Chronology of The Bible - Flood To Abraham

Flood To Abraham

The period from the creation to Abraham is measured by the genealogies at Genesis 5 and 11, elapsed time being calculated by the addition of the years of the patriarchs at the birth of their offspring. The genealogies exist in three main manuscript traditions, the Masoretic (in Hebrew), the Septuagint (in Greek), and the Samaritan Torah (Hebrew). The three do not agree with each other, here or elsewhere. (The Septuagint is represented in this table by two manuscripts, Alexandrinus and Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209; dates are Anno Mundi, or AM, meaning year of the world):

Period Masoretic
Alexandrinus
Vaticanus
Samaritan
Note
Year of the Flood 1656 AM 2262 AM 2242 AM 1307 AM The Masoretic, Alexandrinus and Samaritan chronologies records the deaths of all the pre-Flood patriarchs except Noah either in or prior to the Flood, but Vaticanus has Methuselah outlive the Flood by 14 years.
Flood to Abraham 292 years 1072 years 1172 years 942 years
Year of Abraham's birth 1948 AM 3334 AM 3414 AM 2249 AM The two sets of patriarchs before and after the Flood are exactly symmetrical: there are ten in each group, and the final members of each, Noah and Terah, each have three sons who will begin the next section of the chronology.

The following is a list of biblical patriarchs from Shem to Abraham, given with their Masoretic date.

Masoretic date Event Bible verse
1658 AM Arphaxad born, son of Shem Genesis 11:10
1693 AM Shelah born, son of Arphaxad Genesis 11:12
1723 AM Eber born, son of Shelah Genesis 11:14
1757 AM Peleg born, son of Eber Genesis 11:16
1787 AM Reu born, son of Peleg Genesis 11:18
1819 AM Serug born, son of Reu Genesis 11:20
1849 AM Nahor born, son of Serug Genesis 11:22
1878 AM Terah born, son of Nahor Genesis 11:24
1948 AM Abram born, son of Terah † Genesis 11:26

† This and subsequent dates rest on the assumption that Abram is the firstborn of Terah, which is not necessarily accepted within Christian tradition, because Act ch.7 v.4 is generally translated to mean that Abram left Haran after the death of his father.

Read more about this topic:  Chronology Of The Bible

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