Devotional
Short Note to Genesis 39 My
teacher dr. Jacques Doukhan, very delighted teacher full of joy and happiness,
wrote recently a new SDA commentary on Genesis amplifying the SDA BCE Volume 1.
The approach is different and scholars have written to me about it and
expressed their views. Horn and Thiele of the Old School in the seminary of the
1950’s is not Doukhan of 2016 until present. Scholars write with the mixture of
where they came from as well as their petty subjects their favorite musings.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit has to “hit straight with a bended stick” [to use the
words of the great teacher from Andrews Seminary, dr. Hans La Rondelle]. I was
editing dr. La Rondelle’s last book during which he died and his son passed on
the manuscripts to dr. Jon Paulien of Loma Linda for editing and publishing. But
today, we are in the life of Joseph and because Doukhan said nothing about
chronology as I do here, I gladly throw in my fishing lines with these great
scholars from my own perspective and consistency in chronology. Do not
say: “I will run to non-Adventists and see what they said about biblical
chronology and then come back and superimpose their ideas on the biblical view
and then be able to effectively “set Horn and Thiele straight”. No. Put
yourself within the SDA Bible Commentary Chronology situation and from there do
your studies or investigations or alterations and keep coming back. They saw
something that you may miss. I have not seen one outside scholar on chronology
that come close to the reality of the biblical text [Masoretic text, which is a
word for the Hebrew Old Testament very faithfully copied with 99.9% accuracy
when you compare Daniel of Codex Aleppo in 1008 CE with 4QDana from cave four
at Qumran]. More than a millennium of absolute identical copying accuracy!
There is not a translation [Greek Septuagint; Latin Old Latin and Vulgate
translations; Syriac; Coptic; Armenian; Ethiopic; Arabic] that has this high
percentage of accuracy that the Masoretic text of the 11th century of our time
has. You have to say with me: God wrote His Word and see to it that it was
copied absolutely like a machine: painfully accurate. Adventist
on chronology may sometimes be “little wrong” but non-Adventist is “macro
wrong”. In attitude the Adventists care about the matter but non-Adventists do
not care. They do not want to be a literalist or fundamental Biblicist, to use
James Barr’s pessimistic words. Start and work with men of the Book and
scholars of the Book like the SDA Bible Dictionary or Commentaries. See how
they get to their dates and cross-check it in all ways. The
narrative history of Joseph is well known to all children of long-time
Adventists and readers of the Arthur Bible Stories in the Blue book hardcopy
colorful series. But what is to follow here is the attempt to line Joseph up
biblically in correct chronology and then to search around for a line-up with
the pharaohs of Egypt. Even more: to then go into Egyptian Literature of the
12th dynasty to see if on those stelae, papyri, wall inscriptions anything is
related to some of the historical data that we find cited by Moses in Midian in
1460 BCE when he composed Genesis. Chapter 39 is no exception so here follows
the chronology of Joseph: Masoretic
text tradition calculation of the chronology “From
the Exodus to the last year of Joseph was 430 years and that long Distanzangabe
comes from Galatians 3:17 which many scholars have interpreted to be Abraham,
but it is actually Joseph. Since the law was given in 1448 BCE that date would
be 1878 BCE as the death year of Joseph. Another Distanzangabe says that the time
of enslavement in Egypt was 400 years long so if the Exodus was in 1450 BCE,
then the enslavement started about 28 years after the death of Joseph in 1850
BCE. Genesis 50:22 said that Joseph became 110 years old. He was born in 1988
BCE. When Joseph was 30, he became prime minister (1958 BCE Genesis 41:46). The
seven good years were until 1951 BCE. In 1950 BCE Jacob came to Egypt and told
the Pharaoh that he is 130 years old. Jacob was thus born in 2080 BCE (Genesis
47:9).” Koot
van Wyk, (2017). “Reconsidering Cuneiform and biblical Distanzangaben or “Long
Period” references.” International Journal of Research in Social Sciences and
Humanities Vol. No. 7, Issue No. I, Jan-Mar, pp. 114-140, especially 118. Joseph
was born in 1988 BCE and when he was 17 in 1971 BCE he was sold to the house of
Potiphar. He landed in jail seemingly at the age of 27 in 1961/1960 BCE and he
was remembered by the butler at the age of 30 in 1959/1958 BCE. The seven good
years started and the drought in 1951-1950 BCE. Jacob came two years later into
the drought period in 1950-1949 BCE. The drought lasted until 1944 BCE. Egyptian
chronology according to Von Beckerath 1995 (Old and New reckoning) This
period of prosperity followed by famine was during the time of Sesostris I (Old
reckoning 1971-1928 / new reckoning 1957-1911 BCE). Jürgen
von Beckerath (1995). “Nochmals zur Chronologie der XII. Dynastie .” Orientalia
64 n/s 4, pages 445-449. Von Beckerath indicated that one should question
whether the calculation of the reign is done by scribes indicating the
co-regency years together with the sole years reigning even when two pharaohs
succeeding each other are mentioned. Co-regency numbers will then appear twice.
Such an inscription in the Leiden Stele V 5 published by P. A. A. Boeser,
Beschreibung der Aegypt. Sammlung des Nederländ. Reichmeuseums Leiden I (Hague,
3 text IV). It indicates that Sesostris year 44 = Amenemes II year 2. Then
there is one more example, the Kairo Stele CG 20516 published by H. O. Lange –
H. Schäfer, (1908). Grab- und Denksteine des Mittleren Reiches II. Pages
108-11, text XXXV. Downloaded from
https://ia601408.us.archive.org/2/items/grabunddenkstein02lang/grabunddenkstein02lang.pdf
Amenemes I year 30 = Sesostris I year 10. In the Old reckoning Amenemhet I
ruled from 1991-1962 BCE and in the New reckoning from 1977-1947 BCE. In the
beginning and the end of Sesostris I reign there were overlapping father and
son reigns in co-regency it seems. A word
about Egyptian chronology They
Egyptians had 360 days in their calendar plus 5 epagomenal added days. Their
year was a “wandering year” in that it slipped every year with that fraction
not counted. The seasons thus shifted and they had to use the sothis cycle or
observation of the Sothis star to bring their seasons and months in line again.
We are using the Julian calendar and our beginning of the year is not theirs.
Therefore their year will hang between two Julian years of our counting system.
Joseph became president of Egypt in 1959/1958 BCE when he was 30 years old. Father
at the age of 30 problem and solution in Genesis 45:8 The
old reckoning makes us understand Genesis better since Joseph was saying that
he was like a father to the Pharaoh Sesostris I in his 14th year who’s
father died four years before in 1962, the year Amenemhet I died in his 30th
year of reign and Sesostris I’s 10th year of co-ruler with his
father according to an inscription. As a
result of the honor that Sesotris I did to Joseph for interpreting the dream in
1959/58 BCE, Joseph was to Sesostris I “like a father” in Sesostris’ 14th
year even though he [Joseph] was still young or 30 years old. Genesis 45:8 “And
He [God] made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house”. The
closeness of Joseph [born in 1988 BCE = died 110 years old in 1878 BCE which is
430 years in Galatians 3:17-19 with the law given in 1448 BCE] to the young
Sesostris I is said here in 1959/1958 BCE. Sesostris
year 1 = Year 21 of Amenemhet I
1971 Joseph sold to
Potiphar Year 2
= Year 22 of Amenemhet I 1970 Year 3
= Year 23 of Amenemhet I
1969 Year 4
= Year 24 of Amenemhet I
1968 Year 5
= Year 25 of Amenemhet I
1967 Year 6
= Year 26 of Amenemhet I
1966 Year 7
= Year 27 of Amenemhet I
1965 Year 8
= Year 28 of Amenemhet I
1964 Year 9
= Year 29 of Amenemhet I 1963 Year
10 [Kairo Stele date] = Year 30 of Amenemhet I 1962
Year
11= 1962/1961 Year
12 = 1961/1960 Joseph to
jail [two years before the dream in Gen 41:1] Year
13 = 1960/1959 Year
14 = 1959/1958 Joseph 30,
president and 1st year of prosperity Year
15 = 19581957 2nd
year of prosperity Year
16 = 1957/1956 3rd
year of prosperity Year
17 = 1956/1955 4th
year of prosperity Year
18 = 1955/1954 5th
year of prosperity Year
19 = 1953/1953 6th
year of prosperity Year
20 = 1952/1951 7th
year of prosperity Year
21 = 1951/1950 1st
year of famine Year
22 = 1950/1949 2nd year of famine [Jacob moved to
Egypt 130 years old in Gen 45] Year
23 = 1949/1948 3rd year of famine Year
24 = 1948/1947 4th year of famine Year
25 = 1947/1946 5th year of famine Year
26= 1946/1945 6th year of famine Year
27= 19451944 7th year of famine Year
28= 1944/1943
Year
29= 1943/1942 Year
30= 1942/1941 Year
31= 1941/1940 Year
32= 1940/1939 Year
33= 1939/1938 Year
34= 1938/1937 Year
35= 1937/1936
The
synchronization of biblical chronology and the old reckoning of Egyptian
chronology by Von Beckerath indicated that Joseph was placed in jail in the
year 12th of Sesostris I. According to the old reckoning, Joseph
became prime minister in the 14th year of Sesostris I in 1959/1958 BCE.
Amenemhet I, the father of Sesostris I died the year before at his own 30th
year and Sesotris I’s 10th year. Was Sesostris I a child king who was
not old in 1959/1958 in his 14th year of reign that Joseph said he was made
like a lord over the house of the king and also that he was “like a father to
the pharaoh”? Dear
God Lead
us Great Yahweh to Your throne in the Heavenly Sanctuary for there our souls
find peace and sabbatical rest in Christ’s atoning love for us. God bless us
all. In Jesus Name. Amen.