or similar, many having the same theophoric element (addition of words for God, such as ya or el; see ya‘akov/Jacob and rachel) as those appearing in the patriarchal narratives. Since names tend to be unique to a given time period, this evidence helps confirm the chronology of the patriarchs. In addition, laws that governed the patriarchs’ social behavior were based on the local customs and time period during which the cultures that made them existed. In Genesis 49 Jacob blesses his twelve sons and