Jacob's missing descendant
Another interesting genealogical logic puzzle was posted to the rec.puzzles newsgroup. This one is found in the Bible, specifically Genesis chapter 46, and was identified by John Pratt.
Here is the puzzle:
Jacob's extended family at the time he moved to Egypt is listed in the Bible, but some information about one descendant may have been purposely hidden. If there is no mistake in the following summary and interpretation of the Biblical account, what can you logically deduce about the identity of Jacob's missing descendant?
- All seventy living souls of the house of Jacob, including all of his living male and female descendants, were in Egypt when he arrived there with those who accompanied him. (Gen. 46:6, 27).
- Sixty-six of Jacob's descendants came to Egypt with him. This count includes only Jacob's literal offspring; none of his sons' wives is included (Gen. 46:26).
- Except for Joseph and his two sons, who already resided in Egypt (Gen. 46:27), Jacob took with him all of his son(s), his sons' son(s), his daughter(s), his sons' daughter(s) (Gen. 46:7), and all of his great-grandchildren ("little ones," Gen. 46:5).
- These are the names of Jacob's descendants when they had all arrived in Egypt, along with subtotals for each of his four wives (Leah, Zilpah, Rachel, and Bilhah):
- Leah had 33 living descendants. Her sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, and her daughter was Dinah. Reuben's sons were Hanoch, Phallu, Hezron and Carmi. Simeon's sons were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Cannaanitish woman. Levi's sons were Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Judah's sons were Er, Onan, Shelah, Pharez, and Zerah, but Er and Onan had died previously. Pharez' sons were Hezron and Hamul. Issachar's sons were Tola, Phuvah, Job and Shimron. Zebulun's sons were Sered, Elon and Jahleel (Gen. 46:8-15).
- Zilpah had 16 living descendants. Her sons were Gad and Asher. Gad's sons were Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. Asher's sons were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui and Beriah, and Serah was their sister. Beriah's sons were Heber and Malchiel (Gen. 46:16-18).
- Rachel had 14 living descendants. Her sons were Joseph and Benjamin. In Egypt, the sons of Joseph and his wife Asenath, daughter of an Egyptian priest, were Manasseh and Ephraim. Benjamin's sons were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard (Gen. 46:19-22).
- Bilhah had 7 living descendants. Her sons were Dan and Naphtali. Dan's son was Hushim. Naphtali's sons were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem (Gen. 46:23-25).
The answer to the puzzle is revealed in Pratt's article entitled "Jacob's Seventieth Descendant," which also discusses historical reasons the author of Genesis may have had for obscuring this information.
—Michael A. Cleverly
Thursday, February 10, 2005 at 21:20