Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

$RX the “Sister” at Genesis 46: 17
 
One of the seemingly most inexplicable phrases in the entire Bible is the 
brief comment at Genesis 46: 17 after naming Asher’s sons who went to Egypt 
with Jacob:  “Their sister was Serah.”
 
Here is the scholarly analysis of that odd sentence:
 
“Assuming Jacob’s sons sire other daughters, the reason for her inclusion 
in the genealogy is unknown.”  Bruce K. Waltke, “Genesis:  A Commentary” 
(2001), p. 576.
 
Note how that scholarly comment not only admits that scholars don’t know 
why $RX is included in the list of 70 Hebrews who go to Egypt with Jacob in 
chapter 46 of Genesis, but also, very importantly, it misstates what the text 
says.  The text does  n-o-t  say that Asher sired $RX as his daughter.  The 
text does  n-o-t  say that $RX was Asher’s daughter.  Why?  Note that what 
the text says is that $RX was the “sister” of Asher’s sons, and then two 
sons of Asher’s son Beriah are immediately listed.
 
Compare Genesis 11: 31, which does  n-o-t  say that $RY was Terah’s 
daughter, but rather says that $RY was Terah’s “daughter-in-law”, the wife of 
Terah
’s son Abram.  Abram is said to be Terah’s “son”, but $RY is  n-o-t  said 
there to be Terah’s “daughter”.  Now compare Genesis 20: 12, where Abraham 
tells Abimelek that Sarah is Abraham’s “sister”.  %RH is said to be Abraham
’s “sister”, and $RX is said to be Beriah’s “sister”, but at Genesis 11: 
31 $RY is not said to be Terah’s “daughter”, and at Genesis 46: 17 $RX is 
not said to be Asher’s “daughter”.  What’s going on here?
 
Now consider the linguistic point that if $RY and $RX are not west Semitic 
names (and, to the best of my knowledge, those two names are never attested 
outside of the Bible as being west Semitic names), then the heth/X at the 
end of $R-X causes the name $R-X to in effect mean:  “like Sarah” [or “
Sarah-like”].
 
Did $RX come into the Hebrew family under identical circumstances as Sarah? 
 Was $RX “like Sarah”, as the non-west Semitic meaning of her name would 
imply?  Is  t-h-a-t  why $RX is noteworthy enough to be the only female other 
than Jacob’s daughter Dinah to be placed on the list of 70 named Hebrews in 
chapter 46 of Genesis?
 
The key is that $RX is  n-o-t  Asher’s blood daughter [which is why $RX is 
not said to be Asher’s “daughter” at Genesis 46: 17], and that $RY is  
n-o-t  Terah’s blood daughter [which is why $RY is not said to be Terah’s “
daughter” at Genesis 11: 31].  Note that each of $RX and $RY is, rather, said 
to 
be a Hebrew man’s “sister”.
 
If we follow through on the above line of analysis, we on the b-hebrew list 
can be the first people in over 2,000 years to figure out why $RX the “
sister” is listed at Genesis 46: 17 as one of the 70 Hebrews who came to 
Egypt 
with Jacob.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois