Though this subject may initially appear as unimportant or incidental, in looking into it recently I discovered some promising spiritual parallels that are quite intriguing…

.

A few days ago I was watching a multipart film series on the ministry travels of the Apostle Paul. This was a subject I knew fairly well, having read several accounts of Paul’s life in my lifetime and doing further extensive research on the subject roughly eight years ago or so. At that time I had determined to follow Paul on each of his journeys and get all the more familiar with the locations he visited and the happenings thereof, dovetailing his adventures with the Scriptural accounts in the Book of Acts and his own letters. In that process I discovered an interactive online map that gave one the feel of actually traveling along with the apostle and his cohorts which served as an excellent visual aid. I also supplemented this with much location information and dates. Both filled out the many texts I was reading which included excellent scholarly books, some going back over 150 years.

Early in the aforementioned film series, which was produced five years ago, the host and narrator, who was also traveling in Paul’s footsteps showcasing the locations and evocative ancient ruins of the very places Paul visited, said in passing that Paul was born in about 4-5AD. For whatever reason, I was instantly intrigued with this (as I likely was many times in the past concerning Paul’s birth year though apparently never doing a deep dive regarding it). I then paused the video and immediately decided to begin looking into the subject as though nothing was more important. But before starting the process I prayed for insight and revelation as if I was looking for certain clues. I wanted to receive from the Lord whatever He might want to reveal that I likely never would find otherwise.   

A MAJOR CLUE

The scholarly consensus opinion I discovered early on was about 5AD with one source mentioning a range up to 10AD which I thought was too high. The author of the first book I ever read on Paul—The Man Who Shook the World—said he was born in 1AD. However, I wasn’t looking for an actual overall definitive consensus though 5AD might very well be it. While continuing this early process I suddenly hit on something seemingly out of left field. It ended up being what initially appeared to be the major clue I was seeking, which, if true, had to be a revelation from the Lord: It regarded the ages of Joseph and Benjamin.

Now, I think I know what you may be thinking. What would the ages of these two ancient tribal patriarchs have to do with Paul’s birth date? Well, to add to the spiritual types and shadows thereof, I saw the Lord Jesus as Joseph and Paul as Benjamin. With this it started coming together. Of course, Joseph was certainly a type of the Lord. He was also the one chosen by God to actually save his nation which would have otherwise perished in a future famine that only God knew was coming. It was also the case that Joseph and Benjamin were full blood brothers with the same father and mother (Jacob and Rachel) and had no other such siblings. There was thus a very special bond between these two especially because Rachel was the one real love of Jacob’s life though he fathered children by three other women.

With reference to the patriarch Benjamin, his most famous descendant by far was the future Apostle Paul. If you studied much history of the tribe of Benjamin you would possess greater understanding of Paul’s natural personality and demeanor. In essence, Paul was a perfect type of Benjamin. Not only does Paul state in his epistles that he was descended from this tribe he also claimed to be a then current member of it which must have carried a certain amount of weight among his former religious peers. In 1Corinthians 15:3-11, he also explains his spiritual stature in association with the twelve apostles as though he very much belonged. Paul writes in that passage that the newly risen Lord Jesus first appeared to Peter and then to the twelve. After also mentioning the Lord’s appearance to the 500 and the Lord’s brother James, he says the following:

…And last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. [1Corinthians 15:8]

The KJV translates it this way:

And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. [1Corinthians 15:8 KJV]

This fits perfectly with the Benjamin scenario in that he was not only the last son born to Jacob (#12), but there was also a substantial gap in the ages of the last two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, which does not occur in any other pairing. And because Jacob lost his favored son Joseph to what he previously thought was a violent death when Benjamin was very young, he undoubtedly became even more protective of his final son and likely did all he could to shield him which likely spoiled the child and even stunted his growth. This would make Benjamin less mature and disciplined which, again, appeared to show up as an ongoing flaw in his descendants.

In keeping with this probability in association with the findings of past historians, the Apostle Paul was likely not even five feet tall. Again, Scripture appears to say the same about Benjamin in that he was apparently small in stature. For example, there are several passages in the Book of Genesis in which Benjamin is referred to by his brothers as a “lad.” This occurs nine times in Genesis 43 and 44 which is in the time frame when Joseph was prime minister of Egypt dealing with his brothers. With this description—a lad—the reader night think Benjamin was a mere boy. However, this word “lad” is from a Hebrew word with a wide range denoting infancy to boy to adolescence, but could also possibly refer to a young adult depending on the context. I will get to more on this later. Suffice it to say that just as there was a large age difference between Joseph and Benjamin, it was also most likely if not certain that Paul was younger than all twelve apostles.

ANOTHER MAJOR CLUE

So, to sum up to this point in keeping with the large clue I believe the Lord gave me, I began studying the difference in ages between Joseph and Benjamin. I discovered what I thought was a high range in my early research with one source claiming 13 years. I thought that was too much. Other sources claimed that Benjamin was not even born when Joseph was sold into slavery (he was 17 at the time). I thought that was way too much. Yet, I was looking for the truth and these had to be considered.

I began trying to put it all together. The next major clue came regarding Benjamin’s age when he went to Egypt while being referred to as a “lad” by his brothers. They called him this not because he was a boy or even a teenager but because he was so much younger than they were. The fact is that Joseph, son of Jacob #11, was 39 years old at this time. We know this because he was 30 when he became prime minister of Egypt which was also the beginning of the “good seven” years in which bumper crops would come forth. But when his family moved to Egypt it was already at the end of the first two years of the “bad seven” when the great famine had arrived. Therefore, since Joseph was 39, imagine how old Reuben was, the first son of Jacob. He could have been almost 50. This puts things in better perspective regarding the way they referred to Benjamin even though he was not at all a young man. The major clue proving this is the following: Benjamin had ten sons when he went to Egypt:

And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons… And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. [Genesis 46:8, 21][1]

With this little factoid as a key puzzle piece it becomes evident that Benjamin was far from being a mere “lad.” In fact, the early scholarly consensus was that Benjamin was actually a full grown man in the vicinity of 32-35 years old at that time.

But I saw it differently. Thus, regarding the discovery of the actual birth year of the Apostle Paul, I perceived yet another major clue which I will reveal in Part 2. Stayed tuned.

© 2025 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued…]

[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.