Genealogies of Genesis

Template:Short description Template:Multiple issues Template:Bible related The genealogies of Genesis provide the framework around which the Book of Genesis is structured.<ref name="EvansLohr2012">Template:Cite book</ref> Beginning with Adam, genealogical material in Genesis 4, 5, 10, 11, 22, 25, 29–30, 35–36, and 46 moves the narrative forward from the creation to the beginnings of the Israelites' existence as a people.Template:Citation needed

Adam's lineage in Genesis contains two branches: Chapter 4 giving the descendants of Cain, and Chapter 5 that for Seth that is then continued in later chapters. Chapter 10 gives the Generations of Noah (also called the Table of Nations) that records the populating of the Earth by Noah's descendants, and is not strictly a genealogy but an ethnography.Template:Citation needed

Genesis 5 and Genesis 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 long, but could have been considered modest in comparison to the ages given in other works (for instance, the Sumerian King List).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Overall, the ages display clear mathematical patterns, leading some people to conclude that number symbolism was used to construct them.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Versions

Nearly all modern translations of Genesis are derived from the Masoretic Text, but there are also two other versions of Genesis: the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint (a Greek translation of a Hebrew text).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.Template:Citation needed The Samaritan Pentateuch is held sacred by the Samaritans.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Cain and Seth

Genesis names three children of Adam and Eve, Cain, Abel and Seth. A genealogy tracing the descendants of Cain is given in Template:Bibleverse, while the line from Seth down to Noah appears in Template:Bibleverse. 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.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is "as if they were different versions of the same underlying tradition."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Hooke>Template:Cite book</ref>

Generations of Noah

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Following the Genesis flood narrative, a large multi-branched genealogy presents the descendants of the sons of Noah. (Template:Bibleverse) 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.Template:Sfn The peoples and places are not organised by geography, language family or ethnic groups,Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

Abraham's family tree

Template:Further The following is a family tree{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Fix }} for the descendants of the line of Noah's son Shem, through Abraham to Jacob and his sons. Dashed lines are marriage connections. Template:Abraham Family Tree

Genesis chrono-genealogy

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:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Methuselah survived the flood according to the Septuagint (but not the Vulgate), even though he was not on Noah's Ark.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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.Template:Citation needed

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.<ref name=":3">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.</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> The epoch for this calendar system is 3761 BC.<ref>Hebrew calendar#Anno Mundi

The Jewish calendar's epoch (reference date), 1 Tishrei AM 1, is equivalent to Monday, 7 October 3761 BC 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.</ref><ref name=":4" />

(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)
Patriarch	Meaning		Birth	Son	Remain	Lived	Death		Birth	Son	Remain	Lived	Death		Birth	Son	Remain	Lived	Death		Wife/Wives/etc
Template:Hstrong's	"humanity"<ref name="ClendenenHoward2015">Template:Cite book</ref>		0	Template:Maybe	800	Template:Yes	930		0	Template:Maybe	800	Template:Yes	930		0	Template:No	700	Template:Yes	930		Eve
Template:Hstrong's	possibly "substitution"<ref name="AlexanderBaker2003">Template:Cite book</ref>		130	Template:Maybe	807	Template:Yes	1042		130	Template:Maybe	807	Template:Yes	1042		230	Template:No	707	Template:Yes	1142
Template:Hstrong's	"humanity"<ref name="ClendenenHoward2015" />		235	Template:Maybe	815	Template:Yes	1140		235	Template:Maybe	815	Template:Yes	1140		435	Template:No	715	Template:Yes	1340
Template:Hstrong's	etymology uncertain<ref name="ToornBecking1999">Template:Cite book</ref>		325	Template:Maybe	840	Template:Yes	1235		325	Template:Maybe	840	Template:Yes	1235		625	Template:No	740	Template:Yes	1535
Template:Hstrong's	"praising El" / "praise of El"<ref name="Hess2007">Template:Cite book</ref>		395	Template:Maybe	830	Template:Yes	1290		395	Template:Maybe	830	Template:Yes	1290		795	Template:No	730	Template:Yes	1690
Template:Hstrong's	"to descend"<ref name="Hess2007" />		460	Template:Maybe	800	Template:Maybe	1422		460	Template:No	785	Template:No	1307		960	Template:Maybe	800	Template:Maybe	1922
Template:Hstrong's	etymology uncertain<ref name="Boccaccini2007">Template:Cite book</ref>		622	Template:Maybe	300	Template:Yes	987		522	Template:Maybe	300	Template:Yes	887		1122	Template:No	200	Template:Yes	1487
Template:Hstrong's	meaning uncertain<ref>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</ref><ref>For the proposed etymologies "devotee of Shalach" and other possibilities, see Template:Cite book</ref>		687	Template:Maybe	782	Template:Maybe	1656		587	Template:No	653	Template:No	1307		1287	Template:Maybe	782	Template:Maybe	2256
Template:Hstrong's	meaning unknown<ref name="Hess2007"/>		874	Template:No	595	Template:No	1651		654	Template:No	600	Template:No	1307		1454	Template:No	565	Template:No	2207
Template:Hstrong's	meaning uncertain<ref name="Gnuse2014">Proposals include "rest", "comfort", and "settle down" (in an agricultural sense). Template:Cite book</ref>		1056	Template:Yes	—	Template:Yes	2006		707	Template:Yes	—	Template:Yes	1657		1642	Template:Yes	—	Template:Yes	2592
Template:Hstrong's	name		1558	Template:Yes	500	Template:Yes	2158		1209	Template:Yes	500	Template:Yes	1809		2144	Template:Yes	500	Template:Yes	2744
Template:Hstrong's	meaning uncertain<ref name="Mandel2010">Template:Cite book</ref>		1658	Template:No	403	Template:Maybe	2096		1309	Template:Maybe	303	Template:Maybe	1747		2244	Template:Maybe	430	Template:No	2809
Template:Gstrong's	meaning uncertain<ref name="ToornBecking1999" />		—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—	—		2379	Template:No	330	Template:No	2839
Template:Hstrong's	branch<ref name="Mandel2007">Template:Cite book</ref>		1693	Template:No	403	Template:Maybe	2126		1444	Template:Maybe	303	Template:Maybe	1877		2509	Template:Maybe	330	Template:No	2969
Template:Hstrong's	possibly "traveler"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>		1723	Template:No	430	Template:No	2187		1574	Template:Maybe	270	Template:Maybe	1978		2639	Template:Maybe	270	Template:Maybe	3043
Template:Hstrong's	etymology disputed<ref name="Bellinzoni">Template:Cite book</ref>		1757	Template:No	209	Template:Maybe	1996		1708	Template:Maybe	109	Template:Maybe	1947		2773	Template:Maybe	209	Template:No	3112
Template:Hstrong's	possibly "shepherd" or "friend"<ref name="Bellinzoni" />		1787	Template:No	207	Template:Maybe	2026		1838	Template:Maybe	107	Template:Maybe	2077		2903	Template:Maybe	207	Template:No	3242
Template:Hstrong's	Sarug (name of a city)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>		1819	Template:No	200	Template:Maybe	2049		1970	Template:Maybe	100	Template:Maybe	2200		3035	Template:Maybe	200	Template:No	3365
Template:Hstrong's	snorting		1849	Template:No	119	Template:Maybe	1997		2100	Template:No	69	Template:Maybe	2248		3165	Template:No	125	Template:No	3469
Template:Hstrong's	etymology debated<ref name="Bellinzoni" />		1878	Template:Yes	135	Template:No	2083		2179	Template:Yes	75	Template:No	2324		3344	Template:Yes	205	Template:No	3619
Template:Hstrong's	exalted father		1948	Template:Yes	—	Template:Yes	2123		2249	Template:Yes	—	Template:Yes	2424		3414	Template:Yes	—	Template:Yes	3589		Sarai; (Hagar); Keturah

¹According to most interpretations, including the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews, Enoch did not die,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Primary source inline 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."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Primary source inline

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.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Primary source inline The extra-biblical Book of Jasher also mentions that Noah was 502 years old when his wife Naamah bore Shem.<ref>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.</ref>Template:Primary source inline

Number symbolism

The following table lists all the ages of the patriarchs from Adam to Moses in the Masoretic Text, which add up to 12,600.<ref name="north">Template:Cite book</ref>

Patriarchs	Age	Patriarchs	Age
1. Adam	930	14. Eber	464
2. Seth	912	15. Peleg	239
3. Enosh	905	16. Reu	239
4. Kenon	910	17. Serug	230
5. Mehalalel	895	18. Nahor	148
6. Jared	962	19. Terah	205
7. Enoch	365	20. Abraham	175
8. Methuselah	969	21. Isaac	180
9. Lamech	777	22. Jacob	147
10. Noah	950	23. Levi	137
11. Shem	600	24. Kohath	133
12. Arpachshad	438	25. Amram	137
13. Shelah	433	26. Moses	120
TOTAL			12,600

The value of 12,600 is a variant of the symbolic value of 1,260 later used in the Book of Revelation (e.g. Rev. 11:2–11; 12:4–6, 11; 13:5Template:Primary source inline), although may derive from earlier traditions.Template:Citation needed Another example of the numerical schema of 12,600 can be found in the War Scroll discovered at Qumran, where "the Sons of Light shall fight against the Sons of Darkness in the final days for a period of 35 years. Employing the Jewish luni-solar calendar of the 360-day year, 35 years equals 12,600 days."<ref name="north" /> The patriarchal ages were individually selected to achieve this total.Template:Citation needed

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).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Primary source inline 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,<ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the creation of Adam was on 1 Tishrei (Rosh Hashanah) in Anno Mundi 2<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which corresponds to 3760 BC.<ref name=":3" /><ref>See The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries</ref> 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 BC.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.Template:Citation needed

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".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Primary source inline 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Primary source inline and Noah's sons each having an age difference,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Primary source inline 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.<ref name=":0" />

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Primary source inline Since Methuselah was not mentioned in Genesis among those who were aboard the ark,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Primary source inline it is possible that his death came in the same year of the flood.Template:Citation needed

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Primary source inline 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.Template:Citation needed

Differences in the 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Some scholars<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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,<ref name="Tov">Template:Cite book</ref> 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,<ref>See e.g. the Septuagint text of Genesis 5 in Template:Citation or the text offered by the Template:Citation</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This would be centuries older than the proto–Masoretic Text selected as the official text by the Masoretes.<ref name="Tov"/>

The Genesis 5 ages were presumably intended to be read at face value, as years and not months.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

There is one discrepancy between the antediluvian chronologies of different texts of the Septuagint - the age at which Methuselah gave birth to Lamech: 167 or 187 years. Because of this, the date of the Flood is shifted by 20 years. This difference is probably due to the different lists of the Septuagint from which the translation was made. For example, according to Lucianic version of the Septuagint (end of the 3rd century), the Flood was in 2242, and according to the Code of Alexandria of the Septuagint the Flood was in 2262 from cm. (as in the printed editions of the Septuagint, for example, the Frankfurt Bible or the reconstruction of G. B. Sweet; as well as in the Church Slavonic translation of the Elizabethan Bible).Template:Citation needed

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."<ref>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</ref>

Similar Mesopotamian traditions

The genealogies of Genesis have been likened to the Sumerian King List.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Some versions of the latter (not including the oldest known version, where no flood is mentioned)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

See also

• Chronology of the Bible
• Genealogies in the Bible
• Genealogy of Jesus
• List of oldest fathers

References

Bibliography

• Template:Cite book
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite bookTemplate:SndReviewed by Margaret C. Miller in Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2002
• Template:Cite book

External links

• 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)