The Ancient Israelites As DELIBERATE “Race-Mixers”

Joseph, the son of Israel, was described in a Midrash (Genesis Rabah 86;3), as looking like a GERMANI (i.e. like someone from the North, very white, fair, according to Maimonides) and in another passage (Talmud Sota 36) as having a face that was “pink like a rose”.

Jacob (i.e. Israel) the Fore-Father was twin-brother to Esau who was “Admoni” (i.e. red-haired. “Admoni” is sometimes translated as “ruddy” but more correctly meaning “red-haired” or golden-haired) and hairy (Genesis 25; 25) whereas Jacob was smooth-skinned (Genesis 27;11).

David, King of Israel, was also an “Admoni” (1-Samuel 16;22) meaning red or golden haired. Laban, the father-in-law of Jacob has a name meaning “Whitish” and which is cognate with the English word “blond.”

  On the other hand the Shepherdess in the Song of Solomon (1;6) announces, “I am black but beautiful…”.

According to the Bible and later Jewish legends (as recorded in “Seder HaDorot”, and “Sefer HaYashar”) the tribal Heads married women from various nations (Halperin,  Israel, “Atlas Etz Haim”, (Hebrew), 1985, vol.2 ;2).

Joseph married an Egyptian woman (Genesis 41;45)8. Machir, son of Menasseh had an Aramaean concubine (1-Chronicles 7; 14).

Reuben married a Hivite.

Levi and Asher married descendants of Eber.

Judah had one Canaanite and one Semite wife. Zebulon married a Midianitess and Issachar a descendant of Sem.

Benjamin married a daughter of Zimran, son of Abraham and Keturah.

Dan took a daughter of Lot, nephew of Abraham. Naphtali took a daughter of Nahor, as did Gad, and so on. The Apocryphal Book of Jubilees (ca. 200 BCE?) also says that the Tribal Patriarchal heads married women from different nations and mentions Canaanite, Egyptian, Semitic, and Mesopotamian women.