What I’m about to share in this post may disturb some who hold to a literal understanding of the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy.
“Biblical inerrancy” is the idea that since the Scriptures were inspired by God, every word in the Bible must be completely free from error or untruths.
I think some of us have this idea that Moses just sat down to write the Torah and then when he was finished, that was it!
It is assumed that the original documents Moses composed were the perfect reflection of what God had communicated to him and any apparent differences or discrepancies found afterwards were human mistakes, plain and simple.
This is hogwash and I’m going to prove it right now by pointing out something interesting in the genealogy in Genesis 46.
The family lines we have listed here were added to the text at a later time.
How do I know this?
First, the numbers don’t match up for the time period we’re in.
For example, during this time Joseph was in his early thirties which would have meant Benjamin would have been in his early twenties.
However, take a look at verse 21 which lists the sons of Benjamin.
“The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.”
If this verse is true real time, this means that Benjamin had 10 sons in his twenties!
Uh, I don’t think so.
This verse had to have been added (or amended) at a later date to reflect Benjamin’s changed family situation.
Second, this same genealogy is also in Numbers 26:38-39.
“The descendants of Benjamin by their clans were:
through Bela, the Belaite clan;
through Ashbel, the Ashbelite clan;
through Ahiram, the Ahiramite clan;
through Shupham, the Shuphamite clan;
through Hupham, the Huphamite clan.”
And moving down this list in numbers, we can see that two of the sons in the Genesis 46 list were actually grandsons!
The descendants of Bela through Ard and Naaman were:
through Ard, the Ardite clan;
through Naaman, the Naamite clan.
These were the clans of Benjamin;
those numbered were 45,600.
-Numbers 26:40-41
Look there is no way in hell that Benjamin gave birth to this many kids including grandkids at such a young age unless he started procreating like at the age of three.
So this is an obvious redaction!
If you want even further proof that this was a later redaction, check out verse 27.
“The sons of Joseph, born to him in Egypt, were two in number.
Thus all the people in Jacob’s family who entered Egypt numbered seventy.”
-Genesis 46:27
Joseph’s children who were born and raised in Egypt are included in a list “among those who went down to Egypt”?!
So yes, I do NOT deny that the Bible is indeed God’s inspired Word to mankind.
However, similar to other manmade documents, it has gone through many revisions to arrive at the final product we read and study today.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth,
convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living;”
-2 Timothy 3:16
It should be noted that when the above verse was penned, the New Testament wasn’t even in existence.
The authorship of the the first five books of the Bible has traditionally been attributed to Moses. Even the disciples of Yeshua/Jesus believed this to be true. “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote–Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” John 1:45
So, if the books of Genesis and Numbers were indeed written by Moses, wouldn’t the genealogies have been written after the fact and not in “real time”? If Moses wrote them a couple hundred years after Jacob and his sons moved to Egypt, why would there need for a redaction at all?
If we cannot assume that the “original documents Moses composed were the perfect reflection of what God had communicated to him”, why on earth would we follow the commandments therein? It’s only because there is credibility in Moses’ writings that I know G-d’s will and commandments. I don’t remember Yeshua discrediting any of Moses’ writings but I do remember Him quoting them.
I’m not sure what the point is but I think it’s dangerous to state that the Scriptures have “gone through many revisions”. What evidence do you have to back up this claim? Sure, there are some discrepancies, but overall it seems that the Scriptures have held up over the test of time. This can be demonstrated in part by the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls, etc.
Also in regards to Benjamin’s sons. Would it be impossible for Benjamin to have ten sons at a young age? Is it possible that he may of had multiple wives and/or concubines like his father? Maybe his wife/wives had a set of twins or two? Perhaps Benjamin adopted some of his grandchildren just as Jacob adopted Manasseh and Ephraim? Biblical narratives aren’t necessarily written in chronological order, keeping in tune with the Hebrew mindset. Maybe Benjamin carried them in his loins on the way down to Egypt? How’s that for Hebraic thought?
Hello there and thanx for your comment!
First, I did NOT say the original documents Moses composed were not the perfect reflection of what God had communicated to him.
I said, “It is assumed that the original documents Moses composed were the perfect reflection of what God had communicated to him AND any apparent differences or discrepancies found afterwards were human mistakes, plain and simple.”
The primary thrust of my argument is pointing out the erroneous assumption that “any apparent differences or discrepancies found afterwards were human mistakes, plain and simple.”
When such differences or discrepancies are found in the Scriptures, some folks immediately jump to the conclusion that these are “human errors” when what we are seeing is a redaction instead.
When this same genealogy is repeated in both Numbers 26 and 1 Chronicles, there are substantial variances. This shows that the genealogy portion in Genesis 46 was ADDED to the text at a later date OR significantly revised from the original at a later time.
I don’t agree with your statement about Benjamin. The clearly stated timeframe for this chapter is the departure of Israel to Egypt during the time of the famine. I hold that it is IMPOSSIBLE for Benjamin to have produced so many children (let alone grandchildren coming from his children) at such a young age.
CONCLUSION: This genealogy in Genesis was later reinserted or modified from the original that Moses first wrote. And I’ll be sharing many more examples as I work my way through the Torah.
Thanks for reading.