Kinship Relationships Among the Early Hebrews

Abstract

It would appear that the stories of the patriarchs fit authentically into the period of the second millenium B.C. rather than into that of any later period, so far as the evidence can inform us 1). More particularly, the narratives in Genesis chapters 12 to 50 reflect a period between the twentieth and the sixteenth centuries, though some scholars would place the patriarchal age considerably later (Cf. G. H. Gordan, Introduction to Old Testamzent Times (pp. 75, I02 ff.)). Important as evidence in this field are two factors, namely the early Hebrew names and the customs of the patriarchs, together with their general mode of life.