VI.   Our Problematic Texts


“And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot [yalad] Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” (Gen 5:32 NKJV)

“Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot [yalad] Abram [Abraham], Nahor, and Haran.” (Gen 11:26 NKJV)

If scholars who attempt to calculate a precise Biblical timeline apply the same interpretation of yalad to Genesis 5:32 and 11:26 as they do in the rest of Genesis 5, 10, and 11 then the only consistent, literal conclusion is that Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth were triplets, as were Abraham, Nahor, and Haran.

Is the Bible suggesting that these patriarchs were triplets?

Should we interpret yalad in Genesis 5:32 and 11:26 differently than in the other passages in which it occurs?


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