ANTEDILUVIANS
552
ANTEDILUVIANS
names of the reign of tlic ten Babylonian kings. The the shortness of our Uves at present an argument
first column gives the age at which the patriarch that neither the Patriarchs attained so long a dura-
begot his successor, the second the remainder of liis tion of life; for those ancients were beloved of God
years, the tliird the total number of liis years. The and made by God himself; and because their food
list of Babylonian kings is taken from Vigouroux was then fitter for the prolongation of life; and be-
(Dict. de la bible): — sides God afforded them a longer time of life on
Hebrew
Samarftan
Septdagint
Sabbs
Years
CnTL Astron'l
Chaldean
Kings
Adam
Seth
Enos
Cainan
Malaleel
Jared
Henoch
Mathusala
Lamech
Noe
to the
Flood
130
105
90
70 65 162 65
187 182 500
100
800
807
815
840
830
800
300
782
595
930
912
905
910
895
962
365
969
777
(950)
130
105
90
70
65
62
65
67
53
500
100
800
807
815
840
830
785
300
653
600
930
912
905
910
895
847
365
720
653
(950)
230
205
190
170
165
162
165
167
188
500
100
700
707
715
740
730
800
200
802
565
930
912
905
910
895
962
365
969
753
(950)
10
3
13
12 18 10 18 10 8 18
185 36,000
55i 10,800
240J 46,800
222 43,200
333 64,800
185 36,000
333 64,800
185 36,000
148 28,800
333 64,800
Alorus
Alaparus
Almelon
Ammenon
Amegalarus
Daonus
Edoranchus
Amempsinus
Otiartes
Xisuthrus
Total
1,656
1,307
1
2,242
120
2,220 432,000
As the table shows, the original text and its two
versions differ greatly in fixing the number of years
from Adam to the Flood. In the Hebrew Bible the
number is 1,656, in the Samaritan, 1,307; in the
Septuagint, 2,242. On a closer examination it will
be found that the difference between the Hebrew
text and the Septuagint is cliiefly occasioned by the
systematic addition of 100 years which the Septua-
gint has made to the age of six patriarchs at the
birth of their successors. The Samaritan on the
contrary lias in the case of three patriarchs deducted
100 years. No reliable clue that we know of has as
yet been found for deciding which of the computa-
tions is the original. Presumption is on the side of
the one in the Hebrew text being the oldest text of
the tliree. On the other hand, the Samaritan has
the advantage that the lifetime of the three patri-
archs Jared, Methusala, and Lamech has been
shortened, so that there is a gradual decrease in the
number of years of each patriarcli from Adam to
Noe. In the table of the ten Babylonian kings the
length of their reign is calculated by means of sares.
Berosus counts 120 sares. The sare has an as-
tronomical value of 3,600 years and a ci\al value of
eighteen and one-half years (Vigouroux, Diet, de la
bible). According to the first estimation of the
sare, the total number of years for the ten kings
would be 432,000, according to the second 2,220.
The efforts made to bring the sares or 432,000 years
of the Babylonian kings, into harmony with the
1,656 years of the patriarchs (e. g. by equating seven
Hebrew days with five Chaldean years) have
yielded no satisfactory result.
Longevity of the Patri.^rchs. — Various theories have been advanced for explaining the abnormally long lifetime of the patriarchs. They may be classified into three groups: (1) The Literal and His- torical Interpretation. — The genealogical table is ac- cepted as a record of the past and as possessing the ordinary- certainty of history. The ten patriarchs are held actually to have lived the long life assigned to them. The object which God intended by this extraordinary longevity is said to have been the in- crease of men on earth and the preservation of ancient tradition. In answer to the objection that the system of the human body does not permit of so long a lifetime, it is argued that a special jirovi- dence of God had favoured the ancients with a pe- culiar organization and constitution of body, and had provided for them a special kind of food and climate. Thus already Joseplius: "Let no one make
account of their virtue, and the good use they made
of it in astronomical and geometrical discoveries,
etc." Furthermore in corroboration of the Biblical
account he names as witnesses the historians Manetho
the Egyptian, Berosus the Chaldean, Mochus,
HestiiBus, Hieronymus the Egyptian, and others,
who all bore testimony to the longevity of prime\al
man. Ant., I, III, 9. (2) The Metaphorical Inter-
prctation. — The names of the ten patriarchs signify
ten dynasties or tribes. Each dynasty might have
comprised a succession of several rulers. The ex-
planation is ingenious. It may be doubted, however,
whether this was the meaning of the narrator. By
naming the patriarchs he seems to have meant one
individual. For he states the age at which the
patriarch begot the son who was to succeed liiin.
Others argue that the Hebrew word, Slianah, in the
list of the ten patriarchs signifies the duration not of
a year, but of a month. But in that case Enos begot
his successor when he was eight years of age, anil
Malaleel and Henoch begot theirs when they were
five. Others again, but without sufficient ground,
say that the year is to be taken as a year of tliree
months from Adam unto ."Vbraham, of eight months
unto Joseph, and only after him are we to allow for
it the natural duration. (3) The Mythical Interpreta-
tion. — We have already pointed out that according to
the tlieory of the documentary composition of the
Pentateuch, chapter v belongs to the original history
named by the critics the "Priestly Code". If the
genealogical dates recorded in that narrative are
examined, a gradual and systematic shortening of
man's lifetime is distinctly noticeable. From Adam
to Noe the duration of man's life ranges from 500
to 1,000 years. From Sem to Tliare it ranges
from 200 to 600 (xi, 10-32). From Abraham to
Moses, from 100 to 200. Abraham lived 175 years;
Isaac, 180; Jacob, 147 (Gen., xxxv, 28; xxv, 7; xlvii, 28).
After that the average human life is 70 or SO years.
"And the days of our years in them are three score
and ten years. But if in the strong they be fourscore
years" (Ps., Ixxxix, 10). Critics, moreover, hold, as
we have seen, that according to the original structure
of the "Priestly Code" the genealogical table in
chaptor v immediately followed the account of llie
Creation in cliaptcr i. If so, the narrative of this
Code contained no mention of paradise, nor of man's
immortality, fall, and punishment. On the other
liand it may have been the opinion of the author of
this Code that the smooth and even course of man's
life, the result of iiis continued state of innocence,
