An important question that often arises is whether Levi's descendant Kohath was born in Canaan or Egypt. Kohath was one of the many descendants of Jacob by his wife Leah that are listed in Genesis 46:5-12:
Genesis 46:5 And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
Genesis 46:6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:
Genesis 46:7 His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.
Genesis 46:8 And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn.
Genesis 46:9 And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
Genesis 46:10 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
Genesis 46:11 And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Genesis 46:12 And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zerah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.
Genesis 46:13 And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.
Genesis 46:14 And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
Genesis 46:15 These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.
Genesis 46 provides an account of Jacob and his family as they are leaving the land of Canaan and going into Egypt. The chapter also includes a mini-census of Jacob's offspring by his four wives, Leah, Zilpah, Rachel and Bilhah. In the verses above the offspring of Jacob by Leah are enumerated. Now an assertion made by some in regard to the sons of Levi (Gershon, Kohath and Merari) is that they must have been born in Canaan otherwise how could they come into Egypt with Jacob if they weren't yet born. Of course, if this were a valid argument, then it would apply to all the sons listed above, not just those of Levi. So let's consider the sons of Judah mentioned in verse 12.
We find that Judah had 5 sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Pharez and Zerah. However we know from Genesis 38 that all of Judah's sons were not born at the same time, in fact the first three were born much earlier than the last two. To see this, recall that Judah married the daughter of Shuah, a Canaanite, and he had three sons: his firstborn Er, second-born Onan and third-born Shelah (Genesis 38:1-5). And when Er grew up Judah found him a wife named Tamar that he married (Gen 38:6). However God slew Er for wickedness, at which point Judah told his next oldest son Onan to marry her (Gen 38:7-8). Onan then married Tamar but refused to have children with her, therefore God slew him also (Gen 38:8-10). So Judah's next option was to give his third oldest son Shelah to Tamar, but he was too young (suggesting that he was born later than Er and Onan), so Judah told Tamar she must wait for Shelah to grow up before she can marry him (Gen 38:11). However when Shelah was finally old enough to marry, Judah failed to give him to Tamar, at which point Tamar tricks Judah into laying with her (Gen 38:12-26). As a result, Tamar becomes pregnant by Judah and eventually has twin sons, Pharez and Zarah. Thus, Judah's sons Pharez and Zarah were born after his sons Er, Onan and Shelah had grown up and were old enough to marry. This means that Pharez and Zarah were probably born around 20 years after Judah's first three children of were born. Now returning to Genesis 46:12, we find that Pharez also had two sons, Hezron and Hamul (Judah's grandsons). In order to see the significance of these events consider the timeline below:
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Timeline of Judah's Descendants
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Year 0 - Judah marries Shuah's daughter and has son Er
Year 1 - Judah has second son Onan
Year 2 - Judah has third son Shelah
Year 18 - Er grows up, marries Tamar at 18, but dies
Year 19 - Onan marries Tamar at 18, but also dies
Year 20 - Shelah turns 18 and is old enough to marry Tamar but doesn't
Year 20 - Tamar tricks Judah into laying with her
Year 21 - Tamar has twin sons: Pharez and Zarah
Year 39 - Pharez grows up, marries at 18, has twin sons: Hezron and Hamul
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In the timeline above it was assumed that the marriageable age for Er, Onan, Shelah and Pharez was 18 years old. This results in a timeline spanning 39 years from the time Judah marries until his grandsons Hezron and Hamul were born. Now the question is, when did Judah first marry Shuah's daughter, the Canaanitess? The most probable answer is after Jacob returned from Haran to Canaan (the most likely place to meet Shuah the Canaanite and his daughter)! We know the latest that Jacob left Haran was at 97 years old (see the study on Genesis 28:9). So if it is assumed that Judah married that same year when he and his father returned to Canaan, then it would be at least 39 years later before Hezron and Hamul would be born, at which time Jacob would be about 136 years old (97+39). This puts the birth of Judah's grandsons Hezron and Hamul in Egypt since Jacob came to Egypt six years earlier at 130 years old (Gen 47:9). This then would be one example where the sons listed in Genesis 46 would not necessarily have been born in Canaan prior to Jacob coming into Egypt. And if this is the case, that some of the sons listed for Judah were born in Egypt (i.e., Hezron and Hamul), then there would be legitimate grounds to question the common presumption that the sons listed in Genesis 46:11 for Levi, including Kohath, had to of been born in Canaan rather than Egypt.
Now one might argue that the above timeline could be modified to use a marriageable age of 15 instead of 18, because that would then place the births of Herzon and Hamul in the same year that Jacob went to Egypt. However we don't find any Biblical examples of anyone in Genesis being married and having children at such a young age, in fact, the youngest age we find for anyone having children by the time of Jacob is 29 years old (Genesis 11:24, the patriarch Nahor, beget Abraham's father Terah at 29 years old). In addition it is known that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all married and had children no earlier than 60 years old (Isaac did marry at 40 year old, Gen 25:20, but didn't have children until 60 years old, Gen 25:26). Thus, based on family history, marriage at ages on the order of 15-18 years old are unheard of. Note that it is also possible to prove Kohath could not have been born in Canaan based on a study of Genesis and Exodus (see study on Exodus 6:16-20).
Genesis 38 - A Conclusive Proof That Those Listed in Genesis 46 Were Not All Born in Canaan
Another consideration is in this regard comes from a study of Genesis 37, 38 and 39. In Genesis 37 is the account of Joseph being sold into Egypt at 17 years old. Then in Genesis 38 is the account of the birth of Judah's sons. Finally Genesis 39 picks up with an account of Joseph after he was brought down into Egypt. Following are the last verse of Genesis 37 and the first verses of Genesis 38 and 39,
Gen 37:36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.
Gen 38:1 And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.
Gen 39:1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
Notice here that Genesis 37 ends with Joseph being sold into Egypt. Then Genesis 38 begins by saying "it came to pass at that time". We should be able to see that "at that time" is linked to the time Joseph was sold into Egypt. Thus, this is the time when Judah married Shuah's daughter, a Canaanitess, and began to have children. Note that this is when Joseph was 17 years old, at which time Jacob would have been 108 years old. Now following the account of Judah the account of Joseph picks back up again beginning in Genesis 39:1, exactly where it left off at the end of Genesis 37. Thus it can be seen that Genesis 38 is a brief interlude regarding Judah's marriage and sons, and is listed here because this occurred at the time Joseph was sold into Egypt at 17 years old! Now this has significant import on this issue of whether Judah's grandsons could have been born in Canaan, because as mentioned this would put Judah's marriage at the time Jacob was 108 years old, just 22 years before Jacob would go to Egypt at 130 years old. This means the only way that all of Judah's sons listed in Genesis 46 could be born in Canaan would be if all the events of the timeline shown above could be crammed into just 22 years rather than 39 years. Now the only way this would be possible is if the marriageable age were lowered from 18 years to just 9 1/2 years old, which is obviously quite unreasonable, if not completely impossible. Thus, based on Genesis 38:1, that "it [Judah's marriage to Shuah's daughter] came to pass at that time", the time Joseph was sold into Egypt at 17 years old, we have the final straw that defeats any reasonable doubt that some of the sons listed for Judah in Genesis 46 must have been born in Egypt, not Canaan. And if this be the case for Judah, then there is no legitimate reason to conclude some of the sons listed for Levi could not also have been born in Egypt, especially in light of the study on Exodus 6:16-20.
Appendix A - Counting Jacob's Offspring by Leah
Some might argue that Genesis 46 is a very simple straight forward account of those who accompanied Jacob into Egypt, and we should not seek to make it more complicated than it is by suggesting some of these children were born in Egypt rather than Canaan. However it appears that there is a clue provided in the listing of Leah's sons to provoke closer scrutiny and attention to the listing provided. This clue has to do with a well known "problem" with the total of 33 sons and daughters of verse 15. When the sons and daughters of Jacob by Leah are totaled, we find the following:
> Reuben plus 4 sons
> Simeon plus 6 sons
> Levi plus 3 sons
> Judah plus 5 sons and 2 grandsons
> Issachar plus 4 sons
> Zebulun plus 3 sons
> Dinah
Now these all total to 34, which is obviously one too many. However it should be noted that in verse 12 it is said that two of Judah's sons (Er and Onan) died in Canaan, and thus did not go into Egypt with Jacob. Now if these two are excluded, the total count drops from 34 to 32, which is one too few! It is at this point that theologians and Bible scholars expend a great amount of time and energy trying to figure out how to get the correct count of 33. There have been many ideas put forward to explain this apparent discrepancy, however the main point to recognize is that what some assert to be a simple straight forward listing of names turns out not to be so simple and straight forward when looked at closely. This fact, added to the events of Genesis 38 in regard to Judah's sons and grandsons, should alone be sufficient cause to suspect that this listing may have more to it than appears at first glance.
In closing, one possible resolution of the puzzling count of Leah's children, is to notice that verse 15 above says "... all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty three". The key I think lies in the fact that the Hebrew word for "daughter" is plural, yet of all the names listed only a single daughter was named (Dinah). Yet the sum includes "daughters". For this reason one possible explanation is that there was an unnamed daughter included in the count of 33 souls, a name which may have been purposely left out in order to cause those reading to do a more careful inspection of this passage.
Appendix B - Seventy or Seventy Five
A frequently asked question is why Acts 7:14 says 75 souls came into Egypt with Jacob while Genesis 46:27 and Exodus 1:5 say only 70 souls came into Egypt with Jacob. These verses read as follows:
"Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls." (Acts 7:14)
"And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten." (Genesis 46:27)
"And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already." (Exodus 1:5)
First, notice that Genesis 46:27 speaks of the "house of Jacob". Now we know from Exodus 1:5 that the "house of Jacob" must only include those that came out of Jacob's loins, so the seventy could only include sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, etc from Jacob. But in Acts 7:14 the seventy five are called "kindred". The Greek word used here, G4772, means a "relative". The same word, G4773, is used to refer to a "cousin",
Luk 1:36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
So in Acts 7:14, the seventy five would have included not only the seventy "that came out of the loins of Jacob" (i.e., the "house of Jacob"), but also five relatives, possibly cousins, or more likely second-cousins or other more distant relatives (perhaps descendants of Abraham through Esau or Keturah, or more likely descendants of Abraham's brothers, Nahor or Haran). We know Jacob lived for 40 years with Laban, who was the father of his wives Rachel and Leah, and Laban was the grandson of Nahor (which makes Jacob and Laban third cousin relatives), so we have a very good example of distant relatives living together.
So who might these five relatives have been? One very good possibility is they were the wives of some of Jacob's sons; notice we read in Genesis 46:26,
Gen 46:26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six; Gen 46:27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
Notice in verse 26 that the wives of Jacob's sons were excluded in the numbering of 66 and 70! So these five may very likely have been the wives of some of Jacob's sons, but specifically ones that were relatives. Remember that Isaac's wife Rebekah was a relative (she was the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham's brother, and thus a third cousin once removed of Isaac), and Jacob's wives, Leah and Rachel, were also relatives (they were great granddaughters of Nahor, Abraham's brother, and thus fourth cousins once removed), so it would not be at all surprising to find that some of Jacob's sons also married descendants of Nahor as Isaac and Jacob did, and that these account for the other five souls that accompanied Jacob into Egypt.
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