Was Amram Moses and Aaron's father or distant ancestor? Ex 6:20 vs. Num 3:17-19, 27-28

[pgwolv]

I recently finished The Genesis Flood by John C. Whitcomb and Henry M. Morris, which was helpful in undoing some of the bias with which I had been educated while studying Genetics.

In Appendix II, titled "Genesis 11 and the Date of the Flood," the authors argue that Genesis 11 need not be interpreted as a strict chronology. One of the lines of argument is as follows:

(8) The Term “Begat” Sometimes Refers to Ancestral Relationships

Such terms as “begat” and “the son of,” which in English imply a father-son relationship, sometimes have a much wider connotation in the Bible. In Mat 1:8, we read that “Joram begat Uzziah,” but three generations are omitted. In 1Ch 26:24, we are told that “Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was ruler over the treasures” in the days of David. Here we have 400 years of generations skipped over between Shebuel and Gershom. But the most interesting case of all, in our opinion, is to be found in Exo 6:20. Here we read that “Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty and seven years.” Now anyone reading this statement as it stands by itself would be forced to conclude that Aaron and Moses were the actual sons of Amram and Jochebed; for the text clearly states that “she bare him Aaron and Moses,” and immediately following this we are given the number of the years that Amram lived, in a manner strikingly similar to that of the genealogy of Genesis 5. So it is with profound amazement that we turn to Num 3:17-19, Num 3:27-28, and discover that in the days of Moses, “the family of the Amramites,” together with the families of Amram’s three brothers (Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel), numbered 8,600! Unless we are willing to grant that the first cousins of Moses and Aaron had over 8,500 living male offspring, we must admit that Amram was an ancestor of Moses and Aaron, separated from them by a span of 300 years! In the light of this, it is significant that the names of the actual parents of Moses and Aaron are not recorded in the narrative of Exo 2:1-10.

My questions are:

1. Has someone else argued for this gap between Amram and Moses, or is it unique to the authors?
2. Is it exegetically possible to interpret Exo 6:20 in such a way?

 

[Phil D.]

Keil and Delitzsch propose that Amram in Ex. 6:18 and 6:20 are not the same person.

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron. - "These are their (Moses' and Aaron's) father's-houses." בּית־אבות father's-houses (not fathers' house) is a composite noun, so formed that the two words not only denote one idea, but are treated grammatically as one word, like בּית־עצבּים idol-houses (1 Samuel 31:9), and בּית־בּמות high-place-houses (cf. Ges. 108, 3; Ewald, 270c). Father's house was a technical term applied to a collection of families, called by the name of a common ancestor. The father's-houses were the larger divisions into which the families (mishpachoth), the largest subdivisions of the tribes of Israel, were grouped. To show clearly the genealogical position of Levi, the tribe-father of Moses and Aaron, among the sons of Jacob, the genealogy commences with Reuben, the first-born of Jacob, and gives the names of such of his sons and those of Simeon as were the founders of families (Genesis 46:9-10). Then follows Levi; and not only are the names of his three sons given, but the length of his life is mentioned (Exodus 6:16), also that of his son Kohath and his descendant Amram, because they were the tribe-fathers of Moses and Aaron. But the Amram mentioned in Exodus 6:20 as the father of Moses, cannot be the same person as the Amram who was the son of Kohath (Exodus 6:18), but must be a later descendant. For, however the sameness of names may seem to favour the identity of the persons, if we simply look at the genealogy before us, a comparison of this passage with Numbers 3:27-28 will show the impossibility of such an assumption. "According to Numbers 3:27-28, the Kohathites were divided (in Moses' time) into the four branches, Amramites, Izharites, Hebronites, and Uzzielites, who consisted together of 8600 men and boys (women and girls not being included). Of these, about a fourth, or 2150 men, would belong to the Amramites. Now, according to Exodus 18:3-4, Moses himself had only two sons. Consequently, if Amram the son of Kohath, and tribe-father of the Amramites, was the same person as Amram the father of Moses, Moses must have had 2147 brothers and brothers' sons (the brothers' daughters, the sisters, and their daughters, not being reckoned at all). But as this is absolutely impossible, it must be granted that Amram the son of Kohath was not the father of Moses, and that an indefinitely long list of generations has been omitted between the former and his descendant of the same name" (Tiele, Chr. des A. T. p. 36).​

(Note: The objections of M. Baumgarten to these correct remarks have been conclusively met by Kurtz (Hist. of O. C. vol. ii. p. 144). We find a similar case in the genealogy of Ezra in Ezra 7:3, which passes over from Azariah the son of Meraioth to Azariah the son of Johanan, and omits five links between the two, as we may see from 1 Chronicles 6:7-11. In the same way the genealogy before us skips over from Amram the son of Kohath to Amram the father of Moses without mentioning the generations between.)​

​

The ISBE proposes a gap in generations

​

Amram amʹram [Heb. ‘amrām—‘people exalted’].​

Father of Aaron, Moses, and Miriam (Ex. 6:20; Nu. 26:59; 1 Ch. 6:3; 23:13); and a son of Kohath the son of Levi (Ex. 6:18; Nu. 3:19; etc.). Perhaps he was not literally the son of Kohath, but rather his descendant, since there were ten generations from Joseph to Joshua (1 Ch. 7:20–27), while only four are actually mentioned from Levi to Moses for the corresponding period. Moreover, the Kohathites at the time of the Exodus numbered 8600 (Num. 3:28), which would have been an impossibility if only two generations had lived. It seems best to regard Amram as a descendant of Kohath, and his wife Jochebed as a “daughter of Levi” in a general sense.​

Geoffrey W. Bromiley, ed., “Amram,” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 118.​

 

[pgwolv]

Keil and Delitzsch propose that Amram in Ex. 6:18 and 6:20 are not the same person.

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron. - "These are their (Moses' and Aaron's) father's-houses." בּית־אבות father's-houses (not fathers' house) is a composite noun, so formed that the two words not only denote one idea, but are treated grammatically as one word, like בּית־עצבּים idol-houses (1 Samuel 31:9), and בּית־בּמות high-place-houses (cf. Ges. 108, 3; Ewald, 270c). Father's house was a technical term applied to a collection of families, called by the name of a common ancestor. The father's-houses were the larger divisions into which the families (mishpachoth), the largest subdivisions of the tribes of Israel, were grouped. To show clearly the genealogical position of Levi, the tribe-father of Moses and Aaron, among the sons of Jacob, the genealogy commences with Reuben, the first-born of Jacob, and gives the names of such of his sons and those of Simeon as were the founders of families (Genesis 46:9-10). Then follows Levi; and not only are the names of his three sons given, but the length of his life is mentioned (Exodus 6:16), also that of his son Kohath and his descendant Amram, because they were the tribe-fathers of Moses and Aaron. But the Amram mentioned in Exodus 6:20 as the father of Moses, cannot be the same person as the Amram who was the son of Kohath (Exodus 6:18), but must be a later descendant. For, however the sameness of names may seem to favour the identity of the persons, if we simply look at the genealogy before us, a comparison of this passage with Numbers 3:27-28 will show the impossibility of such an assumption. "According to Numbers 3:27-28, the Kohathites were divided (in Moses' time) into the four branches, Amramites, Izharites, Hebronites, and Uzzielites, who consisted together of 8600 men and boys (women and girls not being included). Of these, about a fourth, or 2150 men, would belong to the Amramites. Now, according to Exodus 18:3-4, Moses himself had only two sons. Consequently, if Amram the son of Kohath, and tribe-father of the Amramites, was the same person as Amram the father of Moses, Moses must have had 2147 brothers and brothers' sons (the brothers' daughters, the sisters, and their daughters, not being reckoned at all). But as this is absolutely impossible, it must be granted that Amram the son of Kohath was not the father of Moses, and that an indefinitely long list of generations has been omitted between the former and his descendant of the same name" (Tiele, Chr. des A. T. p. 36).​

(Note: The objections of M. Baumgarten to these correct remarks have been conclusively met by Kurtz (Hist. of O. C. vol. ii. p. 144). We find a similar case in the genealogy of Ezra in Ezra 7:3, which passes over from Azariah the son of Meraioth to Azariah the son of Johanan, and omits five links between the two, as we may see from 1 Chronicles 6:7-11. In the same way the genealogy before us skips over from Amram the son of Kohath to Amram the father of Moses without mentioning the generations between.)​

​

The ISBE proposes a gap in generations

​

Amram amʹram [Heb. ‘amrām—‘people exalted’].​

Father of Aaron, Moses, and Miriam (Ex. 6:20; Nu. 26:59; 1 Ch. 6:3; 23:13); and a son of Kohath the son of Levi (Ex. 6:18; Nu. 3:19; etc.). Perhaps he was not literally the son of Kohath, but rather his descendant, since there were ten generations from Joseph to Joshua (1 Ch. 7:20–27), while only four are actually mentioned from Levi to Moses for the corresponding period. Moreover, the Kohathites at the time of the Exodus numbered 8600 (Num. 3:28), which would have been an impossibility if only two generations had lived. It seems best to regard Amram as a descendant of Kohath, and his wife Jochebed as a “daughter of Levi” in a general sense.​

Geoffrey W. Bromiley, ed., “Amram,” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 118.​

Thank you, that is helpful.