Timeline: Adam to Abraham

More human history happened between Adam and Abraham than any other period. The time implied by this interval is captured in the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11. The key for finding the right overall time for this interval is hidden away in Luke. That key forces most, but not all, of the life spans in Genesis to be run together end-to-end.

Background

The previous Theory Chapter covered foundational Bible Timeline issues, counting fatherhood, and how genealogies are decorated with age lengths that are usually run together end-to-end. Now it is time to address the trunk time line and at span the time from Adam to Abraham...

SO: "How long was it from Adam to Abraham?"

The raw data we need to answer this question seems rather simple. Genesis chapters 5 and 11 provide genealogies which string together a list of names and life spans. From this we can apparently construct the overarching calendar for this period. The following table contains the data from these chapters in Genesis.

The dates given for Noah are similar to the previous men but the flood interrupts things and takes on the same literary role as fatherhood for the earlier men. The following is what we know about Noah:

Past Noah the structure of Genesis changes. First we are given a specific detail dealing with Shem that will re-sync his life to the flood:

From here to Abraham there is only two numbers given for each man. We are not given the total, only the age at fatherhood and the remaining years. The following table summarizes the data provided.

The last fellow before Abraham is Terah and the data given for him is also slightly different. The total life span is given again. This is similar to the earlier list and starts to follow a pattern we’ll see again in later generations. The following is what we are given for Terah.

This data is the raw material given in Genesis that provide the framework for figuring out the amount of time between Adam and Abraham. No where else is there such an exhaustive list, the other lists that do exist only provide names. One of those lists disagrees with the list provided in Genesis. That list is provided in Luke. We turn there now.

Luke’s Objection

Luke chapter 3 echos the chronology of Genesis, but with one important addition. In Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus, he records Jesus’ genealogy. This genealogy of Jesus starts with Adam, just like Genesis, but there is a difference. Luke’s genealogy does not agree with the genealogy in Genesis. This is a New Testament key to Time in the Bible, a key that removes a veil from proper understanding of the overall chronology of the Bible.

The following table shows the two versions side by side for the family tree through Abraham.

Reconciling Genesis and Luke

There is a simple reconciliation between Luke and Genesis, one that has dramatic impact on the chronology implied by the dates given in Genesis alone.

The word for father is best translated into English as ancestor. Most modern translations footnote this in the Genesis genealogies. If we take this meaning from the Hebrew genealogy of Genesis, the two lists are in agreement. Arphaxad is the ancestor of Shelah, through, Luke adds, Cainan.

If we accept that these two books of the Bible are in agreement, and they should be, they were both "God Breathed" and are both authoritative, we must decide what God meant by the life lengths provided only in Genesis.

How can the numbers provided in Genesis mean anything useful if Cainan actually lived between Arphaxad and Shelah?

The answer is rather simple. Genesis tells us that Arphaxad became the ancestor of Shelah when he was 35 years old. (Gen 11:12) The man actually born at this point must have been Cainan, or some other unnamed relative, who then became the ancestor of Shelah.

This reconciliation works with the Hebrew and Greek, and reconciles the genealogy, but when was Shelah born? What number are we to use to determine his first year of life?

The answer is simple. The last year of Arphaxad’s life, the only other number given, must be telling us the start of Shelah’s life.

End to end? Yes.

This is in a pattern used directly in Exodus Chapter 6. Here, in a similar genealogy, only the overall life length is given and we are expected to run them together end-to-end, just like here in Genesis.

So Genesis really says that here are a bunch of men. Each became the ancestor of the next at a certain age. The life span of the next man in the list begins when the previous one ends. This is consistent with the Hebrew, with the New Testament, and with Exodus. It also makes the total amount of time covered by this list much longer than if these generations overlap.

There is another article on this problem, called Defining 'Fathers' if this does not make sense. Read it for more.

Not all generations overlap this way. In an interesting twist, some of the generations are what we in modern English would call "true father/son" relationships. We turn to those now.

True Sons

Though most of the life lengths given in Genesis are to be run together end-to-end, not all of the life spans work this way. Genesis uses an important literary device to show when there is a true father/son pair as we think of it today.

In a language where the normal word for father also includes the meaning for grand-father and great-grand-father and great-great-grand-father back to any number of generations, a different word must be used to indicate immediate father/son pairs.

These tight pairs happen when the father is said to have named the son. This is something that only immediate fathers do. Adam names Seth(Gen 4:25-27), Seth names Enosh(Gen 4:26) and Lamech names Noah (Gen 5:29) so each of these are immediate father son pairs.

There is a forth case. Noah really is the father of Shem. We know this because his family of 8 all ride in the ark together. No other generation went along for that ride.

The fact that these four are specifically identified as having named their sons, and that the author of Genesis deliberately excepts the standard meaning "ancestor" for the Hebrew word for "father" is itself a confirmation that both forms of meaning are used in the Genesis account.

Fathers Name Sons in What Year?

To complicate matters we need to pay attention to the way Genesis tells us about the fathers naming their sons.

Children were not named until they were at least 8 days old. This means that the child was in their first year of life when they were named. This first year of life is the same year as the father whose age is being given at the naming.

This has an important ramification to how the genealogies overlap. Adam named Seth when Adam was in his 130th year. Seth, when he was named, was in his first year. The arithmetic difference between these two ages is 129 years, not 130 as we would quickly leap to if we are not very careful.

If this does not make sense read another article called Counting Numbers for more.

Noah’s Sons

Noah presents a further puzzle. At first glance all seems well. The following is the starting point for this.

The key word in this verse is after. Compare the text of Genesis 5:3 where the word after does not occur. In Adam and Seth’s time Adam is 130, and Seth is 1, and these are in the same year. Here with Noah’s sons the year before the year of interest is being named. Is it the year 501 when Shem is born? How do we know?

Further details are seen in in other verses. The age relationship between Shem, the son through whom the time sequence is given, is found later. Here is the verse in question.

This links the age relationship between Noah and Shem. How? Because in two places(Gen 7:6) (Gen 7:11) we are told that the flood happened on the earth when Noah was 600 years old. The year after the flood would be Noah’s 601st year. Two years after the flood would be the year that Noah was 602 years old. In this year, then, Shem is 100 years old and the new son is born and is 1 year old.

1 based math usually counts the first year in question. In this case 1 based math works. The flood took 2 years. Noah’s 600 and 601st years. It was on the 27th day of the 2nd month in Noah’s 601st year when they came out of the ark.(Gen 8:13) This is year 1 in 1 based math. Year 2 is Noah’s 602nd year. The same conclusion as just drawn.

Shem must have had his very first year 99 years earlier. To get Shem’s first year we take Noah’s 602nd year and subtract 99. ( 602 - 99 = 503 ) So Shem is born and has his first year in Noah’s 503rd year.

This is indeed after Noah’s 500th year but not exactly, and not deducible in any other way. It explains why Shem’s age is given relative to the flood dates.

Abraham’s Birth

Abraham’s original name was Abram. It was changed after the covenant was more firmly established between him and God. Abram’s father was Terah. Terah’s account begins at Genesis 11:26.

Unlike other generations, there is no reason at this generation to think that the birth order is different than that listed, so the assumption is that this is the birth order, Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Also, this account uses the keyword "after" to indicate that it is not year 70 that is in focus here, but the year 71. The first of Terah’s sons, Abram, must have been born in Terah’s 71st year.

Summary

The details that drive the chronology have all been covered. The following table summarizes the results of the math implied by each of the choices covered in this section.

Not mentioned in this table, but important anyway, is Noah's flood. This flood happened in 6020 AA, and lasted into early 6021 AA.

Though not mentioned, the choice of placing year 1 in Adam’s first year is an epoch selection. This is the starting epoch for all measurements of time relative to Adam.

Notes

This page has attracted more attention than nearly any other on the Bible Time website. This is often the first page read by someone arriving from Google.

I regularly get email from someone who has only read this article and is objecting to this rendering of the Bible Chronology, mostly because they haven’t read the earlier articles in this series.

If you are really stunned, or think I have made any gross mistakes, then I suggest you read the earlier articles first. Those articles start with Time Theory.

This entire chronology is confirmed by text in the New Testament in various places. A good place to see this is the Grand Tour which follows the Book of Matthew.

Jesus' life itself also followed this chronology, 1 day for each of the years above. Those articles begin with Finding Jesus' Life Dates.

Further Reading

The Most Important Biblical Discovery of Our Time": William Henry Green and the Demise of Ussher’s Chronology. by Ronald L. Numbers is an article that I did not write that explains the history of the problems with the famous, but flawed, 4004 BC dating of creation. Important foundational document if you are serious about understanding Bible Chronology. I deal with Ussher's mistakes in the immediately previous article The Genealogy Classroom: Exodus 6.

A printed copy of the Henry Green article was dropped on my desk by a student in Bible College who thought I might be interested. I was, you may be also. Ussher has been known wrong for over 150 years.

Once you have read that article, and if you still have questions, please write.

I’ll try and answer any specific questions you may have.