Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 68:1 (NA 2017)
Article: ‘Behold, There Were Twins In Her Womb’ (Gen. 25:24–26; 38:27–30) Medical Science And The Twin Births In Genesis
Author: John Makujina

TynBull 68:1 (2017) p. 39

‘Behold, There Were Twins In Her Womb’ (Gen. 25:24–26; 38:27–30)
Medical Science And The Twin Births In Genesis

John Makujina

([email protected])

Summary

Eran Viezel claims that the book of Genesis is ignorant of the fundamentals of childbirth, particularly the presenting foetal member. While the head normally emerges first, Genesis mistakenly thinks that the hands present, as they do in livestock deliveries. Therefore, the veracity of the twin births in Genesis 25:24–26 and 38:27–30, where a hand exits the womb first (Jacob and Zerah), should be rejected. The present article, however, exposes significant inaccuracies and unsupported assumptions on Viezel’s part. Moreover, while maintaining that both births are anomalous, this article proposes medically realistic scenarios for the parturitions of the twins in Genesis.

1. Introduction

In a recent Vetus Testamentum article, Eran Viezel rejected the historicity of the twin births in Genesis (25:24–26; 38:27–30) on sociological and obstetric grounds.1 Although others have reached similar conclusions,2 Viezel does so by supplementing his exegesis with medical and veterinary science. He argues that the male authors of the OT were ignorant of human childbirth and mistakenly believed that the hands, instead of the head, were the first foetal members to emerge from the birth canal. Two factors account for this error, according to

TynBull 68:1 (2017) p. 40

Viezel: first, the biblical authors, as males, were absent from the actual deliveries of their children; second, they were acquainted with the birthing of sheep and cattle, which deliver forelimbs first. They therefore drew an uncritical analogy – from the familiar to the unfamiliar – and assumed that human beings are born in the same manner, hands first. He further supports his claim with the observation that both biblical births come across in the narrative as normal rather than extraordinary.3 Moreover, with the aid of an obstetric textbook, a standard in the field,4 Viezel also contends that infants who enter the world with an extended arm have already died (of a broken neck) before leaving the uterus,5 and this turns out to be another reason to doubt the Genes...