The ages from Shem to Abram in early reading
Says “This is the account of Shem” (Gen 11:10; תּוֹלְדֹת, toledot): “Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad”, and the line runs to “When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran” (11:26).
Pseudo-Jonathan keeps the Hebrew figures: “Arphakshad lived thirty and five years, and begat Shelach”, with no Kainan. Augustine follows the longer Greek figures: “Arphaxad when he was 135 years old begat Cainan; Cainan when he was 130 years begat Salah”, reckoning “from the flood to Abraham 1072 years”. Josephus gives longer ages without Kainan (Sala begotten “at the hundred and thirty-fifth year” of Arphaxad’s age), yet dates Abram’s birth “in the two hundred and ninety-second year after the deluge”, the total the Hebrew figures give. He adds that “the life of man was already, by degrees, diminished”. Keil holds that the “two years after the flood” “are not to be added to the sum-total of the chronological data, but are included in it”. Calvin sees selection: “from the many sons of Shem he chooses Arphaxad alone”. These are their readings.
Uncertain Which set of figures is original, whether Kainan belongs in the line (cf. Luke 3:36), and whether the list is complete or selective in its links are open. No figure is stated here as the chronology, and these readings do not fix the meaning of 11:10–26.
Claims
- SaysGen 11:10–26: the account of Shem gives, for each link from Shem to Terah, the age at the birth of the named son and the years lived afterward; Shem fathered Arphaxad two years after the flood, and Terah at 70 fathered Abram, Nahor and Haran.
- UncertainWhich set of figures (Hebrew, Greek or Samaritan) is original, whether Kainan belongs in the line, and whether the list is complete or selective in its links are open; no figure is stated as the chronology, and the early readings do not fix the meaning.
Citations
- BSB public domain Gen 11:10, 11:26
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 11:10
- Etheridge public domain Etheridge, vol. 1 (1862), Targum of Palestine (Pseudo-Jonathan) on Gen 11:12, p. 190 (n202); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
- Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Civ. 16.10, p. 316 (n339) (trans. Dods, NPNF¹ 2; CCEL npnf102.iv.XVI.10); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
- Josephus (Whiston) public domain Ant. 1.6.5 = 1.148–153 (Whiston, 1817, vol. 1), pp. 25–26 (n34–n35); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Keil, Pentateuch vol. 1 (Clark, Martin trans., 1868), on Gen 11:10, p. 177 (n180); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
- Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain Calvin, Genesis 1 (King, CTS 1847), on Gen 11:10, p. 333 (n342); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
2026-11-12
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