Another area that often leads to confusion when attempting to determine the Biblical calendar is the assumption that Amram and Jochebed were the immediate parents of Aaron, Moses and Miriam. The following two verses are often used as proof of this idea:
Numbers 26:59 And the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister.
Exodus 6:20 And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.
The words underlined in the verses above that are translated "bare" is the Hebrew word "yalad", which was shown in the "yalad" Hebrew word study to mean "to produce". It was further shown that this word cannot be relied upon as proof of a direct father-son or father-daughter relationship. Thus, the only point that can be confidently made concerning the two verses above is that Aaron, Moses and Miriam were descendants of Amram and Jochebed. The question of whether Moses, Aaron and Miriam were immediate descendants (i.e., children) or distant descendants of Amram and Jochebed must be determined from other verses in the Bible.
Jochebed: Levi's daughter and Amram's wife
Another proof that "bare" in Numbers 26:59 cannot indicate an immediate father-son or father-daughter relationship is found by considering that this verse states Jochebed was a daughter of Levi. Now if Jochebed was Levi's immediate daughter, than she would have been born sometime during Levi's lifetime. Further, since Aaron and Moses were born 83 and 80 years prior to the Exodus, respectively (Exodus 7:7), we can create the following timeline of events under this scenario:
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Sojourn Timeline (years relative to Jacob entering Egypt)
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Year 0 - Jacob and Levi came to Egypt
Year ~90 - Year Levi died (latest possible year Jochebed was born to Levi)
:
:
:
:
Year 347 - Aaron born (83 years before Exodus), i.e., Jochebed "bare" Aaron
Year 350 - Moses born (80 years before Exodus), i.e., Jochebed "bare" Moses
Year 430 - Exodus
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Since Jochebed was Levi's daughter and Levi lived at most 90 years in Egypt, and since we know the sojourn of Israel in Egypt was exactly 430 years, and since we know how long prior to the Exodus Aaron and Moses were born, it can be easily seen that Jochebed's age when Aaron was born must have been at least 257 years old (347-90), and 260 years old when Moses was born (350-90). But such an old age for Jochebed to have children is obviously incorrect, especially when one considers that Abraham and Sarah were in complete disbelief when God first told them they would have a child at 100 and 90 years old, respectively (Genesis 17:17, 18:12). So again, Numbers 26:59 is certainly no proof that Aaron and Moses were the immediate sons of Amram and Jochebed. Reference the study on Exodus 6:16-20 for more information on this.
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