Biblical Hebrew Forum

[lmbarre AT earthlink.net]

As Jacob was not originally a part of the Abrahamic line, we must remove him 
from our 
relative chronology and date him independently.  One of the El Amarna letters 
(286) states 
that Lab'aya had given up Shechem.  The ones that received it may well be the 
Hivites=Horites=Hurrians to whom Hamor belonged since the unusual name of 
Shechem that 
he named his son may reflect his pride in becoming the ruler of this 
prestigious city.   With 
regard to the fate of Shechem, the Lab'aya--Hamor--Jacob sequence allows us 
to relatively 
date Jacob's migration from Aram to this generation as a contemporary of 
Lab'aya (before he 
was killed by the people of Gina) and of Hamor.  Therefore Jacob's migration 
from Aram 
and his presence in northern Palestine may be synchronized with Hamor's 
seizure of Shechem 
from Lab'aya in the Amarna era when Ahkenaton was ruling from El Amarna.  A 
destruction 
level at Shechem coinciding with this time as well as the fact that Shechem 
was in the 
possession of Israel prior to Joshua supports this thesis.

A dating of Abram that in fact confirms the dating of Jacob begins with the 
observation that 
the Egyptians, who controlled Palestine during the reigns of Amenhotep III 
and Ahkenaton 
do not figure into the conquest traditions of Joshua.  As to when Egypt lost 
control of 
Palestine, we have good reason to suspect that it was during the reign of 
Rameses II and as a 
result of his famous battle of Kadesh with the Hittites in c. 1882 BCE.  That 
Rameses' 
resources were taxed in demonstrated by the fact that there was no victor in 
the battle.  
Instead, a treaty was sign to end the hostilities.  In fact, we may logically 
deduce that the 
political reorganization of Canaan began that very year.

Now in Gen 15:12-16 we read:

Now as the sun was setting Abram fell into a deep sleep, and terror seized 
him.  The Yahweh 
said to Abram, 'Know for certain, that your descendants will be exiles in a 
land not their own, 
where they will be slaves and oppressed for four hundred years.  But I will 
pass judgement 
also on the nation that enslaves them and after that they will leave, with 
many possessions.  
For your part, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at 
a ripe old age.  
After the fourth generation they will come back here, for the wicked of the 
Amorites is not 
yet ended.


Although often taken as historically sound, the predication of 400 years of 
exile is clearly a 
symbolic number based upon a multiple 40 (40x10).  Further, not only does it 
seem 
exaggerated but it also clashes with a second chronology given in the text, 
that of four 
generations from the life of Abram until the return to the land.  Indeed, 
since tradition almost 
always exaggerates, one may on that basis suspect that the mention of the 
four hundred years 
is a gloss and may be removed without disturbing the sense of the passage.  
That being so, 
we may calculate backwards four forty year generations from Rameses' battle 
with the 
Hittites in c. 1280,  dating Abram to c. 1440.   This then would date Isaac 
to 1400 and 
Jacob to 1360 which we had arrived at above on independent considerations.  
So while  the 
historical Jacob was not a member of Abram's family line, he is nevertheless 
correctly dated 
and is in fact a contemporary of Joseph.  Accordingly, the following 
chronology emerges:

Abram (c.1440)

Isaac (c. 1400)

Joseph, Hamor, Jacob and Ahkenaton (c. 1360) 

Moses (c. 1320)

Rameses II begins his reign (c. 1301)

"Wanderings" (c. 1301-1280)

Joshua (c. 1280)



L.M. Barrre, Ph.D.
Hebrew Bible
Angelfire.com/ca2/AncientIsrael