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20. The Chronology of Jasher. Part 2

17th June 2015 by Arthur Eedle

In this chapter we shall turn our attention to the Post-diluvian Patriarchs. And this is where we come up against a problem from the start, a problem that looks as though it will be final, a chronological gap from the date of the Flood to the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, beginning with Terah. There is quite a lot of information from then on, but it would seem to be “floating”, without an anchor stretching back into the days of Noah. Let us see what Jasher has to say.

Chapter 7 of Jasher is the start of history after the Flood. It contains brief genealogical details of the progeny of Ham, Shem, and Japheth. But when we get to verse 19, where Shem’s family begins, we are struck by the complete lack of dates.  “These are the generations of Shem; Shem begat Arphaxad, and Arphaxad begat Shelach, and Shelach begat Eber, and to Eber were born two children, Peleg . . . and Yoktan . . . and Peleg begat Yen (i.e. Reu of Genesis) and Yen begat Serug, and Serug begat Nahor, and Nahor begat Terah.” (Verses 19-22) How different to the list in Genesis chapter 11, where ages are given.

To a chronologist, suddenly to come upon a list like this, without any dates, is frustrating to say the least, and without a device to overcome the difficulty, we should have to accept that after the Flood Jasher provides no secure dates. But thankfully a device exists, and we must now show how it is possible to bridge the gap, and tie down the floating chronology.

First of all we have the new chronology beginning with Terah in verse 22 of chapter 7. “Nahor begat Terah, and Terah was 38 years old when he begat Haran and Nahor.”  These boys were twins. Their date of birth is left out of Genesis, which merely states that, “Terah lived 70 years and begat Abram, Nahor and Haran.” (Genesis 11:26)  Notice the reverse order here. The youngest is placed first, followed by the twins in reverse order. Without the clear message from Jasher we should be required to use rational skills in determining the date of Abram’s birth, which is variously placed by chronologists at Terah’s 130th year or even a few years later, mainly on the evidence of Stephen’s speech in Acts, where he says that Abram left Harran “when his father was dead.” If Abram was then 75 years of age, it requires Abram’s birth to be placed at the 130th year of Terah. We shall have occasion to look into this a bit later.

Chapter 7, verse 50. “And Terah took a wife, and her name was Amthelo the daughter of Barnebo; and the wife of Terah conceived and bare him a son in those days. Terah was 70 years old when he begat him, and Terah called the name of his son Abram because the king [Nimrod] had raised him in those days and dignified him above all the princes that were with him.”

Now that we have the beginning of a new chronology, we have to use the “device” to attach it back to the days of Noah. It isn’t until the 13th chapter that we are given the information we need, but when it arrives, it is all that is needed.

Chapter 13 verse 9.  “At that time, at the end of 3 years of Abram’s dwelling in Canaan, in that year Noah died, which was the 58th year of the life of Abram, and all the days that Noah lived were 950 years and he died.”

We have seen that the Flood occurred in the year 1656 A.M., where A.M. stands for Anno Mundi, “the year of the world”. If Noah died 350 years later, then his date would be 2006. And if Abram was then 58 years of age, his birth date would have been 2006 – 58 = 1948.

We are now in a position to review several other dates in Jasher, to see how they fit into the chronology between the Flood and Abram. Here is a table showing the information provided by Jasher.

Chapter Verse Information Date Birth Date
16 22 Reu died at 239 years of age. Abraham was 78 2026 1787
21 9 Serug died at 239 years of age. Abraham was 101 (Should be 230 years of age. Dittography from Reu’s date) 2049 1819
22 33 Terah died at 205 years of age. Isaac was 35 2083 1878
25 28 Arphaxad died at 438 years of age. Isaac was 48 2096 1658
28 24 Shem died at 600 years of age. Jacob was 50 2158 1558
30 15 Eber died at 464 years of age. Jacob was 79 2187 1723

The dates of birth, calculated from this data, agree exactly with those found in the table of Genesis 11. This would suggest that, taken together with the antediluvian dates, Jasher followed a system of reckoning that was extant in the first century A.D., if we accept the historical statement made in the Preface to the book. And this system was that of the Hebrew Bible. It clearly suggests that the Hebrew Bible at that time possessed the dates we now recognise, together with those in Jasher.

The remainder of the dates in Jasher now follows in tabular format.

Chapter Verse Information Date Date of Birth
7 22 Terah was 38 years old when he begat Haran and Nahor 1916 Terah 1878
9 1-2 And Haran, Abram’s eldest brother, took a wife when he was 39, (Sh.be 29)and she bare him a son, Lot. And she conceived again and bare a daughter, Milca, and conceived again and bare a daughter, Sarai.(Genesis calls her Iscah, not Sarai.) Haran was 42 when (Iscah) was born. 29
marriage
Lot 1947
Iscah 1958
24 22 And Lot the son of Haran died in those days, in the 39th year of Isaac. He was 140 years old. 2087 Lot 1947
16 36 Abram was 86 when Ishmael was born 2034 Ishmael 2034
21 3 Abraham was 100 years old, and Sarah 90, when Isaac was born to them 2048 Isaac 2048
24 1 Sarah was 127 years old when she died 2085 Sarah 1958
24 45 Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebecca.(24:40 shows that Rebecca was 14) 2088 marriage Rebecca 2074
26 16 Isaac was 60 years old when  Jacob & Esau born 2108 Jacob 2108
26 29 Abraham died in the 15th year of Jacob and Esau. He was 175 years old. 2123 Abraham died Abram 148
27 15 Nimrod died at 215 years of age. And the days that Nimrod ruled the people of the land was 185 years.(Therefore he began to rule in 1938, when 30 yrs.) 2123 Nimrod 1908
28 26-28 When Jacob was 56, he heard about Adinah, Laban’s wife, who bare twin daughters, Leah and Rachel the previous year. 2164 Leah & Rachel 2163
29 18 Ishmael dies at 137 years of age, in the 64th year of Jacob. (2172 – 137 = 2035, showing that sometimes during a year, there is a discrepancy of one year.) 2172 Ishmael 2034
31 21 Rachel bare Joseph when Jacob was 91 2199 Joseph 2199
36 3-6 Jacob was 99 when Deborah, Rebecca’s nurse died. Also Rebecca died at 133 years of age. 2207 Rebecca 2074
36 8-11 Jacob 100 years old at the birth of Benjamin, when Rachel dies at 45 years of age. 2208 Rachel 2163
41 2 Leah died at 51 years of age, when Jacob was 106 2214 Leah   2163
47 1 Isaac dies at 180 years of age. 2228 Isaac 2048
56 1 Jacob died after living in Egypt 17 years, at the age of 147 years. 2255 Jacob 2108
59 20-26 Joseph died at 110 years of age, after living in Egypt for 93 years, and reigning there 80 years. (Here again we find a 1 year difference, because 2310 – 110 = 2200) 2310 Joseph 2199
68 3 Moses born. (Date of birth calculated from data) 2373
81 3 Exodus after the Egyptian servitude of 210 years.(Should be 215 years) 2453

Once again we find a complete concurrence of dates with those of Genesis. Therefore we shall treat Jasher as a formidable weapon against other chronologies that try to change dates dramatically. These other lists we shall now investigate in order, to see what can be learned from them.

Filed Under: The Millennial Octave

About Arthur Eedle

Arthur was born in 1931, and became a Christian in 1948. At London University he gained a 2nd honours degree in Physics. He went on to get a Teaching Diploma, and throughout his career life taught physics in England, Kenya, and Hong Kong. Coupled with his love of science, he was a keen student of Greek and Hebrew, and gave many lectures on Biblical subjects. Read more

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The Millennial Octave Introduction

1st May 2004 By Arthur Eedle

1. The Background

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2. The Diatonic Scale

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3. Circumcision

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4. The Last Day

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5. Firstfruits

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6. Leprosy

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7. The Epistle of Barnabas

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8. The Sabbath Day

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9. Entering God’s Rest

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10. The Day of the Lord

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11. The Day of the Lord (N.T.)

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12. The Day of the Lord in Revelation

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13. The Faithful Remnant

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14. Six Working Days

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15. Christ our Passover Lamb

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16. Two important days

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17. The Third Day

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18. Investigating the Chronology of Josephus

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18A. An Appendix to Josephus

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19. The Chronology of the Book of Jasher, Part 1

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20. The Chronology of Jasher. Part 2

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21. The Septuagint Documents

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Article Series

  • All our Yesterdays (30)
  • Before He comes (13)
  • God's Spoken Word (37)
  • Mysteries of Science & Faith (8)
  • New Series (101)
  • Newsletter (2)
  • Original Series (109)
  • Prophecy considerations (5)
  • Recognising the Hand of Judgment (33)
  • Resurrection and Change (16)
  • Seekers Corner (14)
  • Simple Statements on Serious Subjects (6)
  • The City of God (18)
  • The Millennial Octave (23)
  • The Restitution Times (22)
  • The Song of Solomon (6)
  • The Standard (19)
  • The Wayside Pulpit (107)
  • The Wayside Pulpit 2015 (96)
  • The Wellspring (101)
  • The Wellspring 2017 (55)

Index of Topics

Arthur & Rosalind Eedle's Personal Testimonies Discipleship Expository Items Good and Evil Human Pre-Existance Jane Leade. Philadelphian Numerology in the Bible Quotations from other Authors Resurrection and the Change Ron Wyatt. Archaeology Science Topics The Kingdom of God the Millennium and the Return of Christ The Sabbath Day Universal Reconcilliation

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