Seder Olam Zutta - Genealogy of The Exilarchs

Genealogy of The Exilarchs

It is apparent that the object of this work was to show that the Babylonian exilarchs were direct descendants of David. After a short introduction, taken from the Seder 'Olam Rabbah, giving the general chronology from Adam to the destruction of the Second Temple—a period of 3,828 years—and stating the number of years which elapsed between the most important events, such as between the Flood and the confusion of tongues, etc., the chronology recommences with Adam. The Seder 'Olam Zuṭa is more complete at this point than the larger work, as it gives the duration of the generations between Adam and Abraham, which is lacking in the Seder 'Olam Rabbah. It gives also the lifetime of each of Jacob's twelve sons as recorded by tradition. Otherwise it merely enumerates the generations.

From David onward it gives the names of the high priests and prophets who lived in the time of each king. Thus, for instance, David had Abiathar as high priest, and Nathan and Gad as prophets; Solomon, who ascended the throne at the age of three, had Zadok for high priest, and Jonathan, Iddo, and Ahijah as prophets. In this way it completes the list of the high priests enumerated in 1 Chronicles 5:34 et seq. Shallum (verses 38-39) officiated in the time of Amon, and between the former and Azariah, who served in the time of Rehoboam, there were 12 high priests. But in I Chron. (l.c.) only five high priests are enumerated, whose names are not found at all among those given by the Seder 'Olam Zuṭa. The author of the work divided these 50 generations into five series, each of 10 generations, the last of each series being, respectively, Noah, Abraham, Boaz, Ahaziah, and Jehoiakim.