This page was originally produced 16 May 2017. To navigate up to the passage index, see index-passages.
These are the names of the sons of Israel, who came to Egypt with Jacob, each man with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.
The text above (1:1-4) reproduces the “and”s (_waw_s) of the Hebrew text exactly. Why is the list segmented this way? At the risk of being repetitive, we have here four groups: (1) Reuben-Simeon-Levi-Judah, (2) Issachar-Zebulun-Benjamin, (3) Dan-Naphtali, and (4) Gad-Asher.
Let’s consult the original narrative where Jacob has the children, in Genesis 29-30. Here’s the highlights.
Jacob marries Leah, who has a slave-woman named Zilpah, who later becomes a concubine of Jacob’s. Later, Jacob marries Leah’s younger sister Rachel. Rachel’s female slave Bilhah is similarly used as a concubine.
Leah gives birth to Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, in that order. Then she stops having children. Rachel finds herself unable to have children, and so she uses Bilhah as a surrogate. Bilhah gives birth to Dan and Naphtali. Leah, who is currently not having children, adds Zilpah to the competition, and Zilpah gives birth to Gad and Asher. Leah gets her hands on a primitive fertility treatment, and starts having kids again: Issachar and Zebulun. God intervenes and Rachel gives birth to Joseph. Later, in Genesis 35, Rachel births Benjamin and dies. And that’s all the twelve sons of Israel.
So, chronologically by order of their births, we have: (Leah’s) Reuben-Simeon-Levi-Judah, (Bilhah) Dan-Naphtali, (Zilpah) Gad-Asher, (Leah’s) Issachar-Zebulun, (Rachel) Joseph-Benjamin.
Now, let’s take that list, and reorder it a little. Given that Leah and Rachel are the “real wives,” while Bilhah and Zilpah are mere slaves, let’s move Leah’s Issachar-Zebulun and Rachel’s Joseph-Benjamin forward. And let’s put all of Leah’s children ahead of all of Rachel’s, because Leah is the older and first wife.
Now we have: (Leah’s) Reuben-Simeon-Levi-Judah, (Leah’s) Issachar-Zebulun, (Rachel’s) Joseph-Benjamin, (Bilhah’s) Dan-Naphtali, (Zilpah’s) Gad-Asher.
So, if we take Joseph (out), because he’s already in Egypt before Jacob goes down, our list would read:
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar and Zebulun; Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.
Now, originally Hebrew doesn’t have semicolons or commas, so our list would look like this:
Reuben Simeon Levi and Judah Issachar and Zebulun Benjamin Dan and Naphtali Gad and Asher.
But now we have a problem. Since we’re writing without punctuation, it now looks as if Benjamin is grouped with Dan and Naphtali. But Dan and Naphtali are children of a slave, while Benjamin is the son of a wife. By moving a single “and” we can place Benjamin where he belongs.
Reuben Simeon Levi and Judah Issachar Zebulun and Benjamin Dan and Naphtali Gad and Asher
And that is exactly what we find in the Hebrew text. Adding in modern punctuation, we get the following.
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.
So we can account for exactly why the text groups the children as it does.