Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

George:

It means a lot to me that you see my theory of the ages of the Patriarchs
as being possible.  Thank you so very, very much for being open-minded.  Now
let me see if I can convince you that my theory is plausible.

Jacob is stated age 130 “years” when he arrives in Egypt (Genesis 47: 9),
being a spry old man at age 65 regular years.  130/2 = 65.  Joseph had been
stated age 30 “years” (Genesis 41: 46), being age 15 regular years, when
Joseph had predicted to Pharaoh that beginning next year (not this year),
there would be 7 regular years of feast, then 7 regular years of famine.
Genesis 41: 26;  29-30  (Periods of years in Egypt are set forth in 12-month,
regular years, unlike people’s ages.)  When Jacob arrives in Egypt, 10 regular
years have now passed by since Joseph’s prediction:  1 regular year until the
feast years began, plus 7 regular years of feast, plus 2 regular years so
far of famine.  1 + 7 + 2 = 10.  (There are 5 more regular years of famine to
come at this point.  Genesis 45: 6, 11)  So Joseph is now age 25 regular
years.  15 + 10 = 25.  At age 25 regular years, Joseph is 40 regular years
younger than his father Jacob, who is age 65 regular years when he arrives in
Egypt after 2 years of the devastating worldwide famine.

Going back in time now, taking Abraham’s birth as being the beginning of
regular Year 1, Isaac was born in regular Year 50 (when Abraham is stated age
100 “years”).  Per Genesis 25: 26, Jacob is born when Isaac is stated age
60 “years”, which is age 30 regular years.  So Jacob is born in regular Year
80, when Abraham is age 80 regular years.  50 + 30 = 80.  As noted above,
Joseph is born when Jacob is age 40 regular years, meaning that Joseph is
born in regular Year 120.  80 + 40 = 120.

Genesis 50: 22, 26 tell us twice that Joseph dies at age 110 “years”,
which is age 55 regular years.  110/2 = 55.  Since Joseph was born in regular
Year 120, that means that the Patriarchal narratives end with Joseph’s death
in regular Year 175.  120 + 55 = 175.

As you know, Abraham is portrayed as dying at stated age 175 “years”
(Genesis 25: 7), which is age 87½ regular years.  The math is perfect.  
Abraham
dies at  e-x-a-c-t-l-y  the halfway point of the internal timeline of the
Patriarchal narratives!  Abraham dies at age 175 “years”, in 6-month “years”,
and the Patriarchal narratives end when Joseph dies in regular Year 175,
being 175 regular, 12-month years after Abraham’s birth.  The math is perfect!

George, I hope the foregoing may cause you to view my theory of the
Patriarchs’ ages as being not only possible, but also plausible.  The math 
works
perfectly.

The “proof” of my theory is that all 40 ages and periods of years in the
Patriarchal narratives work perfectly on my theory of the case.  Not a single
age or period of years fails to fit perfectly.  No one is too old, and the
entire internal timeline of the Patriarchal narratives is consistent to a
fault.  There is not a single “mistake” in any of the 40 numbers in the
Patriarchal narratives that are either ages or periods of years.

If my theory of the case were wrong, it is not “plausible” that all 40 of
these 40 numbers would work so perfectly.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

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