Septuagint Chronology: Adam to Abraham

To determine the chronology of events from the creation of Adam to the birth of Abraham is more complicated than one might imagine. To begin with, the chronology of the Masoretic Text (MT) of the Old Testament in Hebrew differs significantly from that of the Septuagint version of the Old Testament in Greek. One must choose between the two.
 
James Ussher based his chronology on the Masoretic Text. In this essay, we will look at the chronology as found in the Septuagint (LXX). This chronology, whether in Hebrew or Greek, comes primarily from Genesis 5 and 11.

 
                                                                 Lived     Total
Name             Born     Died     Begat     After     Years   Begat (MT)
Creation         5500                                                           4004
Adam              5500     4570     230         700         930     130
Seth                 5270     4358     205         707         912     105
Enosh              5065     4160     190         715         905     90
Kenan              4875     3965     170         740         910     70
Mahalalel        4705     3810     165         730         895      65
Jared               4540     3578      162         800         962     162
Enoch             4378     4013      165         200         365      65
Methuselah     4213     3244      187         802         969     187
Lamech           4026     3273      188         565         753     182
Noah               3838     2888      502         450         950     502
Shem               3336     2736     100         500          600     100
Flood              3238                                                            2349
Arpachshad     3236     2701     135         400         535      35
Kainan             3101     2641     130         330         460      x
Shelah              2971     2511     130         330         460      30
Eber                 2841     2437     134         270         404     34
Peleg                2707     2368     130         209         339     30
Reu                  2577     2238     132         207          339    32
Serug               2445     2115     130         200          330    30
Nahor              2315     2107      79          129          208    29
Terah               2236     2031      70          75            205    70
Abraham        2166                                                           1996

 
Creation to flood  MT: 4004-2349, 1655 years; LXX: 5500-3238, 2262 years; +607 years
Flood to Abraham MT: 2349-1996, 353 years; LXX: 3238-2166, 1072 years;  +719 years
Creation to Abraham MT: 4004-1996, 2008 years; LXX: 5500-2166, 3334 years; +1326 years
 
5500 Creation
3238 Flood
2166 Abraham born
2066 Isaac born
2006 Jacob born
1876 Jacob in Egypt
1446 Exodus

 

Source: Henry B. Smith, Jr., “The Case for the Septuagint’s Chronology in Genesis 5 and 11,” Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism (2018).

 

Copyright © 2023 by Steven Farsaci.

All rights reserved. Fair use encouraged.

Ecological Regions of Olympia

Our fable land of Olympia stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Volga River and from the Gulf of Finland to the Gulf of Sidra.

Northern and West Central Olympia: forest

Northern Olympia is dominated by the North and Baltic seas. Plains border their northern and southern coasts. Farther south come the lowlands, highlands, and mountains of central Olympia. Both northern and central Olympia have a temperate climate: to the northwest, oceanic; to the northeast, terrestrial; the dividing line, in the middle of Germania. But whether northern or central, plains or mountains, the temperate climate north of the Mediterranean Coast, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea, nurtures the growth of forests: broadleaf, needleleaf, and mixed. More water means more trees. Less water reduces forests to woodlands, scrublands, grasslands, and finally deserts.

Olympian Climate

We will use three criteria for classifying climate:
     temperature (cold, cool, warm, hot)
     humidity (humid, semihumid, semiarid, arid)
     precipitation (frequency and quantity)
          frequency: seasonal or year-round,
          quantity: wet, semiwet, semidry, dry

Our fabled land of Olympia has five climates. Of those five, most Olympian provinces have a temperate climate either oceanic or terrestrial. Around the Mediterranean, hot dry summers and warm winters are common. A semi-arid climate is found in southeastern Olympia. Only Egypt is wholly arid. In more detail:

What Difference Does It Make? (Kierkegaard)

“‘Whatever difference there may be between two persons, even if humanly speaking it were most extreme, God has it in his power to say, “When I am present, certainly no one will presume to be conscious of this difference, because that would be standing and talking to each other in my presence as if I were not present”’” (Soren Kierkegaard, quoted by Vernard Eller in Towering Babble [1983]).

On Responding Creatively to Challenging Times (Blumhardt)

“The kingdom of God must be the desire of our hearts; then solutions will come. You can be useful when you are willing to bear the greatest misery for God’s sake…It cannot be in vain, bearing what God wills us to bear, when we are following the one who bore the cross” (Johann Blumhardt [or son Christoph], quoted by Vernard Eller in Towering Babble: God’s People Without God’s Word [1983]).

Olympian Geography: Land and Water

Our fabled land of Olympia stretches west to east 2263 mi (3641 km) from Galway, Hibernia (Ireland), on the Atlantic Ocean to Kazan, Slavia (Russia), on the Volga River and north to south 2077 mi (3342 km) from Gävle, Götaland (southern Sweden) on the Gulf of Bothnia to Al Uqaylah on the Gulf of Sidra in Numidia (Libya).

We may note that variations in seas and landforms divide Olympia into roughly three different horizontal bands: (1) a northern band of seas and plains; (2) a central band of highlands, plateaus, and mountains; and (3) a southern band of seas and plains.

Caucasia

All or parts of Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey lie within the geocultural province of Caucasia.

Boundaries

North: Kuban River from the city of Cherkessk in the Caucasian Mountains flowing north then west to the Azov Sea near the Kerch Strait, Kuma River from point nearest city of Cherkessk flowing north than east to Caspian Sea.

To the north: Slavia.