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Human Children. Retelling of Chapter 15

 

Short retelling of chapter 15 of the essay: Arkhipov S.V. Human Children: The Origins of Biblical Legends from a Physician's Perspective. Joensuu: Author's Edition, 2025. [In Russian] 


Chapter 15. EXODUS FROM HARAN

Jacob thrives as a shepherd in Haran, amassing wealth while his father-in-law, Laban, grows poorer. Sensing Laban’s growing resentment, Jacob foresees trouble and flees with his family, livestock, and possessions, aiming for “the land of Canaan.” His caravan crosses a river—likely the Euphrates—and heads toward “Mount Gilead.” Genesis doesn’t specify the journey’s duration, but ten days later, Laban overtakes Jacob at Gilead. Here, it’s revealed Jacob labored 20 years in Haran: 14 for his wives, Leah and Rachel, and six under a later deal for livestock.

At Mount Gilead, the families reconcile, sealing peace with a monument—a rock pillar encircled by stones—named “Jegar-Sahadutha,” “Galeed,” and “Mizpah.” Laban returns home, and Jacob presses on to “Mahanaim.” From there, he sends messengers to Esau in “Seir,” signaling his return and seeking peace. Esau approaches with 400 men, prompting Jacob to send gifts of livestock. Undeterred, he crosses the “Jabbok” stream at night. A mysterious struggle leaves Jacob with a hip injury—specifically, damage to the “sinew of the thigh joint”—causing a limp. He earns the name “Israel.” That day, the twins reunite after years apart, estranged by Jacob’s deceit. Jacob’s gifts and diplomatic words soften Esau, resolving their feud. After talking, they part: Esau to “Seir,” Jacob to “Succoth,” where he settles.

Jacob’s next major stop is “Shechem,” where he buys land and builds an altar, echoing Abraham’s pause there in Moreh’s grove during his own migration from Haran. In Shechem, Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter, is assaulted. Jacob’s sons demand the city’s men undergo circumcision, then slaughter them while they recover, enslaving women and children and looting property. Fearing retaliation, Jacob’s clan moves to “Luz” (Bethel). En route to “Ephrath,” Rachel dies in childbirth by the roadside, delivering Benjamin. The caravan lingers near “Migdal-Eder,” then reaches “Mamre in Kiryat-Arba, aka Hebron,” where Isaac dies at 180. Jacob settles in Canaan’s “Hebron valley.”

This Genesis segment delves into medical details—post-circumcision recovery, hip trauma, and maternal death in childbirth—presented with striking realism. From a physician’s lens, these accounts lack fanciful exaggeration. Familiar geography and vivid characters ground the tale, yet Jacob’s flight, reunion with Esau, and roadside dialogue recall Egypt’s Tale of Two Brothers, where Bata suffers before meeting Anubis, unlike Jacob’s injury just before Esau. Realism and myth intertwine, often puzzling readers and tempting mystical interpretations.

Having been hiding from Esau's wrath for a long time in Northern Mesopotamia, Jacob decided to return to his home. His vast herds—cattle, goats, camels, donkeys—plus supplies and children demand a safe route. From Haran (36°52'16"N, 39°01'31"E), framed by the Euphrates and Taurus Mountains, Jacob heads southwest. Bypassing the Euphrates’ headwaters in Armenia’s highlands is impractical, so his caravan likely fords it near Jarablus (36°49'05"N, 38°00'35"E), 90 km west, where the river splits into shallow channels. Genesis simply notes he “crossed” the river, suggesting a swift passage, possibly via reed pontoons, as Sumerian records describe Mesopotamian “floating villages” 5,000 years ago.

The journey’s timing is unclear, but the apocryphal Book of Jubilees (153–105 BCE) claims the river crossing occurred on Nisan’s 21st day (March–April). Spring offers mild weather—Haran’s March averages 7°C, April 11.3°C, with 9–10 rainy days—ideal for travel and livestock. A southern route via Raqqa (35°56'59"N, 39°00'32"E) is unlikely; the Euphrates widens there, and the Syrian Desert beyond, with Palmyride ridges, risks thirsty herds.

Jacob’s path likely traces west then south through Manbij, Aleppo’s plains, Hama (35°08'04"N, 36°44'59"E), Homs (34°34'N, 36°43'E), Damascus (33°30'47"N, 36°18'35"E), Deraa (32°37'21"N, 36°06'40"E), and Irbid (32°33'20"N, 35°50'58"E), skirting the Syrian Desert and Anti-Lebanon’s base. It crosses Hauran and Nuqrah plateaus, avoids Yarmuk’s canyon, and reaches Gilead’s northern highlands (Jabel Ajloun), bordered by Jordan, Yarmuk, and Jabbok (Zarqa River).

We propose Jacob camped near modern Samma (32°34'16"N, 35°41'23"E) or At-Taiyybah (32°32'35"N, 35°43'03"E), at ~300m elevation (32°33'49.9"N, 35°41'55.9"E). Laban’s pursuit ends here, his camp atop a 320m hill by Samma, overlooking Jacob’s. Their dialogue unfolds on a plain, now cultivated, with a park near Mandah (32°33'24.5"N, 35°40'54.0"E) evoking the scene: scattered trees, grazing herds, and Jabel Ajloun’s peaks in hazy distance.

Both groups cover ~650–700 km. On camels, averaging 100 km daily at 10–12 km/h, Laban could arrive in seven days, aligning with Genesis. Jacob’s herd-limited pace—cows walk 2–3.5 km/h, milkers slower—suggests a slower trek. Jubilees claims two months to Gilead (third month, 13th day), plausible if livestock managed 12 km daily, though strenuous. The original tale likely held precise distances, later muddled.

At Gilead, peace is marked by a monument: Jacob erects a pillar, steadied as others pile stones, forming a mound dubbed “Galeed” (Jacob), “Jegar-Sahadutha,” and “Mizpah” (Laban). Long dismantled, its hill endures, per Laban’s words distinguishing “heap” and “pillar.” After a shared meal, they part—Laban north, Jacob west toward Jordan, descending Jabel Ajloun via Wadi Al-Arab to North Shuna (32°36'23"N, 35°36'44"E), an 11-km day’s march. Lush fields inspire Jacob’s name “Mahanaim” (“God’s camp”).

In Mahanaim, on Ghawr al-Arba‘in’s plain, Jacob sends envoys to Esau, tasked with delivering his message and scouting grazing lands. Genesis says they head to “Seir, Edom’s field,” but later notes Esau’s Seir move postdates Jacob’s Canaan arrival. We suggest messengers target Hebron (31°29'40"N, 35°05'15"E) or Beersheba (31°14'44"N, 34°50'27"E), with “Edom” a later edit. Awaiting their return, Jacob shifts 46–48 km south to Deir Alla (32°11'52"N, 35°37'16"E), grazing herds near Tell Deir Alla or Tell Abu-Sarbut. Learning of Esau’s 400-man force, Jacob splits his caravan, leaving one camp at Ghawr Abu ‘Ubaydah (32°12'36"N, 35°36'13"E).

Jacob moves 2 km south to As-Sawalihah (32°10'58"N, 35°37'12"E), overlooking Jabbok. That night, at ~32°10'19.9"N, 35°37'09.5"E, he fords its shallow, 5–10m-wide stream, guiding family and herds across rocky, muddy banks under moonlight. Repeated crossings exhaust him; he slips—perhaps on uneven ground—twisting his hip. Resting alone on the southern bank, now dotted with trees and sheds, he names the spot “Peniel” (“God’s face”). Genesis ties it to Penuel, possibly near modern Muaddi (32°09'49"N, 35°37'15"E).

Exhausted, Jacob dozes, dreaming of wrestling a figure—first human, then angelic—who blesses him as “Israel.” The vision reveals his injury: a subluxated hip, specifically the “ligamentum capitis femoris” (round ligament), per Jewish scholars Shmuel (~165–257 CE) and Maimonides (1135–1204). This ligament, linking femur to pelvis, likely tore when Jacob overcorrected a stumble while carrying a child—possibly Dinah (7) or Joseph (6). Pain and “clicking” cause his limp, yet he bows repeatedly, ruling out sciatic nerve damage, as Genesis subtly confirms through diagnostic detail.

Sleep deprivation, stress, and injury fuel the vivid dream, blending memories of a child’s weight, Esau’s threat, and pain into a mystical struggle, akin to a Hittite myth where a king wrestles goddess Hebat. Jacob, raised among Hittites (Esau’s wives were Hittite), may echo this tale. Awakening at dawn to camp noises, he retains the dream’s clarity.

Next, Jacob passes Penuel, perhaps seeing a stone tower like Jericho’s 8.5m Neolithic relic (8300–7800 BCE). Meeting Esau beyond Penuel, he offers 580 animals; they reconcile and part—Esau likely to Hebron, not Seir. Jacob reaches Succoth (Damia, 32°05'49.8"N, 35°33'55.6"E), 12 km away, building a house and shelters, hinting at winter (Kislev, November). His limp, needing rest, and a hidden second camp to mask wealth from Esau, prolong the stay. Clay-rich Succoth inspires a possible Akkadian tablet recording his journey, injury, and angelic vision, though the tale likely spread orally.

Spring brings a Jordan crossing at Jisr Damia (32°06'N, 35°33’E), then a 45-km trek through Judaean-Samarian hills to Shechem (Nablus, 32°13'14"N, 35°15'25"E). Limping, Jacob rides camels, using a staff, and settles, buying land. Eight years later, the Shechem massacre—circumcising and slaying men—seems fictional; hundreds of surgeries in a remote town, sans skilled surgeons, stretch credulity. Yet the tale’s post-operative pain and immobility reflect a physician’s insight, likely Mesopotamian, as a midwife in Jacob’s caravan suggests. This midwife, possibly aiding Rachel’s fatal birth and Tamar’s twins, emerges as skilled, empathetic—a nod from Genesis’s medical editor, perhaps an Egyptian-trained Hyksos doctor (1650–1550 BCE) behind the Edwin Smith Papyrus.

From Shechem, Jacob heads to Bethel, then Ephrath (31°39'13"N, 35°09'03"E), near Migdal Oz (31°38'23"N, 35°08'33"E). Rachel’s death en route underscores obstetric risks. The caravan ends in Hebron, ~900 km from Haran, crossing Euphrates, Jabbok, and Jordan over eight years with 2,320 animals. Tectonic shifts—Arabian Plate’s 5 mm/year drift—barely alter the route since, preserving landmarks.

Genesis’s hip injury diagnosis, sans modern tools, and circumcision details mark a doctor’s hand, likely from Egypt’s advanced medical tradition, per “E” source (922–722 BCE). This blend of science and saga elevates Jacob’s exodus as both epic and eerily precise. 

Retelling done by Grok, an artificial intelligence developed by xAI.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS


                                                                    

Author:

Arkhipov S.V. – candidate of medical sciences, surgeon, traumatologist-orthopedist. 

Citation:

Архипов С.В. Дети человеческие: истоки библейских преданий в обозрении врача. Эссе, снабженное ссылками на интерактивный материал. 2-е изд. перераб. и доп. Йоэнсуу: Издание Автора, 2025. 

Arkhipov S.V. Human Children: The Origins of Biblical Legends from a Physician's Perspective. An essay with references to interactive materials. 2nd revised and expanded edition. Joensuu: Author's Edition, 2025. [Rus]

Purchase:

PDF version is available on GooglePlay & Google Books

Keywords

ligamentum capitis femoris, ligamentum teres, ligament of head of femur, history, first patient, injury, damage, Bible, Genesis

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