Genealogies of Genesis

The genealogies of Genesis (in chapters 4, 5 and 11 of the Book of Genesis) record the descendants of Adam and Eve to Abraham, including the age at which each patriarch fathered his named son and the number of years he lived thereafter. The genealogy contains two branches: for Cain, given in Chapter 4, and for Seth in Chapter 5. Genesis chapter 10, the Table of Nations records the populating of the Earth by Noah's descendants, and is not strictly a genealogy but an ethnography).

Enumerated genealogy

Three versions of the Genesis genealogy exist: the Hebrew Masoretic Text, the Greek Septuagint, and the Hebrew 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. The Vulgate, published by Jerome in 405, is a Latin translation based on a Hebrew Tanakh compiled near the end of the first century, whereas the Septuagint was reportedly written by seventy translators in Egypt near the middle of the third century BC based on an earlier version of the Tanakh. Both of these translations have, like the Masoretic Text, been the basis for translations into numerous vernacular languages.

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. (AM = Anno Mundi = in the year of the world). 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. Methuselah survived the Flood according to the Vatican text of the Septuagint (but not the Vulgate), even though he was not on Noah's Ark. Other manuscripts of the Septuagint, such as the Codex Alexandrinus, have Methuselah dying before the Flood.

	Vulgate			Septuagint
Patriarch	Birth	Son	Death	Birth	Son	Death
Adam	AM 1	130	930	AM 1	230	930
Seth	130	105	912	230	205	912
Enos or Enosh	235	90	905	435	190	905
Cainan or Kenan	325	70	910	625	170	910
Mahalaleel	395	65	895	795	165	895
Jared	460	162	962	960	162	962
Enoch	622	65	365²	1122	165	365¹
Methuselah	687	187	969	1287	167	969
Lamech	874	182	777	1454	188	753
Noah	1056	500	950	1642	500	950
Shem	1556	100	600	2142	100	600
Flood	1656	—	—	2242	—	—
Arphaxad	1656	35	438	2242	135	535
Cainan	—	—	—	2377	130	460
Salah	1691	30	433	2507	130	460
Eber	1721	34	464	2637	134	404
Peleg	1755	30	239	2771	130	339
Reu	1785	32	239	2901	132	339
Serug	1817	30	230	3033	130	330
Nahor	1847	29	148	3163	179	304
Terah	1876	70	205	3342	70	275+
Abraham	1946	100	175	3412	—	—

¹: According to most interpretations, including the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews, Enoch did not die, 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."

Genealogies of Cain and Seth

Three of Adam and Eve's children are named. The main genealogy is via Seth, who was born after Cain, the firstborn son, slew his brother Abel. A genealogy for Cain is also given (in genesis 4˄), with some names similar to those for Seth's descendants. No years are provided, so the following table simply lines the descendants up by generation.

Adam

Eve

Cain

Abel

Seth

Enoch

Enos (Enosh)

Irad

Cainan (Kenan)

Mehujael

Mahalaleel

Methushael

Jared

Adah

Lamech

Zillah

Enoch

Jabal

Jubal

Tubal-Cain

Naamah

Methuselah

Lamech

Noah

Shem

Ham

Japheth

(for a continuation of this family tree through the line of Shem, see Abraham's Family Tree)

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). Although, scholars are aware that these three versions of Genesis 5 have different numbers, people who have seen only the commonly available translations are often unaware that other versions exist. The numbers in the Masoretic, Samaritan, and Lucianic Septuagint versions of Genesis are shown in this table:

			Masoretic & Vulgate					Samaritan					Septuagint
Patriarch	Meaning		Birth	Son	remain	Death		Birth	Son	remain	Death		Birth	Son	remain	Death		Wife/Wives/etc
Adam	red		0	130	800	930		0	130	800	930		0	230	700	930		Eve
Seth	compensation		130	105	807	912		130	105	807	912		230	205	707	912
Enosh	man		235	90	815	905		235	90	815	905		435	190	715	905
Kenan	possession		325	70	840	910		325	70	840	910		625	170	740	910
Mahalalel	One who praises God		395	65	830	895		395	65	830	895		795	165	730	895
Jared	descent		460	162	800	962		460	62	785	847		960	162	800	962
Enoch	dedicated		622	65	300	365¹		522	65	300	365¹		1122	165	200	365¹
Methuselah	man of the dart		687	187	782	969		587	67	653	720		1287	167	802	969
Lamech	powerful		874	182	595	777		654	53	600	653		1454	188	565	753
Noah	rest		1056	500	—	950		707	500	—	—		1642	500	—	950
Shem	name		1556	100	500	600		1207	100	500	600		2142	100	335	435
Arphaxad	I shall fail as the breast		1656	35	403	438		1307	135	330	465		2242	135	330	465
Cainan	their smith		—	—	—	—		1442	130	330	460		2377	130	330	460
Salah	sprout		1691	30	403	433		1572	130	330	460		2507	130	330	460
Eber	the region beyond		1721	34	430	464		1702	134	370	504		2637	134	370	504
Peleg	division		1755	30	209	239		1836	130	209	339		2771	130	209	339
Reu	friend		1785	32	207	239		1966	132	207	339		2901	132	207	339
Serug	branch		1817	30	200	230		2098	130	200	330		3033	130	200	330
Nahor	snorting		1847	29	119	148		2228	79	129	208		3163	79	129	208
Terah	station		1876	70	—	205		2307	70	205	275		3342	70	205+	275+
Abram	exalted father		1946	100	—	175		2377	—	—	—		3412	100	—	175		Sarai; (Hagar); Keturah

¹: The names of these wives are recorded in the Book of Jubilees, not Genesis. The names of the other wives are recorded in both.
²: According to most interpretations, including the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews, Enoch did not die, 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."

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. The Septuagint numbers for the ages of the fathers at the birth of their sons, are in many instances 100 greater than the corresponding numbers in the other two versions.

The Samaritan chronology has Jared and Methuselah 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. 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. Some scholars 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, 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."

Some commentators argue that the Genesis 5 numbers were intended to be read at face value, as solar years and not months, because attempts to rationalize the numbers 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).

The scholarly translation of the Hebrew Pentateuch into Greek at Alexandria, Egypt in about 280 BC worked off a Hebrew text that was edited in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. This would be centuries older than the proto–Masoretic Text selected as the official text by the Masoretes.

See also

• Genealogy of Jesus
• Genealogy of the Bible
• Timeline of the Bible

References

• Hall, Jonathan, Ethnic Identity in Greek Antiquity Cambridge U.Press, 1997.
• Malkin, Irad, editor, Ancient Perceptions of Greek Ethnicity in series Center for Hellenic Studies Colloquia, 5. Harvard University Press, 2001. Reviewed by Margaret C. Miller in Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2002
• Driver, S. R., The Book of Genesis, Westminster Commentaries, 3rd edition, London, UK, Methuen, 1904.
• Kautzsch, E. F.: quoted by James Orr, "The Early Narratives of Genesis," in The Fundamentals, Vol. 1, Los Angeles, CA, Biola Press, 1917.
• Dillmann, A., Genesis: Critically and Exegetically Expounded, Vol. 1, Edinburgh, UK, T. and T. Clark, 1897, 314.
• Custance, Arthur C., The Roots of the Nations.[2]
• Schmandt-Besserat, Denise, How Writing Came About, University of Texas Press, 1996, ISBN 0-292-77704-3.
• Etz, Donald V., "The Numbers of Genesis V 3-31: a Suggested Conversion and Its Implications", Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 43, No. 2, 1994, pages 171–187.

External links

• Hasel, G.F., 1980. "The meaning of the chronogenealogies of Genesis 5 and 11", Origins 7(2):53–70.