A curious question about Joseph’s dream of the stars (Gen 37:9-10). There are 11 stars instead of 10 even though Benjamin hadn’t been born yet. One might wonder, does this apply to Dinah or Benjamin?

Genesis 37: (NLT) 9 Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!” 10 This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?” 11 But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

We know later on that Jacob has more than one daughter because he was comforted by them and the rest of his family in Gen 37:35 after Joseph was sold off. Daughters in the bible typically aren’t mentioned in patriarchal lineages, Dinah was only mentioned because of her rape in Genesis 34. In addition, in Genesis 46 there are 67 people of the House of Israel that go to Egypt, however, the number of grandsons that Jacob has does not add up to the total sums of descendants he has from each of his wives. For example, Jacob has 33 descendants from Leah (Gen 46:15), but only 6 sons, one daughter, 23 grandsons, and two great-grandsons’ names are mentioned, which means that one of them is an unnamed daughter, granddaughter, or great-granddaughter. For Rachel, there is Benjamin and his 10 sons, but the total is 14 (Gen 46:22), so there are 3 unnamed daughters, granddaughters, or great-granddaughters. Rachel’s descendants do not include Joseph and his two sons because they are already in Egypt, moreover, the three of them add to the 67 total of the house of Israel in migration making a final total of 70 (Gen 46:26-27). Zilpah has two sons, 11 grandsons, two great-grandsons, and one granddaughter named Serah. Since the total of 16 (Gen 46:18) is equal to all the names mentioned, the granddaughter is likely named because there was only one. Lastly, Bilha has exactly two sons and five grandsons making a total of 7 (Gen 46:25), so no daughters or granddaughters. There were 67 descendants that migrated with Jacob which included his great/grandsons, great/granddaughters, sons, and daughters. This doesn’t include his wives who are still alive or his son’s wives, however, according to Gen 46:26.

I believe it was a revelation of Benjamin’s birth. We know that Benjamin is from the 12th tribe of Israel. We also know Joseph’s dreams prophesy the future because they came true in Egypt. Also, the dreams of the baker, cupbearer, and Pharaoh that Joseph interpreted revealed the future. So Benjamin’s existence was first revealed in Joseph’s dream from Genesis 37. How about that, his dreams revealed more than just the base interpretation of ruling over his brothers, it even reveals that there will be another brother.