Rahab of Jericho Jesus' ancestor?

[robycop3]

Elsewhere, I'm having a discussion with someone who insists Rahab of Jericho married Salmon, David's great-grandfather. Given the time frames involved, I believe Salmon's Rahab was a DIFFERENT woman with that name. I am bringing this question to the many wise ole heads here for YOUR opinions.

Here is why I believe it was a different Rahab/Rachab:

First, Rahab of Jericho joined Israel a good while before Joshua's death.

And...Let's remember that Israel didn't fall back into sin on the day a given judge was buried. The time frames between judges will add a few more years to the total.


There was some time after Joshua's death before all that generation of Godly men had died. then, Israel fell into sin. therefore, God delivered them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim, king of Mesopotamia for 8 years. They were delivered by Othneil, Caleb's son-in-law, who judged them for 40 years.


Then, Israel sinned, & was conquered by Moab, under King Eglon, for 18 years. They were delivered by Ehud; the land then had peace for fourscore(80) years. During this 80 years, Shamgar beat the Philistines for Israel, and, we assume, judged Israel awhile.

Then Israel fell into sin & was ruled by the Canaanite Jabin and his field marshal Sisera. But God sent Deborah & Barak to conquer Jabin & to judge Israel for 40 years.

Then, Israel again sinned, & was ruled by the Midianites for 7 years. God caused Gideon to defeat Midian & he then judged for 40 years. Then came his illegitimate son Abimelech, who ruled for 3 years.

Then came Tola for 23 years.

Then came Jair for 22 years.

Then came jephthah for 6 years.

Then came Izban for 7 years.

Then came Elon for 10 years.

Then came Abdon for 8 years.

Then, God allowed the Philistines to rule Israel for 40 years.

Then, Samuel judged for 20 years; then came Saul as king. David was most likely born around the 10th year of Saul's reign.

So, let's do the math, according to the figures from Scripture, without adding in the times between the judges' deaths, Israel's return to sin, and the time it took for their latest conqueror to complete his work, nor the time between Joshua's death & their fall to Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamia- 8 years
Othneil- 40
Eglon- 18
Ehud- 80
Deborah- 40
Midianites- 7
Gideon- 40
Abimelech- 3
Tola- 23
Jair- 22
Jephthah- 6
Izban- 7
Elon- 10
Abdon- 8
Philistines- 40
Samuel- 20

This adds up to at least 372 years between Joshua and Saul, without counting the other time I mentioned above, plus the time between the Rahab/Jericho incident and Joshua's death.


I took all the above figures from the KJV. Please feel freeta go behind me & lookem up for yourselves, and make sure my math is correct.

Given as by the time of Joshua, mens' lifespans were closer tto those of today, there was, IMHO, simply too much time elapsed between the fall of Jericho and the birth of Obed for Rahab of Jericho to have been David's great-grandma.

YOUR thoughts?

 

[ReformedBaptist]

Elsewhere, I'm having a discussion with someone who insists Rahab of Jericho married Salmon, David's great-grandfather. Given the time frames involved, I believe Salmon's Rahab was a DIFFERENT woman with that name. I am bringing this question to the many wise ole heads here for YOUR opinions.

Here is why I believe it was a different Rahab/Rachab:

First, Rahab of Jericho joined Israel a good while before Joshua's death.

And...Let's remember that Israel didn't fall back into sin on the day a given judge was buried. The time frames between judges will add a few more years to the total.


There was some time after Joshua's death before all that generation of Godly men had died. then, Israel fell into sin. therefore, God delivered them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim, king of Mesopotamia for 8 years. They were delivered by Othneil, Caleb's son-in-law, who judged them for 40 years.


Then, Israel sinned, & was conquered by Moab, under King Eglon, for 18 years. They were delivered by Ehud; the land then had peace for fourscore(80) years. During this 80 years, Shamgar beat the Philistines for Israel, and, we assume, judged Israel awhile.

Then Israel fell into sin & was ruled by the Canaanite Jabin and his field marshal Sisera. But God sent Deborah & Barak to conquer Jabin & to judge Israel for 40 years.

Then, Israel again sinned, & was ruled by the Midianites for 7 years. God caused Gideon to defeat Midian & he then judged for 40 years. Then came his illegitimate son Abimelech, who ruled for 3 years.

Then came Tola for 23 years.

Then came Jair for 22 years.

Then came jephthah for 6 years.

Then came Izban for 7 years.

Then came Elon for 10 years.

Then came Abdon for 8 years.

Then, God allowed the Philistines to rule Israel for 40 years.

Then, Samuel judged for 20 years; then came Saul as king. David was most likely born around the 10th year of Saul's reign.

So, let's do the math, according to the figures from Scripture, without adding in the times between the judges' deaths, Israel's return to sin, and the time it took for their latest conqueror to complete his work, nor the time between Joshua's death & their fall to Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamia- 8 years
Othneil- 40
Eglon- 18
Ehud- 80
Deborah- 40
Midianites- 7
Gideon- 40
Abimelech- 3
Tola- 23
Jair- 22
Jephthah- 6
Izban- 7
Elon- 10
Abdon- 8
Philistines- 40
Samuel- 20

This adds up to at least 372 years between Joshua and Saul, without counting the other time I mentioned above, plus the time between the Rahab/Jericho incident and Joshua's death.


I took all the above figures from the KJV. Please feel freeta go behind me & lookem up for yourselves, and make sure my math is correct.

Given as by the time of Joshua, mens' lifespans were closer tto those of today, there was, IMHO, simply too much time elapsed between the fall of Jericho and the birth of Obed for Rahab of Jericho to have been David's great-grandma.

YOUR thoughts?

I may have some time in a few days to look into this. Don't take this the wrong way, but try not to get too hung up with geneologies.

 

[robycop3]

I may have some time in a few days to look into this. Don't take this the wrong way, but try not to get too hung up with geneologies.

I'M not; the other guy is!

 

[North Carolina Tentmaker]

I don't know exactly how these timlines line up without further study but genealogies in the Bible are not necessarily complete. When it says so and so begat so and so they could be a child, grandchild, or even further great grandchild. All Jews are sons and daughters of Abraham. Jesus was called the son of David. There could easily be generations missing. I am not saying there has to be, but there could be.

 

[drfuss]

I realize this is resurrecting an old post; but I am teaching on the Books of Judges and Ruth this quarter and I also had questions about this timeline.

As indicated in the OP, the time from the fall of Jericho to David was about 350 years if you add the numbers in the Books of Joshua and Judges consecutively. This leads to each generation having to be about 80 to 100 years which is not probable.

We know that Boaz was an old man when Obed was born; and that Jesse also was an old man when David was born (David was the youngest of Jesse's family). If each of the men were about 70 years old when the next in line was born, I can come up with about 225 years from Rahab to David.

This still leaves a difference of 125 years between the longest geneology and the consecutive numbers in the Books of Joshua and Judges. I think these differences can be accounted for by not adding the numbers consecutively in the Book of Judges.

During the Judges, Israel was divided into the 12 different tribal areas. In many cases, when the Book of Judges says Israel was conquered and ruled by a specific nation, it may mean that only a part of Israel was ruled by that nation. In the same way, when a Judge ruled Israel after a deliverance, it could mean that a part of Israel was ruled by that Judge. In a number of cases, Judges list specific tribes being involved in the actions. For instance, Gideon battled the Midianites to the east; Samson dealt with the Philistines on the west. These two examples were not at the same time, but there could have been number of other actions that were separated and overlapped in time, thereby reducing the 350 years to around only 200 years.

But the Book of Judges says that a nation ruled Israel or a Deliverer judged Israel for a specific number of years. Each instance could only have included a part of Israel. The same type of description occurs when Ahab was king of Israel stating that Israel worshipped Baal. However, God told Elijah that there were still 7000 men that did not worship Baal, yet it said Israel worshipped Baal.

So I think that there is not a problem with the numbers of years if the years in the Book of Judges are not added consecutively.

What do you think?

Am I off base on this?