom. Notice how all the bars above Noah's bar run concurrent with his life, showing that all these men were contemporaries of Noah.

Inspiration and Transmission of Scripture
While it is true that all Scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16), and that the writers received what they wrote through supernatural, divine inspiration, the accuracy of biblical history was preserved by eyewitness testimony. The Gospels are another example of this in that the apostles, who accompanied Jesus all the time He went in and out among them, until He was taken up from them into heaven, were reliable eyewitnesses of His resurrection (Ac 1:21-22). Matthew and John, who wrote the gospels that bear their names, and Peter, who is believed to be the source of Mark's gospel, saw the majestic glory of Christ firsthand, and heard the voice that came from heaven when they were with Him on the sacred mountain (Joh 1:14; 2 Peter 1:16-18).

Luke, who was not one of the Twelve apostles, began his gospel by saying, "Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught." (Luk 1:1-4).

Even though Luke was inspired by God to write the gospel, he also investigated everything carefully from the beginning, compiled eyewitness testimonies, and wrote out the exact truth in consecutive order. Likewise, when he wrote the book of Acts, he did the same thing, except that he himself was also one of the eyewitnesses to the things he wrote, regarding the apostle Paul's ministry, since he was one of his traveling companions. Therefore, we know that God's supernatural work of inspiration is also accompanied by the supernatural way he oversees the accuracy of the transmission process through eyewitness accounts.

Putting it All Together
Through this study, we have seen that the ancient men of old who lived before the flood were contemporaries of Adam, except for Noah, who was born after Adam died. It helps us to see that Adam would have had a relationship with his descendants up to the ninth generation.

Noah began a new generation separated from the life of Adam that would bring hope and the knowledge of God into a new world. He also carried with him the true account of the creation from Adam, as well as his own eyewitness account of God destroying all of creation, because of the wickedness of mankind, and graciously saving Noah and his family -- eight in all -- just as God said He would do. All that God said He would do was fulfilled, just as all Scripture must be fulfilled.

Likewise, after the flood, Noah lived to see his descendants in the line of Shem up to the eleventh generation -- all the way up to Abraham. He was a contemporary with all of those, and they all lived to see his death, except for Peleg and Nahor.  Abraham's father Terah was 122 years old at the time of Noah's death and Abraham was 52. So they may have heard the account of the creation and the flood directly from Noah, along with all the other key events that happened before and after the flood. 

Ancient history was carried forward for 2,000 years primarily by two main persons with firsthand, eyewitness accounts, namely Adam and Noah. That's excellent record-keeping on God's part! And all of the descendants of these two men, who lived contemporaneously with them, provided an excellent backup of that information, along with their own valuable contributions of what they personally witnessed.

Moreover, like Noah, Shem his son lived before, during, and after the flood. Just like his father, Shem helped to bridge the generations of Adam across the flood and he lived to the ripe old age of 600 years old! He was 450 years old when Noah died. And he outlived all of his descendants up to and including Abraham, except for Eber (Shem died in 2156 and Eber died 32 years later). So just as Noah, Shem was able to transmit to all of these descendants of his the accurate accounts of the creation and the flood, as well as all of the other events before and after the flood up until his death. He died 27 years after Abraham died! His blessed family line became the one through which Abraham and all the Hebrews descended, and the line through which David and his Son, Jesus Christ came (Lk 3:21-38).

This shows the amazing care that God took to preserve the accurate accounts of those important events from early human history, so that they could be passed down to us later by Moses in what has come to be known as the first book of Moses or Genesis. Don't ever doubt God's supernatural ability to preserve His Word.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. "Noah's Preaching Scorned" by Harry Anderson.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the Home page, such as All Scripture must be fulfilled, The Bible Never Fails, and The Evil Nephilim Giants. You may also access other articles on the Home page for this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.