Genealogies of Genesis

The genealogies of Genesis provide the framework around which the Book of Genesis is structured.[1] Beginning with Adam, genealogical material in Genesis 4, 5, 10, 11, 22, 25, 29-30, 35-36, and 46 move the narrative forward from the creation to the beginnings of Israel's existence as a people.

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Adam's lineage in Genesis contains two branches: Chapter 4 giving the descendants of for Cain, and Chapter 5 that for Seth that is then continued in later chapters. Chapter 10 gives a Table of Nations that records the populating of the Earth by Noah's descendants, and is not strictly a genealogy but an ethnography. Genesis 5 and 11 include the age at which each patriarch had the progeny named as well as the number of years he lived thereafter. Many of the ages given in the text are implausibly long, but could have been considered modest in comparison to the ages given in other works (for instance, the Sumerian King List).[2] The ages include patterns surrounding the numbers five and seven, for instance the 365 year life of Enoch (the same as the number of full calendar days in a solar year) and the 777 year life of Lamech (repetitional emphasis of the number seven).[3] Overall, the ages display clear mathematical patterns, confirming that number symbolism was used to construct them.[4] Nevertheless, since Genesis 5 and 11 provide the age of each patriarch at the birth of his named descendant, it also appears to present a gapless chronology from Adam to Abraham, even if the named descendant is not always a first-generation son.[5]

Enumerated genealogy

Three versions of the Genesis genealogy exist: the Hebrew Masoretic Text, the Greek Septuagint, and the Samaritan Pentateuch. Translations from the Masoretic Text are preferred by Western Christians, including Roman Catholics and Protestants and by followers of Orthodox Judaism, whereas the Greek version is preferred by Eastern Christians, including Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Ethiopic, Jacobite and Armenian. The Samaritan version of the Pentateuch is used mainly by the Samaritans.

Cain and Seth

Genesis gives Adam and Eve three children, named Cain, Abel and Seth. A genealogy tracing the descendants of Cain is given in Genesis 4, while the line from Seth down to Noah appears in Genesis 5. Scholars have noted similarities between these descents: most of the names in each are variants of those in the other, though their order differs, with the names of Enoch and Mahalalel/Mehujael switching places in the two pedigrees.[6][7] It is "as if they were different versions of the same underlying tradition."[8] This has led to speculation that a single original genealogical descent had diverged during independent transmission, only to be brought back together and put to different uses when the Book of Genesis was compiled from its Jahwist and Priestly sources.[9][10]

AdamEve
AbelSeth
Enos (Enosh)
CainCainan (Kenan)
EnochMahalalel
IradJared
MehujaelEnoch
MethushaelMethuselah
AdahLamechZillahLamech
JabalJubalTubal-CainNaamahNoah
ShemHamJapheth

(Generations aligned as per Hooke.[10] For a continuation of this family tree through the line of Shem, see Abraham's family tree)

Table of Nations
Main article: Generations of Noah

Following the Genesis flood narrative, a large multi-branched genealogy presents the descendants of the sons of Noah.(Genesis 10) The 70 names given represent Biblical geography, consisting of local ethnonyms and toponyms presented in the form of eponymous ancestors (names in origin-myth genealogies that are to be understood as ancestors and embodiments of the peoples whose names they bear). This is a symbolic presentation of the peopling of the world and indicates a view of the unity of the human race.[11] The peoples and places are not organised by geography, language family or ethnic groups,[12] and probably do not represent the geography of a particular point in history, instead deriving from an old nucleus of geographical knowledge to which additional names/peoples were subsequently added.[13]

Genesis numbers

Nearly all modern translations of Genesis are derived from the Masoretic (Hebrew) Text. But there are also two other versions of Genesis: the Samaritan (from a Hebrew script) and the Septuagint (a Greek translation of a Hebrew text). The numbers given in the text are usually similar but do vary between versions. The numbers in the Masoretic, Samaritan, and Lucianic Septuagint versions of Genesis are shown in this table:[14]

The following table lists the patriarchs that appear in the Vulgate and the Septuagint, but their names are spelled as they appear in the King James Version of the Bible. Their year of birth differs according to the Vulgate or the Septuagint. Also given is each patriarch's age at the birth of his named son and the age of the patriarch's death. Cainan, born after the flood, is mentioned in the Septuagint but not the Vulgate.[15] Methuselah survived the flood according to the Septuagint (but not the Vulgate), even though he was not on Noah's Ark.[16]

The genealogies of Genesis contain a difficulty with regards to the birth of Arphaxad. One method of calculating places the birth of Arphaxad 600 years after the birth of Noah, while another places Arphaxad's birth 602 years after Noah.[17] The table below uses the 602-year method; the 600 year method would decrease the date for Arphaxad and all the following figures by two years.

This chart counts year totals only. Anno Mundi (AM, or 'in the year of the world') can be calculated by adding 2 to any given value in either the "Birth" or "Death" columns. The result will give a corresponding date in AM.[18][19][20] The epoch for this calendar system is 3761 BCE.[21][22]

(Note: the numbers in green are consistent across all versions, while the numbers in yellow are contradicted in one other version and the numbers in red are contradicted by more than one of the other versions.)

  Masoretic & Vulgate Samaritan Pentateuch Septuagint (Lucian)  
PatriarchMeaningBirthSonRemainLived DeathBirthSonRemainLived DeathBirthSonRemainLived DeathWife/Wives/etc
Adam"humanity"[23] 0130800930 930 0130800930 930 0230700930 930 Eve
Sethpossibly "substitution"[24] 130105807912 1042 130105807912 1042 230205707912 1142
Enosh"humanity"[23] 23590815905 1140 23590815905 1140 435190715905 1340
Kenanetymology uncertain[25] 32570840910 1235 32570840910 1235 625170740910 1535
Mahalalel"praising El" / "praise of El"[26] 39565830895 1290 39565830895 1290 795165730895 1690
Jared"to descend"[26] 460162800962 1422 46062785847 1307 960162800962 1922
Enochetymology uncertain[27] 62265300365¹ 987 52265300365¹ 887 1122165200365¹ 1487
Methuselahmeaning uncertain[28][29] 687187782969 1656 58767653720 1307 1287167802969 2256
Lamechmeaning unknown[26] 874182595777 1651 65453600653 1307 1454188565753 2207
Noahmeaning uncertain[30] 10565022—950 2006 7075022—950 1657 16425022—950 2592 Naamah
Shemname 1558100500600 2158 1209100500600 1809 2144100500600 2744
Arphaxadmeaning uncertain[31] 165835403438 2096 1309135303438 1747 2244135430565 2809
Cainanmeaning uncertain[25] ———— — ———— — 2379130330460 2839
Salahbranch[32] 169330403433 2126 1444130303433 1877 2509130330460 2969
Eberpossibly "traveler"[33] 172334430464 2187 1574134270404 1978 2639134270404 3043
Pelegetymology disputed[34] 175730209239 1996 1708130109239 1947 2773130209339 3112
Reupossibly "shepherd" or "friend"[34] 178732207239 2026 1838132107239 2077 2903132207339 3242
SerugSarug (name of a city)[35] 181930200230 2049 1970130100230 2200 3035130200330 3365
Nahorsnorting 184929119148 1997 21007969148 2248 3165179125304 3469
Terahetymology debated[34] 187870145205 2083 21797075145 2324 334470205275 3619
Abramexalted father 1948100—175 2123 2249100—175 2424 3414100—175 3589 Sarai; (Hagar); Keturah

1According to most interpretations, including the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews, Enoch did not die,[36] but was taken away by God (at an age of 365). Genesis states that Enoch "walked with God; and he [was] not; for God took him."[37]

2On this chart Noah is listed as having lived 502 years when he begat Shem and this calculation is based on the birth year of Arphaxad.[38] The extra-biblical Book of Jasher also mentions that Noah was 502 years old when his wife Naamah bore Shem.[39]

Usage of Anno Mundi

The current formal usage of the Anno Mundi calendar era is implemented based on the calculations of Maimonides in Mishneh Torah (completed in AD 1178).[40] It is the official method of calculating years for the Hebrew Calendar currently in use. Based on a calculation using the Masoretic Text recorded in the Seder Olam Rabbah (c 160 AD) of Rabbi Jose ben Halafta, the first five days of creation in Genesis were in Anno Mundi 1[22], and the creation of Adam was on 1 Tishrei (Rosh Hashanah) in Anno Mundi 2[19][20] which corresponds to 3760 BCE.[18][41] The official Anno Mundi epoch is Anno Mundi 1. This first year begins almost a full year before creation and is commonly referred to as The Year Of Emptiness or The Ascension Year in Jewish Tradition and coincides with the years 3761/3760 BCE.[42][43][44]

Counting years

Counting a number of years based on an annual fixed calendar date yields a different result from a rolling year count based on dates such as birthdays which have the possibility of being at any time of the year and change depending on the individual. Using this method has led some chronologists to add or subtract a 0.5 year margin to/from the birth year of each patriarch to account for unknown birth dates.

The first mention in Genesis of the use of a fixed method to reckon years is made in Genesis 1 referring to the "lights in the firmament".[45] A fixed calendar system is usually determined by an annual epoch such as New Year's Day (1 January) which is fixed by the alignment of astronomical objects; the reckoning of the year occurs on its epoch. Years represented in Anno Mundi dates could be interpreted to be in alignment with Rosh Hashanah and are counted according to its annual occurrence.[46]

Birth years of Shem and Arphaxad

There are several different interpretations as to the exact birth year of Shem and his son Arphaxad. Based on Noah being at least 500 years old when he began to beget children[47] and Noah's sons each having an age difference,[48][49] it is not uncommon to encounter chronologies that list Shem as being 98 years old when the flood began. Shem begat Arphaxad two years after the flood when he was 100 years old[38].

In the Masoretic, Vulgate and the Samaritan Pentateuch the method of starting from the birth of Noah and adding exactly 500 years until Shem, and adding another 100 years until the birth of Arphaxad (Born 2 years after the flood) would be the same year as the death of Methuselah following the above chart.[50] Since Methuselah was not mentioned in Genesis among those who were aboard the ark,[51][52] it is possible that his death came in the same year of the flood.

Based on the Masoretic Text, counting 1656 years on the above chart will result in being the 600th year of Noah's life, the year of the death of Methuselah and year that the flood began.[53][54] The two-year discrepancy is commonly resolved by rendering the birth year of Shem in the same year that Noah was 502 years old, and rendering Arphaxad as having been born two years after the death of Methuselah and the flood.

Differences in the Genesis 5 numbers

A comparison of the Genesis 5 numbers (Adam through Noah) in the above table shows that the ages when the sons were born plus the remainders equal the totals given in each version, but each version uses different numbers to arrive at these totals. The three versions agree on some of the total ages at death, but many of the other numbers differ by exactly 100 years. The Septuagint ages of the fathers at the birth of their sons are in many instances 100 years greater than the corresponding ages in the other two versions; in Genesis 11 some of the Samaritan Pentateuch ages agree with the Septuagint ages and are also 100 years beyond that of the Masoretic and Vulgate versions.[55][56]

The Samaritan chronology has Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech dying in Noah's 600th year, the year of the flood. The Masoretic chronology also has Methuselah dying in Noah's 600th year, but the Masoretic version uses a different chronology than the Samaritan version, with about 350 extra years between creation and flood. The Lucianic text of the Septuagint has Methuselah surviving the flood and therefore the 100 year differences were not an attempt by the Septuagint editors to have Jared, Methuselah, or Lamech die during or prior to the flood.[57] Some scholars[58] argue that the differences between the Masoretic and Septuagint chronologies in Genesis 5 can be explained as alterations designed to rationalize a primary Masoretic system of chronology to a later Septuagint system. According to another scholar,[59] to assume that the Masoretic Text is primary "is a mere convention for the scholarly world" and "it should not be postulated in advance that MT reflects the original text of the biblical books better than the other texts." The present-day Greek Orthodox Septuagint text still offers the Lucianic numbers for Methuselah[60], which undoubtedly are the numbers as found in the original Septuagint text, most likely based on the Hebrew original that was used for the translation. This opens the possibility that these were the original numbers in the Hebrew tradition also, that only later, after discovering the chronological discrepancy, have been changed by adapting the Methuselah numbers to 167+782=969 (in some Septuagint manuscripts) or to 187+782=969 (in some other Septuagint manuscripts as well as in the present-day Masoretic text). The scholarly Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Pentateuch into Greek at Alexandria, Egypt, in about 280 BC worked from a Hebrew text that was edited in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.[61] This would be centuries older than the proto–Masoretic Text selected as the official text by the Masoretes.[62]

The Genesis 5 ages were presumably intended to be read at face value, as years and not months.[63] Attempts to rationalize the ages by translating "years" as "months" results in some of the Genesis 5 people fathering children when they were five years old (if the Masoretic chronology is assumed to be primary).[64]

Priestly source

The Priestly source illustrates history in Genesis by compiling the genealogy beginning with the "generations of the heavens and the earth" and continuing through Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac to the descendants of Jacob and Esau. Jacob's descendants are listed in Genesis 46:8-27, beginning with the phrase "these are the names."[65]

Similar Mesopotamian Traditions

The genealogies of Genesis have been likened to the Sumerian King List,[66] both of which consist of a list of implausibly long-lived figures, followed by a flood, followed by a list of figures with long but gradually shortening lifespans that move into normal historical lengths. Attempts at finding a correlation between the ages presented in the two lists have been made.[67]

gollark: * mediocre-est
gollark: I mean, they're about the same length, but *still*.
gollark: The *client* is in Lua, the *server* is Rust.
gollark: No.
gollark: https://www.rust-lang.org/en-US/install.html

See also

References

Notes

  1. Craig A. Evans; Joel N. Lohr; David L. Petersen (2012). The Book of Genesis: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation. BRILL. p. 281. ISBN 978-90-04-22657-9.
  2. Cassuto, Umberto (1972). A Commentary on the Book of Genesis Part I From Adam to Noah. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. p. 264. ISBN 978-965-223-480-3. Although the ages in our section may appear high compared with the normal human life-span, yet if we bear in mind the notions prevailing in the environment in which the Torah was written, and the impression that the reading of this section must have left on its ancient readers, they will seem, on the contrary, low and modest.
  3. Cassuto, Umberto (1972). A Commentary on the Book of Genesis Part I From Adam to Noah. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. pp. 261–262. ISBN 978-965-223-480-3. {...}the numbers five and seven are specially stressed in the text, in a way calculated to attract the reader's attention.{...}In the enumeration of Lamech's years-seven and seventy years, and seven hundred years (v.31)- the emphasis given to the number seven is even more manifest.{...}Possibly the number 365 in v.23 is intended by Scripture to provide us with the key to the understanding of our subject, as though to say: Pray do not forget that every year has 365 days.
  4. Johnson, Richard (2004). "Patriarchal Ages in Genesis" (PDF). Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith. 56: 152–153.
  5. Sexton, Jeremy (2015). "Who Was Born When Enosh Was 90? A Semantic Reevaluation of William Henry Green's Chronological Gaps". Westminster Theological Journal. 77: 193–218.
  6. Blenkinsopp, Joseph (2011). Creation, Un-creation, Re-creation: A Discursive Commentary on Genesis 1-11. T & T Clark. p. 112.
  7. Cassuto, Umberto (1972). A Commentary on the Book of Genesis Part I From Adam to Noah. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. p. 266. ISBN 978-965-223-480-3. The names of the founding fathers of the world in our chapter, beginning with Enosh, bear a remarkable resemblance to the names that appear in the family-tree of the sons of Cain.{...}the series Mahalalel-Jared-Enoch parallels, in reverse order, the series Enoch-Irad-Meḥujael{...}the similarity is striking, and cannot be regarded as fortuitous.
  8. Bandstra, Barry L. (2009). Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Wadsworth. pp. 59-60.
  9. McEntire, Mark (2008). Struggling with God: An Introduction to the Pentateuch. Mercer University Press. pp. 59–60.
  10. Hooke, S. H. (1963). Middle Eastern Mythology: From the Assyrians to the Hebrews. Penguin Books. pp. 127-128.
  11. Blenkinsopp 2011, p. 156.
  12. Gmirkin 2006, p. 140–141.
  13. Blenkinsopp 2011, p. 156–157.
  14. John Skinner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis, T&T Clark, Endinburgh (original edition 1910, this edition 1930), p. 134.
  15. Cassuto, Umberto (1974). A Commentary on the Book of Genesis Part II From Noah to Abraham. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. p. 251. ISBN 978-965-223-540-4. Also here, just as in chapter x (and in agreement with the Book of Jubilees), the Septuagint adds Kenan between Arpachshad and Shelah. Certain scholars suppose that this was the original form of the text{...}the mention of Kenan is not part of the original text, but a later interpolation of no value.
  16. Cassuto, Umberto (1972). A Commentary on the Book of Genesis Part I From Adam to Noah. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. pp. 264–5. ISBN 978-965-223-480-3. In the case of Methuselah there is a deviation only in a few MSS, which give his age at the birth of Lamech as 167 years (twenty years less than the Masoretic figure), but apparently this is a mistake, for according to this reckoning Methuselah would have survived the flood. The number 187 found in the other MSS is not a later correction to make it accord with the Masoretic text, but the original reading of the Septuagint. The error may derive from the number 67 in the Samaritan text.
  17. James Barr, 1984-85. "Why the World Was Created in 4004 BC: Archbishop Ussher and Biblical Chronology", Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester 67: 584-587, 606, 608.
  18. Anno Mundi#Jewish tradition Occasionally in Talmudic writings, reference was made to other starting points for eras, such as Destruction Era dating, being the number of years since the AD 70 destruction of the Second Temple, and the number of years since the Creation year based on the calculation in the Seder Olam Rabbah of Rabbi Jose ben Halafta in about AD 160. By his calculation, based on the Masoretic Text, Adam and Eve were created on 1st of Tishrei (Rosh Hashanah) Day 1 in 3760 BC, later confirmed by the Muslim chronologist al-Biruni as 3448 years before the Seleucid era. An example is the c. 8th-century AD Baraita of Samuel.
  19. "Birthday of Adam & Eve (3760 BC)". www.chabad.org. Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  20. "The Jewish Year". www.chabad.org. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  21. Hebrew calendar#Anno Mundi The Jewish calendar's epoch (reference date), 1 Tishrei AM 1, is equivalent to Monday, 7 October 3761 BC/BCE in the proleptic Julian calendar, the equivalent tabular date (same daylight period) and is about one year before the traditional Jewish date of Creation on 25 Elul AM 1, based upon the Seder Olam Rabbah.
  22. "Creation (3761 BC)". www.chabad.org. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  23. Robert D. Bergen (2015). "Genesis". In E. Ray Clendenen; Jeremy Royal Howard (eds.). The Holman Illustrated Bible Commentary. B&H Publishing Group. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-8054-9930-8.
  24. T. Desmond Alexander; David W. Baker, eds. (13 January 2003). Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship. InterVarsity Press. p. 739. ISBN 978-0-8308-1781-8.
  25. Karel van der Toorn; Bob Becking; Pieter Willem van der Horst, eds. (1999). Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 479. ISBN 978-0-8028-2491-2.
  26. Richard S. Hess (2007). Israelite Religions: An Archaeological and Biblical Survey. Baker Academic. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-4412-0112-6.
  27. Gabriele Boccaccini (2007). Enoch and the Messiah Son of Man: Revisiting the Book of Parables. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-8028-0377-1.
  28. For the proposed etymologies "man of the dart" or "his death shall bring judgement," see Cornwall and Stelman Smith, The Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names
  29. For the proposed etymologies "devotee of Shalach" and other possibilities, see Richard S. Hess (15 October 2007). Israelite Religions: An Archaeological and Biblical Survey. Baker Academic. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-4412-0112-6.
  30. Proposals include "rest", "comfort", and "settle down" (in an agricultural sense). Robert Gnuse (20 March 2014). Misunderstood Stories: Theological Commentary on Genesis 1-11. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-63087-157-4.
  31. David Mandel (1 January 2010). Who's Who in the Jewish Bible. Jewish Publication Society. pp. 42–43. ISBN 978-0-8276-1029-3.
  32. David Mandel (2007). The Ultimate Who's Who in the Bible. Bridge-Logos. p. 587. ISBN 978-0-88270-372-5.
  33. J. D. Douglas; Merrill C. Tenney, eds. (3 May 2011). Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Harper Collins. p. 382. ISBN 978-0-310-49235-1.
  34. Arthur J. Bellinzoni. Old Testament: An Introduction to Biblical Scholarship. Prometheus Books, Publishers. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-61592-264-2.
  35. Francis Brown (1899), "Serug." In Cheyne and Black, eds., Encyclopaedia Biblica.
  36. Hebrews 11:5 Archived 2008-09-18 at the Wayback Machine, King James Version.
  37. Genesis 5:24 Archived 2009-03-02 at the Wayback Machine, King James Version.
  38. "Genesis 11:10 KJV: These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:". biblehub.com. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  39. Jasher 5:18 And Noah was five hundred and two years old when Naamah bore Shem, and the boys grew up and went in the ways of the Lord, in all that Methuselah and Noah their father taught them.
  40. Mishneh Torah. pp. Section: Sanctification of the Moon 11.16.
  41. See The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries
  42. Tøndering, Claus (2014). "The Hebrew Calendar". www.tondering.dk. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  43. Landau, Remy (February 16, 2005). "Is Creation at AM 1 or AM 2?". hebrewcalendar.tripod.com. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  44. "Calendar — when does it start". strangeside.com. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  45. "Genesis 1:14 KJV: And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:". biblehub.com. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
  46. "NEW-YEAR - JewishEncyclopedia.com". www.jewishencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  47. "Genesis 5:32 KJV: And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth". biblehub.com. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  48. "Genesis 9:24 KJV: And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him". biblehub.com. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  49. "Genesis 10:21 KJV: Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born". biblehub.com. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  50. "Genesis 5:27 KJV: And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died". biblehub.com. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  51. "Genesis 7:7 KJV: And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood". biblehub.com. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
  52. "Genesis 7:23 KJV: And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark". biblehub.com. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
  53. "Genesis 7:6 KJV: And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth". biblehub.com. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  54. "Genesis 7:11 KJV: In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened". biblehub.com. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
  55. Cassuto, Umberto (1972). A Commentary on the Book of Genesis Part I From Adam to Noah. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. p. 264. ISBN 978-965-223-480-3. In the Septuagint,{...}the figures for the years prior to the birth of the first son show divergences in most instances,{...}For Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, and Enoch, the number is higher than that of the Masorah by a century
  56. Cassuto, Umberto (1974). A Commentary on the Book of Genesis Part II From Noah to Abraham. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-965-223-540-4. In the Samaritan Pentateuch, the ages of the patriarchs at the time of birth of the first son, from Arpachshad to Serug, exceed those of the Masoretic text by a hundred years;{...}In the Septuagint{...}In most cases, the father's age at the birth of his first-born is identical with that of the Samaritan recension (in some MSS the age of Nahor exceeds that given in the Samaritan Pentateuch by a hundred years),{...}
  57. Ralph W. Klein, "Archaic Chronologies and the Textual History of the Old Testament", Harvard Theol Review, 67 (1974), pp. 255-263.
  58. Gerhard Larsson, "The Chronology of the Pentateuch: A Comparison of the MT and LXX", Journal of Biblical Literature, 102 (1983), pp. 401-409.
  59. Emanual Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), pp. 11, 352.
  60. See e.g. the Septuagint text of Genesis 5 in Myriobiblos or the text offered by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the Hellenic Bible Society.
  61. Charles M. Laymon (editor), The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible, Abingdon Press, Nashville (1971), p. 1227.
  62. Emanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (1992), pp. 11, 352.
  63. Cassuto, Umberto (1972). A Commentary on the Book of Genesis Part I From Adam to Noah. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. p. 253. ISBN 978-965-223-480-3. Every one who reads our section is amazed at the great ages attained by the patriarchs of the world, which far exceed the normal bounds of human life. Apologists have, indeed, attempted in various ways to lend credibility to the figures, but these attempts cannot be regarded seriously. To this category, for instance, belongs the hypothesis that the years mentioned here are not years of twelve months each, but much shorter periods of time. It cannot be questioned that words like nine hundred years mean, quite literally, what they state.
  64. Joseph Blenkinsopp, The Pentateuch, Doubleday (1992), p. 74, ISBN 0-385-41207-X.
  65. Coogan, Michael David. The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. THIRD ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2014, p. 78
  66. Jöran Friberg. A Remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical Texts. p. 241-2. The list of kings and the years of their reigns in the antediluvian part of the Sumerian king list has often been likened to the list of biblical partiarchs in Genesis V.{...}As mentioned already, unrealistically huge numbers are used in the king list for the "legendary reigns" of the antediluvial kings, of the kings of the three first dynasties in Kish, and of kings of the first dynasty in Uruk, while more realistic numbers seem to be used for the "historical reigns" of the remaining dynasties. (Similarly, as was shown above, unrealistically large numbers are used in the list of patriarchs in Genesis V.){...}It is difficult to see any mathematical pattern behind the numbers in any one of the antediluvian king lists, just as behind the numbers in the list of patriarchs in Genesis V.
  67. Cassuto, Umberto (1972). A Commentary on the Book of Genesis Part I From Adam to Noah. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. pp. 254–262. ISBN 978-965-223-480-3.

Bibliography

  • Sexton, Jeremy. "Who Was Born When Enosh Was 90? A Semantic Reevaluation of William Henry Green's Chronological Gaps," Westminster Theological Journal 77 (2015): 193-218 (pastorsexton.com/articles)
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