Introduction Combining all the charts from "A Question in Genesis" created the beginnings of a chronology internal to the Story in the Bible (ICB) based on life dates. Initially, this chronology stretched 285 years from Year 00/075 Abram when Abram left Haran at 75 years old to Year 285/110 Jos when Joseph died at 110 years old. The next life date that could push the ICB forward is Levi's death age at 137 years old given in Exodus 6.16. The key to plugging Levi's death date into the ICB chart is figuring out when he was born. This is the short genealogy of Levi's line including death ages in Exodus 6.12-25(1) (dmd translation).
And these were the names of the sons of Levi by their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were a hundred and thirty seven years. The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimi, by their families. And the sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred and thirty three years. And the sons of Merari: Mahali, and Mushi. These were the families of Levi according to their generations. And Amram took his father's sister [Septuagint: father's brother's daughter] Jochebed to him for a wife. And she bore to him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty seven years.
So, Levi, Jacob's third son by Leah, died at 137 years old. Levi's second son Kohath died at age 133 years old, and his son Amram, Moses's father, died at age 137 years. Extending the Internal Chronology (ICB) It is logical that Levi must have been born sometime during the nine years between Jacob marrying the sisters and renegotiating his wages. However, while Genesis lists the sons' births according to their mothers, it does not list their births according to their father. Greg Killian's The Watchman website has a month-by-month calendar listing important events that occurred during each month and each day of a month according to the Scriptures and Jewish tradition.(2) This calendar includes the traditional birthdays and life lengths for each of Jacob's sons. Individual articles on the sons in the Jewish Encylopedia Online(3) confirmed some of these traditional dates. A Birthday Chart Charting the birthdays along with logical deductions based on Scriptural information and human behavior provided a solution to this puzzle of when Jacob's sons were born in relation to their father. The chart uses the 40-week (10 month) human gestation period. At a minimum, eleven births in nine years meant that some of the sons of the different mothers were born in the same year. According to Genesis 29.31,
And YHWH saw that Leah was hated. And He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
Leah probably conceived very quickly, possibly during her wedding week. If Reuben was born on 14 Kislev, Year 08, then the wedding was probably in Adar, Year 07. However, Joseph wasn't born until 01 Tammuz, Year 15, after which Jacob renegotiated his wages. So, it's really eight years into which all the births must fit. Table 1 charts the conception and birth months for Jacob's sons. (Estimating the conception months isn't necessary to determine the birth order, but it does clarify some of the harem dynamics.)
| Table 1. Birth dates and conception estimates for Jacob's sons | ||||||||||||
| Year | Tish | Chesv | Kislev | Teb | Shev | Adar | Nisan | Iyaar | Sivan | Tam | Av | Elul |
| 07 | . | . | . | . | . | Weddg | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| 08 | . | . | Reu 14 | . | . | Sim con | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| 09 | . | . | . | Sim 21 | . | . | . | . | Lev con | . | . | . |
| 10 | . | Dan con | . | . | . | . | Lev 16 | . | . | . | Jud con | Dan 8 |
| 11 | . | . | Naph con | . | . | . | . | . | Jud 15 | . | . | . |
| 12 | Naph 5 | . | . | Gad con | . | . | . | . | Iss con | . | . | . |
| 13 | Gad 10 | . | . | . | Iss 4/6 | Ash con | . | . | . | . | ||
| 14 | . | . | Zeb con | . | Ash 20 | . | . | . | . | . | . | Jos con |
| 15 | Zeb 7 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | Jos 1 | . | . |
Leah's second son Simeon was born on 21 Tebet, Year 09, which was 13 months after Reuben was born. Now, Genesis 30.1-4 recounts:
And Rachel saw that she did not bear to Jacob, and Rachel was jealous of her sister. And she said to Jacob, "Give me sons; and if there is none, I shall die." And Jacob's anger glowed against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in @Élöhîm's place, who has kept back from you the fruit of the womb?" And she said, "Behold my servant Bilhah. Go in to her and let her bear on my knees; yea, let me be built up from her, me also." And she gave her slave-girl Bilhah to him for a wife. And Jacob went in to her.
So, when could Rachel just not stand it anymore that her sister kept getting pregnant? Leah's third pregnancy in as many years would have probably done it. With Levi born on 16 Nisan, Year 10, Leah would have been showing by Tishri or Chesvan, Year 10. With Bilhah's first son, Dan, born on Elul 8, Year 10, Rachel probably gave Bilhah to Jacob sometime in Kislev, Year 10. The next two sons born were Judah to Leah on 15 Sivan, Year 11, and Naphtali to Bilhah on 5 Tishri, Year 12. Genesis 30.9 states:
And Leah saw that she had ceased from bearing. And she took Zilpah, her slave-girl, and gave her to Jacob for a wife.
So, how long did it take Leah to decide she wasn't going to get pregnant again? After the birth of Judah, there's only four of the eight years left and Leah will have two more pregnancies. It's unlikely that she gave it much time. For four years, she had been getting pregnant four to five months after a birth. With Gad born on 10 Chesvan, Year 13, Leah must have given Zilpah to Jacob by Shevat, Year 12, which would have been only seven months after Judah's birth. It doesn't seem like that long a time to conclude she had stopped bearing, but apparently the rivalry between the sisters was still going strong at this time. But with Leah's next pregnancy, things get a little tricky with respect to Jewish tradition. Genesis 30.14-17 recounts the mandrake root incident.
And in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went out and found mandrakes in the field. And he brought them to his mother Leah. And Rachel said to Leah, "Please give to me from the mandrakes of your son." And she said to her, "Is your taking my husband a little thing? Will you also take my son's mandrakes?" And Rachel said, "So he shall be with you tonight, for your son's mandrakes. And Jacob came in from the field at evening. And Leah went out to meet him. And she said, "You must come in to me, for hiring I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." And he lay with her during that night. And @Élöhîm listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob.
Now, according to Scripture, this incident took place during the wheat harvest. This harvest runs from Sivan to Tammuz. A conception date of Sivan for Issachar means he would have been born in Nisan. The Jewish Encyclopedia Online gives 4 Av as Issachar's birthday,(4) but Killian's website lists 6 Sivan as Issachar's birth date, citing the Bnei Issachar as the source(5). Neither of those dates work with the conception occurring during the wheat harvest in Sivan. But, if Sivan is taken as the conception month for Issachar instead of his birth month, then that would be consistant with Scripture. It would also move Issachar's birth backward by four months to Nisan, Year 13, 22 months after Judah was born. Zilpah's second son Asher was born on 20 Shebat, Year 14. Leah then bore Zebulon and Dinah (traditionally twins) on 7 Tishri, Year 15, 19 months after Issachar. Then, finally, Rachel got pregnant and bore Joseph on 1 or 17 Tammuz, Year 15. While these birth dates are only traditions, except for Issachar's, they do work. It's interesting that Issachar's conception is the only one dated to a time of year in Scripture, yet his traditional birth date does not work with Scripture. That does tend to cast a cloud of doubt over the accuracy of the other traditional birth dates, but, Genesis does not give birth dates for anybody. The only information available to work out Jacob's sons' birth order according to their father is those traditional dates. The dates do work in showing a probable timing of 11 sons and 1 daughter being born to Jacob in the nine years between his wedding and his renegotiating his wages. Levi's Birth Year Below is a chart with Jacob's life years that dates Levi's birth to 085 Jacob.
| Chart 2. Birth Order of the sons of Jacob according to their father | ||||
| Yrs | Event | Birthday | Ref | |
| 07 | 082 Jac | Jacob marries Leah and Rachel | Shevat | G29.21-29 |
| He agrees to serve another 7 years for Rachel | . | . | ||
| 08 | 083 Jac | Reuben born of Leah | 14 Kislev | G29.32 |
| 09 | 084 Jac | Simeon born of Leah | 21 Tevet | G29.33 |
| 10 | 085 Jac> | Levi born of Leah | 16 Nisan | G29.34 |
| Dan born of Bilhah | 8 Elul | G30.5-6 | ||
| 11 | 086 Jac | Judah born of Leah | 15 Sivan | G29.35 |
| 12 | 087 Jac | Naphtali born of Bilhah | 5 Tishri | G30.7-8 |
| Mandrake incident | Sivan | Gen 30.14-17 | ||
| 13 | 088 Jac | Gad born of Zilpah | 10 Cheshvan | G30.10-11 |
| Issachar born of Leah | 4/6 Av | G30.17-18 | ||
| 14 | 089 Jac | Asher born of Zilpah | 20 Shevat | G30.12-13 |
| 15 | 090 Jac | Zebulon and Dinah born of Leah | 7 Tishri | G30.19-21 |
| Joseph born of Rachel | 1 or 17 Tammuz | G30.22-24 | ||
| Jacob renegotiates his wages with Laban | . | G30.25 | ||
Plugging Levi's death into the Chronology extends it to the 307th year since Abraham entered the land of Canaan. Next Steps The Chronology now runs for 307 years from Abram entering the land of Canaan in 01 Can to the death of Levi in 307 Can. Unfortunately, neither the life years of Kohath nor Amram were useful in extending the Chronology because Scripture gives no birth year information for either of them. However, extending the Chronology is still possible because Scripture gives a summary total of years of 430 years. The question now is "Does the 430 years refer to the time the children of Israel spent in Egypt OR to the time between Abram entering Canaan and the Exodus." So, on to the next essay.
FOOTNOTE (1) This insertion interrupts the narrative flow. I discuss the situation in "Insertions." Return (2) Killian, Greg. The Watchman Calendars and Feasts (Retrieved 1/13/2024) Return (3) Jewish Encylopedia Online (Retrieved 1/13/2024) Return (4) Jewish Encylopedia Online Issachar (Retrieved 1/13/2024) Return (5) Killian, Greg. The Watchman Sivan (Retrieved 1/13/2024) Return
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