Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: George F. Somsel 

  At the risk of sounding like one of those I previously mentioned who will 
attempt at any cost to avoid an embarassing problem with a text, this might 
be explicable.  "The sons of Ephraim:" is a caption to the list which does 
not necessarily say anything as to the time in which Ephraim might have 
lived.  The problem comes in regard to Ephraim's mourning and begetting other 
children though, in this regard, it still says nothing regarding the 
time-frame.   The way in which the Chronicler has written this leaves an 
impression that it is post-conquest due to the structure.  David and his 
progeny are inserted in chapter 3, but it is not necessarily the case that 
the whole is post-conquest.  It would seem that he follows one line for a 
time then moves on to another giving the ultimate residence of the 
descendants.  The question is "When was the death of Ephraim's sons and the 
subsequent birth of his "second family"?  It could have been conceived of as 
taking place before going down into Egypt just as the incident of Judah and 
Tamar in Gen 38 before the descent  into Egypt in Gen 39.  



  Except, George, that Ephraim was born to Joseph in Egypt, and never lived 
in Canaan. So the story "could not" have taken place before the children of 
Israel went down to Egypt.

  Yigal