Figuring out how numbers work in the Bible is tricky, even when things seem like they ought to be fairly straightforward. I'm hoping that when I get to Numbers, some of them start to make more sense, but I've got a feeling that that's not the way it's going to pan out...
When I come to tallies like the one that basically kicks off chapter 46, I always feel like I'm missing some vital puzzle pieces, and that if I had a better grasp on the culture of the time that it'd all come together and make sense.
Why, for instance, in verse 26, does it say that "All the persons belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob's sons, were sixty-six persons in all," when in the second half of verse 27 it says "all the persons of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy"? There are names of already-dead people in the list that we're given, who are acknowledged as such, but still apparently included in the tally, and Joseph's sons are named, although they clearly didn't arrive in Egypt with Jacob's household.
It's too simple (I think) to just say "it doesn't matter," but I think another thing that matters with this is just to demonstrate how prolific the line of Abraham has already become, even just taking into account this one, admittedly special, branch. Also, this is a big freakin' deal that he's coming with all these people, plus all the other "incidentals" (you know, like... women... and stuff) that accompany such a large family of fathers and sons.
It's no wonder that in this passage the Israel/Jacob confusion really gets ramped up to 11.
Also, as it turns out, Joseph is the guy who invented income tax, and that seems to be a pretty significant factor in how his family (IE the proto-nation of Israel) really gets going as a burgeoning civilization. Hard to argue that God hates taxes (I'm looking at you, Tea Party), particularly when they're a means to saving lives.
No, I'm not getting into it right now.
Anyway, so Jacob and his entourage move to Egypt. Cool.
An interesting thing happens when he gets summoned to meet Pharaoh.
7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh ; and Jacob blessedPharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many years have you lived ?" 9 So Jacob said toPharaoh, "The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty ; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of theirsojourning." 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from his presence.Jacob blessed Pharaoh... Turns out, the Hebrew word here can also mean "kneel," which makes perfect sense for a visiting refugee to do as a response to getting a summons to appear before one of the most powerful men in the world, and the only reason that you and your family have food to eat in a time of severe famine.
Strange how it gets translated as "bless" though - at least in the NASB... (and the NIV, and the King James, and the Good News...) I can't even really speculate on why this would be. Once again, the more you learn, the more you learn you still have to...
The other thing I like is the way Jacob responds to Pharaoh's questioning about his age.
"The years of my sojourning..." If C.S. Lewis were a man who would be apt to giggle, I'd imagine that he might've done that when reading this response.
Life as a sojourn, a journey, an adventure in a foreign land. Lewis' "shadowlands" notion leaps out at anyone who's finished Narnia, though fans of N. T. Wright are twitching a little, I'd wager. Either way, I like the metaphor.
Jacob still can't help but come across as a bit... entitled... though, can he? "Few and unpleasant have been the years of my life"? 'I still haven't lived as long as my fathers did'?
He's still got another 17 years in him, too... Next thing you know he's going to be offering Pharaoh a bowl of soup for half of his kingdom...
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