Bible discovery longevity3/5/2023 ![]() Other Biblical scholars of repute give essentially this same warning. Perhaps the fact of the preservation of these variant texts should be taken, within the will of God, as a warning that the ages of the patriarchs cannot be added simply to give a date for the Flood or Adam. The net result is that we cannot be sure of the original reading of the data on the ages of the patriarchs. Other rather involved changes also are speculated to bring the several accounts into agreement. Likewise the Samaritan data would indicate that Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech outlived the Flood so scholars reduced the respective ages of these to indicate that they died in the year of the Flood. One of the theories, based on the interpretation that the genealogy names denote individuals with no omissions, supposes that the scholars for the LXX noted from their data that Methuselah would have survived the Flood and so accordingly increased his age at the birth of Lamech. Which source is superior in this passage is still in question. text of the Pentateuch as a whole over the LXX and Samaritan texts. Davis presents the opinions and theories from a number of commentaries and favors the conclusions (1) that the divergencies of the texts are due mainly to systematic alteration and not to accidental corruption, (2) that the data differences in the Samaritan text gives evidence of adjustment to a theory, and (3) that Biblical scholars no longer question the general superiority of the Heb. Also the longevity of Jared, Methuselah and Lamech is variously divergent in the Samaritan text. There seems to be in the LXX a systematic excess of 100 years for the age of the patriarch at the birth of the son. 139ff.) compares the numbers given in this genealogy list from three ancient texts, viz., the Hebrew, Samaritan, and LXX supplemented with several other textual sources. In Genesis 5 is a genealogy list of ten antediluvian patriarchs along with statements on (1) the age of each at the birth of a genealogy son, (2) the number of years remaining until his death, and (3) the sum of the years of these periods combined.ĭavis (ISBE I, p. Genealogy tables and the period from Adam to Noah. For younger samples the analytical precision is poorer because the samples are too young to have accumulated sufficient radiogenic argon for more precise measurement. Potassium argon precision is good on samples a million years old or more. The precision is not as good for a 40,000 year old sample as for those of recent age because the radioactivity is very low. Radiocarbon is reliable in dating organic (once living) materials back to about forty or fifty thousand years. ![]() Certainly, this is evidenced repeatedly by numerous comparisons with ancient artifacts of known historic age, and of tree rings where the yearly rings can be counted. By these a time scale in years is obtained, generally with a precision of about two to five per cent on the measurement and a probable accuracy of about five to ten per cent with respect to the true date. Radiocarbon and potassium argon methods of radioactive dating are among the most reliable methods of obtaining absolute dates (in contrast to relative dating). Much information has been learned from archeology and anthropology about ancient peoples and their cultures that likely predate the Flood. The uncertainty in the date for the Biblical Flood may be thousands of years. Even the various methods for computing the date for Abraham yield results that differ as much as 300 years ( New Analytical Bible and Dictionary). ) In fact, any dates of patriarchs before Abraham are uncertain. The dates of Adam and of the Biblical Flood and Noah are not known. Of the lineage of Seth and Enos ( 4:26) it is said “at that time men began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Perhaps by contrast the descendants of Cain did not call upon God.ĭating this period. With regard to religion, sacrifices ( Gen 4:4 8:20) appear to have been established and Noah was familiar with “clean” animals ( 7:2 8:20). The hints of government seem to be patriarchal and possibly city states. The NT ( Jude 14) refers to the prophecy of Enoch, so that likely there was writing by his time. They apparently were familiar with agriculture-Adam kept the garden of Eden ( 2:15), Adam and Abel tilled the ground ( 3:17-19 4:2), with botany-thorns and thistles ( 3:18), gopher wood ( 6:14) and fig leaf ( 3:7) and pitch ( 6:14), with metallurgy-instructor of every artificer in brass (or copper) and iron ( 4:22), with architecture-Cain built a city ( 4:17), and with music-the harp and organ (or pipe) ( 4:21). This period is covered by Genesis 4-1:10 from which we learn that they calculated time in years, months and days. ![]() Antediluvians refers to people who lived before the Flood (“deluge”) of Noah.
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