Patriarkernes sejlivede børn

I Talmud erkender rabbierne blankt, at Jair og Machir var født på Jakobs tid og alligevel havde overlevet ørkenen:

But isn't it taught in a baraita: Yair, son of Manasseh, and Machir, son of Manasseh, were born in the days of Jacob, and they did not die until the Jewish people entered Eretz Yisrael, as it is stated: "And the men of Ai killed of them about thirty-six men" (Joshua 7:5). And concerning this verse, it is taught: Literally thirty-six people were killed, this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Ne?emya said to him: But is it stated that thirty-six were killed? Isn't it stated nothing other than: "About thirty-six" were killed? Rather, this unusual term is referring to Yair, son of Manasseh, who was equivalent to the majority of the Sanhedrin, whose maximum number of judges is seventy-one, of which thirty-six is a slight majority. Evidently, then, Yair, son of Manasseh also survived the time in the wilderness. Rather, Rav A?a bar Ya'akov said: The decree of death was not decreed either upon those less than twenty years old or upon those more than sixty years old at the time of the sin of the spies. The Gemara explains: Not upon those less than twenty years old, as it is written: "From twenty years old and upward" (4 Mosebog 14,29). And not upon those more than sixty years old, because he learns that there is a verbal analogy between "and upward" in the verse cited, and "and upward" from the halakhot of valuations, in the phrase: "From sixty years old and upward" (3 Mosebog 27,7). Just as there, concerning valuations, more than sixty years old is comparable to less than twenty years old, as there is a distinct category of those between the ages of twenty and sixty, so too here, more than sixty years old is comparable to less than twenty years old insofar as those older were not subject to the sentence. Yair, son of Manasseh, who was already older, did not die in the wilderness.
(Babylonsk Talmud, Bava Batra 121b)

Rabbierne undrede sig ikke så meget over Jair og Makirs utrolige alder, men mere over, hvordan de havde overlevet, da Gud dræbte hele sit folk ude i ørkenen undtagen Josva og Kaleb.

Dette forklarede Rabbi bar Ya'akov ved at pege på formuleringen »fra tyve år og opefter« i 4 Mosebog 14,29. Dette mindede Rabbi bar Ya'akov om taksterne for slaver og menneskeofre, hvor folk »fra tres år og opefter« havde en lavere værdi (3 Mosebog 27,7). Derfor gjaldt Guds dødsdom heller ikke folk over 60 år.

Standard-bortforklaringen lyder ligesom for de sejlivede patriarker, nemlig at Jair og Makir er ikke personer, men deres efterkommere.

Det er selvfølgelig lidt om denne forklaring: Naturligvis har to mand alene ikke kunnet gennemføre dette folkemord — de har naturligvis været stammeledere. De har været med til at få børn, børnebørn og oldebørn, så antallet af jøder er vokset fra 150 til 2.502.200 jøder.

Men selvom de har fået børn (det havde de jo allerede på Josefs tid) er de stadig selv i live. Formuleringer som »han bosatte sig der«, »han opkaldte Bashanlandets byer efter sig selv« (ikke efter deres stamfar), »Gileads far« (ikke alle Makirs efterkommere stammede fra Gilead) og »han var kriger« omtaler tydeligvis en person og ikke en stamme.