|
by
Doug Ward |
Over 3000 people are identified by name in the Christian Bible. Some of them,
like Jesus, Moses, and David, are discussed at length, while many others are
mentioned only in passing.
The
latter group includes Serah, whose name appears in Genesis 46:17, Numbers
26:46, and 1 Chronicles 7:30. These verses say merely that Serah was a daughter
of Jacob's son Asher.
Genesis
46 lists some members of Jacob's extended family who migrated to Egypt during a
famine. The list includes 53 grandsons of Jacob, men after whom clans of Israel
would later be named. Serah is the only granddaughter of Jacob in the list,
arousing our curiosity about her significance.
Numbers
26 lists clans from each tribe of Israel represented in a census taken in the
final year of the Exodus. The list is interrupted by several parenthetical
remarks, one of which is a reminder that Asher had a daughter named Serah.
The
mention of Serah in Number 26 gave rise to speculation that she had survived
Israel's years of slavery in Egypt and its forty years of wandering in the
wilderness. This speculation, in turn, suggested that a person who enjoyed such
great longevity could have played a valuable role in preserving key traditions
from the days of Jacob to the time of Moses.
For
example, when Jacob's son Joseph reached the end of his life, he asked that the
children of Israel transport his bones to the Promised Land when God allowed
them to return there (Genesis 50:24-25). Later Moses made sure to honor this
request. According to one tradition, he was able to locate Joseph's burial
place by consulting Serah, who quickly provided this vital piece of
information.
Joseph
also told his brothers, "God will surely visit you, “meaning that
God would intervene to rescue their descendants from slavery in Egypt. But how
would they know when it was time for their rescue? One tradition says that the
phrase "surely visit" was a special password that Serah memorized and
that Israel's rescuer would know. This tradition is based on Exodus 4:31, which
says that when Moses arrived and told the Israelites that God was visiting
them, they believed him. Serah could identify Moses as their deliverer because
he knew the password.
The
Serah legends are fanciful, but they point to the importance of preserving
truth and keeping hope alive across the generations. Every religious community
needs people who perform these functions. Israel had many such people, since
their population continued to grow even as the nation suffered in slavery
(Exodus 1:12). Bringing a new generation into the world is itself an act of
faith.
The
names of the faithful Israelites included Jochebed and Miriam, Moses' mother
and sister, as well as the courageous Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah.
Others, like Jacob's unnamed daughters and granddaughters in Genesis 46:7, were
no less essential for the progress of God's purposes in the world. Let us
celebrate these anonymous "sisters of Serah” along with other heroes
and heroines of faith.
File
translated from TEX by TTH,
version 3.66.
On 17 May 2023, 15:09.
