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The Bible provides the following information in relation to the Creation
to the calling of Abraham.
FROM GENESIS 5:3-31,7:6,11,9:28-29
* Fathered * * Thereafter * * Total *
Adam 130 800 930
Seth 105 807 912
Enosh 90 815 905
Cainan 70 840 910
Mahalaleel 65 830 895
Jared 162 800 962
Enoch 65 300 365
Methuselah 187 782 969
Lamech 182 595 777
Noah to Flood 600 350 950
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1,656
[ NB: The way the 'fathered' and the 'thereafter' values
always equal the 'total' value, suggests that the
'thereafter' number is a record of each persons
additional birthdays. ]
FROM GENESIS 11:10-26
* Fathered * * Thereafter *
Shem 2
Arphaxad 35 403
Salah 30 403
Eber 34 430
Peleg 30 209
Reu 32 207
Serug 30 200
Nahor 29 119
Terah 70
Abraham
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292
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These figures need to be understood in light of the following.
A) As previously mentioned, what we see in the information presented
for the Adam to Flood period is the age when they became a father,
plus the subsequent number of years, always equals their age at
death.
This suggests that additional year counts are entirely counted
based on the passing of their birth day markers.
B) Another critical issue to identify is :- That the English terms
'begot' or 'father of' found in Genesis should be understood
to mean 'fathered'. The reference is to when the child is born!
C) We are not advised of the exact birth date of Noah.
Genesis 7:11 states Noah was living his 600th year when the Deluge
began on the 17th day of the second month.
Genesis 7:6 states Noah was six hundred years old when the flood
of waters were upon the earth. In other words, during the entire
period of the Deluge it happens that Noah was living in his 600th
year of life.
Gen 7:6 Noah was six hundred years old when the
floodwaters were on the earth.
The waters of the Deluge were upon the earth until late in the
eleventh month. Following this Noah sent out the birds. Any time
after the period of the Deluge, and before the 17th day of the
second month of the following year, Noah would become one year
older.
However, Genesis 8:13 states that the 1st day of the 1st month
of the next year was the 601st year.
Gen 8:13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and
first year, in the first month, the first
day of the month, that the waters were dried
up from the earth; ...
Possibly just naming the next year as 601, because Noah would
turn 601 in that year.
D) Many people when assembling the chronology of the Creation to Abraham
period do not take into account the effect of accumulated months.
The way years are counted in English, a person's age is determined
on the basis of how many full years they have lived. However, in
Scripture a person's age is determined according to the year they
are living! An example of this can be seen in the verses mentioning
the age of Noah.
Gen 7:6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood
of waters was on the earth.
7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life in
the second month, the seventeenth day of the
month, on that day all the foundations of
the great deep were broken up, and the
windows of heaven were opened.
Hence, Scripture is saying Noah is 600 years old (Gen 7:6), but he
was actually living his 600th year of life (Gen 7:11). In current
English culture it would be said that he was only 599 years old.
As a result of this, those biblical chronologists who ignore this
issue tend to overstate the actual number of years which have
elapsed.
To only count completed years of life we have the following revised
ages for each person.
Adam 129 Arphaxad 34
Seth 104 Salah 29
Enosh 89 Eber 33
Cainan 69 Peleg 29
Mahalaleel 64 Reu 31
Jared 161 Serug 29
Enoch 64 Nahor 28
Methuselah 186 Terah 69
Lamech 181
Noah to Flood 599
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1,646 282
E) While the apparent minimum tally from Adam to the Flood (including
the Flood year) is 1,646 years, there is another issue which has
to be taken into account.
Methuselah died at 969 years of age.
Hence, the minimum number of years is:
Adam 129 plus a few days
Seth 104 plus a few days
Enosh 89 plus a few days
Cainan 69 plus a few days
Mahalaleel 64 plus a few days
Jared 161 plus a few days
Enoch 64 plus a few days
Methuselah 968 plus a few days
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1,648 plus several days
So the earliest Flood year is the 1,649th year!
F) The Flood lasted a period of less than one year.
For a fuller discussion, refer FLOOD CHRONOLOGY
[ The waters of the Deluge rose and receded over a span of
300 days. Starting from the 17th day of the 2nd month and
finishing on the 16th day of the 12th month. This was
followed by 14 days of the ground drying.
The incorrect rendering of Gen 8:14, which refers to the
subsequent 27th day of the 2nd month is as a result of
translators failing to properly grasp the intended meaning
of this verse. They have improperly taken a Hebrew word
which means to 'be ashamed, confused or disappointed'
and translated the word as 'dried' or 'dry'. ]
G) Genesis 11:10 states Shem fathered Arphaxad two years after the
Flood.
Genesis 5:32 states that the father of Arphaxad, Shem, was himself
born when Noah was 500 years of age.
Genesis 11:10 states Shem was only 100 years of age when Arphaxad
was born.
Some have thought the arrangement can not be supported by merely
placing the birth of Shem late in the 500th year of Noah and the
birth of Arphaxad late in the 100th year of Shem.
There has been a tendency to try and teach that the 'two years'
in Gen 11:10 represents two full years. This view has then been
used to promote the view that the sons of Noah began to be born
in Noah's 500th year. (Similar to the view often promoted with
the three sons of Terah.)
In addition, there has been the view that years counted in respect
to genealogy are somehow counted differently to years counted for
the reign of the kings.
How Does the Bible Count Time
The bible is consistent in the way it counts time, but
wording differences are important.
1) Concerning the age of people, birthday markers are counted.
2) If a text says 'after' a certain number of years (or days),
then it is counting the end of year (or day) closures.
So 'after two years' means after the current year and after
the next year.
3) If a text is spanning time between two events then it is
counting both years. Included portions of the initial year
and the finishing year are both counted as full years.
Hence, the elapsed time between an initial event occurring
towards the end of a year and a finishing event occurring
at the start of the next year would be 'two years'.
This is the method of counting frequently noticed with
the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah.
4) Attention always has to be given to specific wording, as
sometimes the Hebrew text varies:
1) stating the count of years applies to years
which are 'full of days',
2) defining the actual full span of time which
has elapsed. Cases where the initial event
and the subsequent event occur upon exactly
the same day of the year.
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In Genesis 11:10 we have two events linked by a time of 'two years'.
 'Year of Two' or 'two years'.
[NB: The same usage found in 1Kings 15:25 and 16:8,
discussing the reigns of Nadab and Elah.
Where the kings died the following year,
1Kings 15:28 and 16:10. ]
In Genesis 11:10 we are also trying to link two events. The first
being 'after the Flood' and the second being the birth of Arphaxad.
The Deluge ended during the 600th year of Noah, after the passing
of 40 days of Deluge (understood in this site as representing forty
'seventh' days, i.e. a total of 280 days).
Nevertheless, after this duration there still remained days when
the waters would recede further and when the ground would dry.
So in summary, the first of the 'two years' was the later portion
of the 600th year, while the second year was the portion of the
601st year before Arphaxad was born.
Hence, the 'two years' comment of Genesis 11:10 does not require
the inclusion into the chronology of any additional years.
SUMMARY
The details of the Adam to Arphaxad period can be quite confusing.
Hopefully the following will help to clarify.
Year When Person Yr of Life Extra Son Born Year
Born Son Born Days
day 1, yr 1 Adam 130th few 129 yr + few days
early 130 Seth 105th few 234 yr + few days
early 234 Enosh 90th few 323 yr + few days
early 323 Cainan 70th few 392 yr + few days
early 392 Mahalaleel 65th few 456 yr + few days
early 456 Jared 162nd few 617 yr + few days
early 617 Enoch 65th few 681 yr + few days
early 681 Methuselah 187th many 868 yr
868 Lamech 182nd many 1050 yr
1050 Noah 500th many 1550 yr
1550 Shem 100th many early 1650 yr
early 1650 Arphaxad
From this compilation the following can be noticed;
1) Methuselah was born in the 681st year and as we know he died
after living a further 968 complete years (dying shortly
afterwards in his 969th year). He died in the year of the
Flood. In the 1649th year.
The circumstances of his death are not known, but given his
age it is quite possible he died of old age prior to the
unleashing of the Deluge.
2) Arphaxad was born in the 1650th year. The year immediately
following the Flood.
We need to take into account that Noah fathers Shem in his
500th year and Shem fathers Arphaxad in his 100th year. If
Noah and Shem father late in their respect years of life,
then the time which may have elapsed could be approaching
600 years.
However, what this means is that Noah would have to start
his 601st year of life after the birth of Arphaxad (in
the year 1650), but before the anniversary of the start
of the Flood in that year.
This also means that if Noah completes 600 full years of
life in year 1650, then he has to have been born in the
year 1050.
3) Noah lives into his 950th year.
Born early in the year 1050 he will die before his 950th
birthday. His 950th birthday occurs in the year 2000.
So in summary, after taking all the above points into consideration and
converting the numbers to the English form of counting, we can arrive at
the following 'minimum' compilation;
* Adjusted *
Adam (130-1) 129
Seth (105-1) 104
Enosh ( 90-1) 89
Cainan ( 70-1) 69
Mahalaleel ( 65-1) 64
Jared (162-1) 161
Enoch ( 65-1) 64
Methuselah (969-1) 968 1,648
Flood Year 1 1
Shem ( 2-2) -
Arphaxad ( 35-1) 34
Salah ( 30-1) 29
Eber ( 34-1) 33
Peleg ( 30-1) 29
Reu ( 32-1) 31
Serug ( 30-1) 29
Nahor ( 29-1) 28
Terah ( 70-1) 69 282
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1,931 full years
So, having resolved the Adam to Terah period, it is now necessary
to consider the timing of the calling of Abraham.
CALLING OF ABRAHAM
At what age was Abraham when he was called by God to enter the
Promised Land of Canaan?
Genesis 12:4 indicates Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from
Haran and entered Canaan. However, a more literal rendering of this
verse reads as follows;
Gen 12:4 And Abram a son of five years and seventy years
when he departed from Haran. ....
In Genesis 12:4 it is not necessarily wrong to translate the Hebrew
as 75 years, but the verse can also be understood to be saying Abraham
was at this time a son (i.e. 'builder') of both 5 years and 70 years!
[NB: God sometimes uses the Hebrew term 'son' to refer to
the number of years since He has called a person. Refer
1Sam 13:1 in the NKJV. This situation is also encountered
in relation to the age of Joseph when he appeared before
Pharaoh (Gen 41:46).]
What is possibly being suggested is;
1) This was the 70th year since Abraham's birth, and
2) The 5th year since God had called him to leave
Mesopotamia.
Please refer to;
| PEOPLES AGES MENTIONED IN GENESIS |
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[NB: It is not unusual in Genesis for the lower number of years
to be stated before the greater value, but it is unusual
for this order to be encountered in conjunction with the
term 'son of'. ]
Understanding that Abraham left Haran when he was 70 years old, ie
he was living his 70th year, would mean that in English terms he was
69 years old.
* Adjusted *
Creation to birth of Abraham 1,931
Age of Abraham when he enters Canaan 69
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2,000 full years
Therefore, the minimum number of years which could have past prior to
the calling of Abraham to leave Haran and to enter the land of Canaan
was 2,000 years!
Placing this calling of Abraham in the 2001st year.
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