Are There Triplets In the Bible?
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article That's a good question.
Two verses suggest this might be the
case.
In Genesis 5:32 we read that Noah lived
500 years and begat Shem, Ham and Japheth. Then again we read
in Genesis 11:26 that Terah lived 70 years and begat Abram (Abraham)
, Nahor and Haran. We might want to assume that this just
means
they were born after Noah turned 500 or Terah turned 70. But
in
every other case the verse reads like this: And "the father"
lived "x" years and begat "the eldest son" and after "the
father"
begat the "eldest son" he lived "y" years and begat sons and daughters.
So it is unusual to list three sons by name and not just
one. Could this be because they were triplets and the first
to be
born is known as the eldest? Or might there be another reason?
We
get a clue from Noah's sons. Here's what else we learn from
Genesis. Shem begat Arpachshad when he was 100
and Arpachshad
was born two years after the
flood
(Genesis 11:10). We know that Noah was 600 years old at the
start
of the flood (Genesis 7:6). So what do we get from this?
If
Shem was born when Noah was 500 he would have been been 100 the year of
the flood but he isn't 100 until two years later when Arpachshad is
born That means Shem was born when Noah was 502.
This
tells us, at least in the case of Noah's sons, that they aren't
triplets. There must be another reason for listing the names
of
certain sons. Generally the sons are listed to establish the
lineage of the prophets. The only time the names of other
sons
(or daughters) are listed by name is because they have a major role to
play in Biblical lineage and the family of man. We know for
sure
that applies to Noah and his three sons since all the nations of the
world are descended from those three.
Does that same reasoning
apply to the sons of Terah? What about Nahor? His
lineage
is very important. Nahor is the grandfather of Rebecca, the
wife
of Isaac. And of course Haran and his descendants are also
key
members of Abraham and his family.
Nahor married his
niece Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran and the sister of his
nephew Lot. Nahor lived in the land of his birth on the east
of
the river Euphrates at Haran. He was the father of Bethuel and
grandfather of Laban and Rebecca; Rebecca became the wife of Isaac son
of Abraham. Nahor's great-granddaughters through Laban, Rebecca's
nieces Rachel and Leah, became the wives of Jacob son of Isaac.
In
addition the birth of triplets is remarkable even in this day and age.
The Bible states unequivocally that Jacob and Esau were
twins.
It seems odd that it isn't explicitly stated that the sons of
Terah were triplets, if they were, since it would have been a truly
unusual event.
In addition other scripture verses suggest Terah was at least 130 when
Abraham was born.
Were there triplets in the Bible? We know
Noah's sons weren't. Most likely Terah's sons were not either.
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