ContradictionsReading order 400Bible context 2 min read
How old was Benjamin when his clan migrated to Egypt?
The description of Benjamin as a little one contrasts with a genealogy giving him ten sons, although neither passage states his age.
- Textual conflict
- Weak tension
- The alleged conflict needs substantial assumptions, such as treating an omission as a denial or figurative language as literal.
- Importance
- Minor
- A local detail in a story, chronology, or inventory.
Benjamin's childlike description contrasts with ten sons, but familial terms such as little one and lad do not state a numerical age.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
Benjamin is described as a little child dependent on his father
And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.
Genesis 44:20
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Genesis 44
And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.
Genesis 44:22
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Genesis 44