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Jacob's Family Tomb: A Contradiction in the Bible?

by Matthew Elton

copyright 2009 Matthew Elton

Question:

In Acts 7,15-16 Stephen tells us this:

"Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died. Their bodieswere brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham hadbought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money."

Let's see. We are told: Abraham bought a tomb in Shechem from the sons of Hamor.

Stephen is talking about something that happened a long time ago. But let's see which story he actually means:

Genesis 23,17-20:

"So Ephron's field in Machpelah near Mamre--both the field and the cave init, and all the trees within the borders of the field--was deeded toAbraham as his property.

Afterward Abraham buried his wifeSarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is atHebron) in the land of Canaan...

So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a "burial place."

Aswe see, Abraham didn't buy a tomb in Shechem from the sons of Hamor buthe bought it in Machpelah, near Mamre, from Ephron the Hittite. Jacobwasn't burried in Shechem like it is said in Acts 7. He was burried in Machpelah:

Genesis 49,1-33:

"Then Jacob called for his sons and said:...

..."I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in thecave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field ofMachpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought as a burial placefrom Ephron the Hittite, along with the field. There Abraham and hiswife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried,and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave in it were bought fromthe Hittites.  When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons,he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people."

Why does Stephen say Jakob [sic] was burried [sic] in Shechem in a tomb which was bought from the sonsof Hamor? The story was mixed up with this one here:

Genesis 33,18-19:                                

"After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem ...

Fora hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, thefather of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent."

In Acts 7 it is said that Abraham bought a tomb in Shechem from the sonsof Hamor but that is wrong. Abraham bought it in Machpelah (near byMamre, at Hebron) from Ephron the Hettite. Furthermore, we are toldthat Jacob was burried [sic] in Shechem but that is not correct. Jacobwas burried [sic] in the family tomb in Machpelah. About 63 milesbeeline lie between Machpelah (at Hebron) and Shechem. Both places arein the maps lying to the Bible.

Answer:

This alleged “contradiction” does not justify the dismissal of the Bible as false, since there are several very likely possibilities which clearly explain this apparent ambiguity.

Perhaps Jacob was buried Shechem, and later re-buried in the grave of Abraham. This is possible, but unlikely in light of the “Jewish tradition” cited by the PNT commentary, and Jerome’s claim that they still had their tombs. Another possibility is that Jacob was buried in two places at once. Again, this seems unlikely, but it is possible. Even today it is not uncommon to have empty tombs, tombs that contain only part of a body, or ceremonial tombstones with no body buried underneath.

However, the most likely explanation is simply that Jacob and “our fathers” were buried in two different tombs, just as the Bible describes. In other words, when Stephen says “he and our fathers died. Their bodies were brought back to Shechem” the ambiguous “their” could refer only to “our fathers” but not to Jacob, who was buried at Machpelah, as the book of Genesis states. This is almost certainly what Stephen meant, otherwise the Sanhedrin (who were very well-versed in Jewish history) would have corrected him.

Although it is unlikely (although possible) for one person to be buried in two different tombs, it is very likely that different family members will be buried in different tombs. Even though Jewish tradition favors burying family members in the same tomb, we must remember that the record covers generations of people who were migrating, at a time very early in Jewish history, before most established traditions.

Simply put, Stephen was speaking quickly to an audience who already knew the details of the story, so there was no need for Stephen to go into any great depth. We must remember that Stephen was speaking to the members of the Jewish council, who were already very well educated in Jewish history. Stephen was not telling them anything they don’t already know! He was simply reminding them of events in Jewish history.

that were already very well known to any Jew, but especially to those who were as well- versed in the Hebrew scriptures as the Sanhedrin. Stephen described the burial of Jacob and his fathers. The Sanhedrin (the most well-educated theologians of Stephen’s day) did not correct him on this point. They saw no contradiction between Stephen’s speech and the Hebrew scriptures.

In a mere fifty verses, Stephen summarized all of Jewish history from Abaraham to Jesus - a period of millenia. Because the council members were already well educated in Jewish history, there was no need for Stephen to go into any great depth elaborating on his meaning. He was simply reminding the council of things that were well understood by both parties. No one was confused, because it was apparent to any well-versed Jew that Stephen was speaking of two tombs - both the tomb purchased by Jacob of Shechem, and the cave that Abraham bought. Luke faithfully transcribed the actual dialogue word-for-word.

All of the Greek manuscripts agree as to the actual text, so preservation is not the question here. The purpose of this exchange was not to repeat every detail already recorded in the law and the prophets. Stephen’s exchange presumes intimate knowledge of the Hebrew scriptures - knowledge, I might add, that most Bible skeptics do not have. Who are we to claim that our understanding the Hebrew scriptures is superior to that of the Sanhedrin, or Stephen himself, who’s incredible knowledge of the Old Testament is demonstrated is his recalculation of the “70 souls of the house of Jacob” into “75 souls” with the addition of “Joseph... and all his kindred” which Stephen knew included five members who were not of the house of Jacob - a fact that only the most well-educated theological scholar would know.

In conclusion, Acts records the exact words that Stephen spoke to the Sanhedrin. The books of Genesis and Joshua record information on the sale of both of the tombs referenced by Stephen in his speech. There is no biblical contradiction if we understand that Stephen was speaking of multiple tombs in which multiple individuals (“he and our fathers” to quote the text) were buried.