Dear Rabbi, Im struggling with an apparent contradiction in the Torah, the book of Bereshit. In Genesis 37, Joseph is sold to Egypt at the age of 17. In Genesis 38, Judah marries Bat-Shua around that time and has Er and Onan, then Shelah (v. 3-5), who was the youngest of the three, for Judah refused to marry him to Tamar because he needed to grow up (v. 11). Er and Onan grow up, marry Tamar, both of them die, and assuming the youngest maritable ages for the men, this happens after 14 years. Then Judah lays with Tamar and has twins, Perez and Zerah. According to Genesis 46:12, Perez had two sons, Hezron and Hamul, who went into Egypt with him. Here is where the problem comes. Joseph was 39 when he reunited with his family in Egypt. We know this because he entered Pharaonic service at 30 (Gen. 41:46), was 37 when the famine began (Gen. 41:53-54), and he revealed himself to his brothers 2 years later (Gen. 45:1-8), thus making him 39. So the events of Genesis 38 took place between the 17th and 39th years of Judahs life, during which Judah had Er, Onan, and Shelah. Then Er and Onan grew up, married Tamar, died, and Judah laid with Tamar. Finally Perez was born; he grew up and had Hezron and Hamul. All this in a mere 22 years. Say Er was born in the 17th year and Onan in the 18th, and Er married Tamar when he was 13 (30th year of Josephs life), then died, and Onan married Tamar when he was 13 (31st year of Josephs life), then died. And lets say Judah impregnated her the same year and she gave birth the same year; that means Perez was born in the 31st year of Josephs life. Hed be 8 years old when he arrives in Egypt—too young to marry, let alone have two sons! I pray you reply quickly. Sincerely, David

Shalom and blessings, Your question is based on three assumptions: 1. Judah married only after Joseph was sold. 2. Twenty-two years after Joseph's sale, Judah arrived in Egypt with his grandsons Hezron and Hamul, the sons of Perez. 3. This chronology is impossible because children could not have been born at such a young age. There are three classic answers to your question, each challenging a different assumption: 1. Judah married before Joseph was sold. According to this approach, the events of Genesis 38 are not presented in strict chronological order ("there is no absolute chronological order in the Torah"). Abraham ibn Ezra reached this conclusion because of the chronological difficulty you raised (Ibn Ezra on Genesis 38:1). This view is also found in Abraham ben Moses ben Maimon (ad loc.), Rav Chaim Paltiel (ad loc.), and Rav Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin in Ha'amek Davar (ad loc.), who writes that this appears to be the view implied by the Talmud. However, the straightforward reading of the words of the Sages suggests that Joseph's sale preceded Judah's departure (see Babylonian Talmud Sotah 13b, cited in Torah Temimah to Genesis 38:1). 2. Hezron and Hamul were not yet born when Jacob descended to Egypt. A novel interpretation suggests that Perez's sons, Hezron and Hamul, were actually born only after the family had already arrived in Egypt. This is inferred from the wording of Genesis 46:12: "And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul," in contrast to the parallel verse regarding Beriah: "And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel." According to this interpretation, the verse identifies Hezron and Hamul as Perez's sons but does not necessarily mean they had already been born. Although they are counted among the seventy souls who descended to Egypt, the Torah includes them because they would later replace Er and Onan in Judah's family line. The Torah emphasizes the total number of seventy, corresponding to the seventy nations mentioned in Deuteronomy 32:8 and, correspondingly, the future inheritance of Israel. This interpretation is developed at length by Rav Yaakov Medan (Iyyunim BeParashat HaShavua, Vayigash, Lesson 12). A similar explanation is cited in the name of Umberto Cassuto by Nechama Leibowitz (Gilyonot Nechama, Vayigash), and also by Rav Elchanan Samet in his essay on Judah and Tamar. 3. The events occurred exactly in the order described in the Torah. According to this approach, Judah did indeed marry after Joseph was sold, and Hezron and Hamul were indeed born before the descent to Egypt, just as the plain meaning of the verses indicates. The answer is that in those generations, it was possible for people to have children at a very young age, as discussed in Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 69b. This explanation is given by Da'at Zekenim MiBa'alei HaTosafot (Genesis 38:1), Rabbi Chaim Paltiel (Genesis 46:12), Chizkuni (Genesis 38:1), and Mizrachi (Genesis 38:1).