from Hebron to Shechem: the slaughter of the Shechemites by Simeon and Levi, xxxiv. Jacob departs from Shechem, and is commanded to remove to Bethel, xxxv. 1.

Cir. 1815 Departure from Bethel, to Ephrath: Rachel dies in giving birth to Benjamin, v. 16-20. Jacob removes to Edar; thence

to Hebron.

1814 Joseph has been some time in prison, xxxix; interprets the dreams of the butler and baker, xl. (two years before Pharaoh's dream, xli. 1.)

1813 Isaac dies, xxxv. 28.

1812 Pharaoh's dream: Joseph advanced: seven years of plenty begin, xli.

Cir. 1807

"Judah took a wife for Er his first-born," xxxviii. 6. Death of Er and Onan. Joseph's two sons born.

1805 Seven years of famine begin.

1804

1803

First descent of the Patriarchs into Egypt, xlii.

Second visit: Joseph discovers himself: Jacob and his household descend into Egypt, xliii-xlv.

1786 Jacob dies, 147 y. xlvii. 28.

1732 Joseph dies, 110 y. 1. 26.

1666 Moses born.

1626 Moses 40 y. flees to Midian, Acts vii. 30.

CHAPTER VII.

THE PERIOD FROM THE CREATION OF ADAM TO

THE CALL OF ABRAHAM.

§ 296. Or the tract of time which reaches from the creation of the First Man to the epoch of the Abrahamic Covenant, a period of equal extent with that which has engaged our enquiry in the six preceding chapters, the only record which has come down to us is the brief narrative contained in the first eleven chapters of Genesis. Compendious as this is, it comprises an exact outline of Chronology. The measures of the period from Adam to the Deluge, and thence to the 75th year of the life of Abraham, are furnished by two connected genealogical tables, Gen. v. and xi: and a page or two would suffice for all that is to be said on this part of our subject, but for the circumstance-remarkable in itself and calling for explanation that these tables exist in no less than three conflicting forms, involving a difference of many centuries in the computation. We have therefore to determine, on critical grounds, which of these forms, whether the Masoretic Hebrew, the Alexandrine Greek, or the Samaritan Hebrew, contains the true enumeration: and further, we must endeavour to account for the existence of the conflicting estimates. The reader is already aware that the Hebrew text alone is adopted in this work: we will first draw out its contents in a tabular form; and in a separate section state and discuss the question as it relates to the Alexandrine and Samaritan Chronologies.

SECTION I.

THE GENUINE HEBREW CHRONOLOGY OF THIS PERIOD.

In the first place it is requisite for the exactness which is contemplated in this enquiry, to ascertain the precise place of the juncture between the two series of times, that is to say, the exact terminus ad quem of the antediluvian period, and terminus a quo of the post-diluvian genealogies. Upon a cursory inspection of the text, we get the following items: from Adam to the birth of Noah, 1056 years; thence to the beginning of the Flood 600 years (as it seems); for the duration of the Flood, 1 year; then, "two years after the Flood," Shem begets Arphaxad ;— but whether the year of the Flood is included in the two, is open to conjecture; lastly, from the birth of Arphaxad to the time when "Terah, 70 years old, begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran," the text of Gen. xi. numbers 290 years. Taking each item in years complete, we get a sum of 1949 years. Then, if Abraham was really born when Terah was 70, a further term of 75 years, or 2024 years in all, will bring us to the time of Abraham's entrance into the Promised Land.

$297. 297. But in truth the birth of Abraham lies 60 years later. Moses himself intimates as much by interposing the mention of Terah's death, and age at death, between the departure into Haran, and the departure thence into Canaan: Gen. xi. 31. "And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot &c... and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees to go into the land of Canaan, and they came unto Haran and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran. And the Lord said unto Abram, &c." It is said, This mention of Terah's death is but a prolepsis, he must have died sixty years after the Call. But the point is (to me, at least) decided by the express statement of St. Stephen, Acts vii. 1-4. "The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before that he dwelt in Charran. And God said unto him, Depart from thy country and from thy father's house, and come hither into a land which

I shall shew thee. Then he departed from the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran. And thence after his father's death He caused him to remove into this land in which ye now dwell." For need I remark that this statement, like those of St. Paul which we have previously considered is, to me, no mere echo of a rabbinical or Alexandrine exegesis, but an utterance of His Spirit Who "hath marked out the appointed times?"—If then, Terah's death at the age of 205 years, immediately preceded Abraham's departure into Canaan at the age of 75 years, it follows that Abraham was born when Terah was--not 70, but-130 years old.

The conclusion does not contradict the statement in the 26th verse: only, we must now understand Moses there to say that Terah at the age of 70 years began to have sons, and that three sons were born to him, of whom Abraham, as pre-eminent and the subject of the ensuing history, is named first'—It is

Down to the time of Ussher, chronologists and commentators in general were strangely blind to the true construction of this part of the history. S. Jerom. Trad. Hebr. in Genes. states the difficulty (i. e. Abraham was born when Terah was 70, but Abraham at the age of 75 entered Canaan after the death of Terah at the age of 205) and calls it indissolubilis quæstio; and Joseph Scaliger said of it, Eliam expectandum esse qui nodum solvat. Yet certainly the truth was not unknown to some of the ancients. The authors of the Samaritan text saw that the sojourning in Canaan began at the death of Terah, but they cut the knot by an audacious corruption of the text, substituting the number 145 for 205. In one text (for there are more than one) of the LXX chronology, the Call was certainly placed at the end of Terah's 205th year, i. e. at his decease, infra

307. Josephus too, in one of two outlines of the chronology which occur in his writings, must necessarily be supposed to have proceeded upon the same view, § 319. Philo Judæus (de Migrat.) says explicitly, οὐδένα τῶν ἐντετυχηκότων τοῖς νόμοις ἀγνοεῖν εἰκὸς, ὅτι πρό

So

τερον μὲν ἐκ τῆς Χαλδαϊκῆς ἀναστὰς γῆς ̓Αβρααμ ᾤκησεν εἰς Χαῤῥάν, τελευτήσαντος δὲ αὐτῷ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκεῖθι καὶ ταύτης μετανίσταται. Chrysost. Hom. in Genes. 31 and 36, and Procopius Gazæus in Genes. who writes thus on the passage: "How is it to be understood that Terah is said to have begotten Abraham at the age of 70, and died aged 205; since at that time Abraham was not 135 but only 75 years old? It is evident that Terah begat Haran (ita legendum) at the age of 70 complete, and Abraham not immediately after, but at the age of 130. Moses does not mean to represent Abraham as the first-born, but puts him foremost as first and chief, and the main object of the ensuing history." S. Augustine also, although he seems to have held that Abraham was born when Terah was 70, states, as worthy of consideration, the same solution of the difficulty: Potest et sic solvi, quoniam scriptura quæ dicit: Cum esset Thare annorum LXX genuit Abram et Nachor et Aran, non utique hoc intelligi voluit, quia eodem anno ætatis suæ omnes tres genuit; sed ex quo anno generare cœpit eum annum

com

remarkable that from Shem to Terah Moses has said nothing of the death of the preceding patriarchs; when therefore we find him mentioning Terah's decease and his age at death, one naturally thinks his design was to let us know that this patriarch died before Abraham left Haran'.

298. In the Introduction to this work it was assumed, that the period from the Flood to the Promise, Gen. xv, is one