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Genesis 5 and 11: Masoretic and Septuagint Ages, and the Gap View
King James ages in Genesis 5 put the flood in year 1656 from Adam. Brenton’s 1851 Septuagint is longer. A Samaritan table shortens three of those ages.
On This Page
Genesis 5 and 11 record ages at which men “begat” the next named son, and the chapters do not print a year for the earth. If the King James begetting ages are added with no one left out, Noah’s birth falls in year 1056 from Adam and the flood in year 1656, Noah’s 600th year. Brenton’s 1851 English of the Greek Genesis uses longer begetting ages and a different sum. A published comparison of the Samaritan Pentateuch shortens three of those ages. A gap reading says the word “begat” can pass over unnamed generations. The chapters themselves do not say a name is missing.
Key Points
- Genesis 5:3–32Genesis 5:3–32 · King James Version5:3
And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
5:4And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
5:5And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
5:6And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:
5:7And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:8And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.
5:9And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:
5:10And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:11And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
5:12And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:
5:13And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:14And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.
5:15And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
5:16And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:17And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.
5:18And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:
5:19And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:20And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
5:21And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
5:22And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:23And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
5:24And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
5:25And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:
5:26And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:27And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
5:28And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
5:29And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
5:30And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:31And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.
5:32And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 5:3–32 · King James VersionOpen source and Genesis 7:6Genesis 7:6 · King James VersionAnd Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
Genesis 7:6 · King James VersionOpen source are the King James numbers behind year 1656. The addition is a reading of those verses, not a verse of its own. - Brenton’s 1851 English gives Adam 230 years at Seth’s birth, Methuselah 167 at Lamech’s birth, and the flood still in Noah’s 600th year. Added the same way, that flood falls in year 2242, and Methuselah’s 969 years run past it.
- Julius Africanus’s fragments say the flood was 2262 years from Adam, and that Adam begat Seth at 230. (4) That total fits a Methuselah age of 187, which Henry B. Smith Jr. prints in his Septuagint column, and which Brenton does not. (3)
- Smith’s table gives the Samaritan Pentateuch 62, 67, and 53 as the begetting ages of Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech. He also quotes Jerome as having seen Samaritan copies that still read 187 for Methuselah.
- Matthew 1:8Matthew 1:8 · King James Version
And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
Matthew 1:8 · King James VersionOpen source says Joram begat Ozias. 1 Chronicles 3:11–121 Chronicles 3:11–12 · King James Version3:11Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,
3:12Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,
1 Chronicles 3:11–12 · King James VersionOpen source names three kings between them. That skip is real. Genesis 5 does not make the same announcement. - Genesis 1:27Genesis 1:27 · King James Version
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 1:27 · King James VersionOpen source says God created them male and female. Genesis 2:22Genesis 2:22 · King James VersionAnd the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Genesis 2:22 · King James VersionOpen source says the woman was made from the man. The text does not say Adam was intersex.
The King James Begetting Ages
The ages that move the sum are the years before the named son, not the totals. In the King James, Genesis 5 gives Adam 130, Seth 105, Enos 90, Cainan 70, Mahalaleel 65, Jared 162, Enoch 65, Methuselah 187, and Lamech 182. Those nine numbers are 1,056. Genesis 5:32Genesis 5:32 · King James VersionAnd Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 5:32 · King James VersionOpen source says Noah was 500 when he begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis 7:6Genesis 7:6 · King James VersionAnd Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
Genesis 7:6 · King James VersionOpen source says Noah was 600 when the flood of waters was upon the earth. Year 1,056 plus 600 is year 1,656 from Adam, on this continuous reading.
Genesis 7:11Genesis 7:11 · King James VersionIn the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
Genesis 7:11 · King James VersionOpen source places that flood in the second month, the seventeenth day. Genesis 5:5Genesis 5:5 · King James VersionAnd all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
Genesis 5:5 · King James VersionOpen source says all the days of Adam were 930 years. Noah’s birth in year 1,056 is after Adam’s death. On this reading Adam and Noah do not meet. Methuselah’s birth is year 687 (the sum through Enoch’s 65). His 969 years end in year 1,656, the flood year. Lamech’s 777 years end in year 1,651, five years before. The chapters record the years. They do not explain the biology of a life of 969 years.
Genesis 11:10–26Genesis 11:10–26 · King James Version11:10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
11:11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
11:12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
11:13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
11:14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
11:15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
11:16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:
11:17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
11:18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:
11:19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
11:20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:
11:21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
11:22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:
11:23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
11:24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:
11:25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
11:26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Genesis 11:10–26 · King James VersionOpen source continues. Shem was 100 and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood. Then Arphaxad 35, Salah 30, Eber 34, Peleg 30, Reu 32, Serug 30, Nahor 29, and Terah 70, when Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. From the flood to that birth, if the 70 is Abram, the sum is 292 years. Genesis 11:32Genesis 11:32 · King James VersionAnd the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
Genesis 11:32 · King James VersionOpen source says Terah’s days were 205 years. Acts 7:4Acts 7:4 · King James VersionThen came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
Acts 7:4 · King James VersionOpen source says Abraham left Haran when his father was dead. Genesis 12:4Genesis 12:4 · King James VersionSo Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Genesis 12:4 · King James VersionOpen source says Abram was 75 when he departed out of Haran. Those two verses put Abram’s birth when Terah was 130, not 70. The 70 in Genesis 11:26Genesis 11:26 · King James VersionAnd Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Genesis 11:26 · King James VersionOpen source is the year Terah began to beget the three sons. It does not say Abram was the first of them. How Old Is the Earth According to the Bible? is where that ambiguity meets Ussher. When Was Noah’s Flood? stays with the flood year.
Brenton’s 1851 English, and Africanus
Brenton’s 1851 English Septuagint is one public-domain translation of a Greek Genesis. It is not a claim about every Greek manuscript. On the Genesis pages it is the Brenton line inside Compare Public-Domain Translations. (2)
| Patriarch | King James | Brenton 1851 |
|---|---|---|
| Adam | 130 | 230 |
| Seth | 105 | 205 |
| Enos | 90 | 190 |
| Cainan | 70 | 170 |
| Mahalalel | 65 | 165 |
| Jared | 162 | 162 |
| Enoch | 65 | 165 |
| Methuselah | 187 | 167 |
| Lamech | 182 | 188 |
Brenton’s nine begetting ages sum to 1,642, Noah’s birth. The flood is still Noah’s 600th year (Genesis 7:6Genesis 7:6 · King James VersionAnd Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
Genesis 7:6 · King James VersionOpen source in that English too), so year 2,242. Methuselah is born in year 1,287 and the text still gives him 969 years, which reach year 2,256, fourteen years after that flood. Brenton’s own figures do not make Methuselah die before the flood. Genesis 7:11Genesis 7:11 · King James VersionIn the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
Genesis 7:11 · King James VersionOpen source in Brenton also puts the flood on the twenty-seventh day of the second month, not the seventeenth.
The same Greek Genesis inserts Cainan. Brenton’s Genesis 11:12–13Genesis 11:12–13 · King James Version11:12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
11:13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
Genesis 11:12–13 · King James VersionOpen source says Arphaxad lived 135 years and begot Cainan, and Cainan lived 130 years and begot Sala. Luke 3:36Luke 3:36 · King James VersionWhich was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,
Luke 3:36 · King James VersionOpen source includes “Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad.” The King James of Genesis 11 does not. Genealogy of Jesus: Why Do Matthew and Luke Differ? is that New Testament name.
Julius Africanus, in the fragments on New Advent, uses the longer ages: “Adam, when 230 years old, begets Seth,” and “Noe was 600 years old when the flood came on. From Adam, therefore, to Noe and the flood, are 2262 years.” (4) That 2,262 is twenty years above Brenton’s sum. It matches a Methuselah begetting age of 187 rather than Brenton’s 167. Smith’s table prints 187 in the Septuagint column and discusses manuscripts on both sides of that one number. (3) A single English edition and a third-century chronologist are not the same Greek text.
The Samaritan Figures in Smith’s Table
The Samaritan Pentateuch is a Hebrew form of the Torah kept by the Samaritan community. This page does not transcribe a manuscript. It uses the comparison Henry B. Smith Jr. published in Answers Research Journal (2017), Table 1. (3)
In that table the Samaritan begetting ages in Genesis 5 match the King James except for three men. Jared is 62 rather than 162, Methuselah is 67 rather than 187, and Lamech is 53 rather than 182. His note 5 gives the remaining years as 785, 653, and 600, and the lifespans as 847, 720, and 653. If the other King James begetting ages stay as they are, Noah’s birth falls in year 707 and the flood, still in Noah’s 600th year, in year 1,307. That sum is arithmetic from his table. It is not a sentence in Genesis.
Smith also says the Samaritan Genesis 11 column often carries the longer begetting ages: Arpachshad 135, Shelah 130, Eber 134, Peleg 130, Reu 132, Serug 130, and then Nahor 79 rather than the Greek 179. Terah’s lifespan in that column is 145, not 205. He quotes Jerome as having found, in Samaritan copies Jerome saw, Methuselah at 187 years when he begat Lamech, with 782 years after and a life of 969. Smith treats the lower numbers in surviving Samaritan manuscripts as a later reduction. A reader can accept his table of present figures and still refuse his conclusion about which form is original. The three witnesses do not agree, and Jerome’s report, as Smith gives it, means “the Samaritan Pentateuch” is not one number in every century.
The Gap View
Matthew 1:8Matthew 1:8 · King James VersionAnd Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
Matthew 1:8 · King James VersionOpen source joins Joram to Ozias with “begat” while 1 Chronicles 3:11–121 Chronicles 3:11–12 · King James Version3:11 Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,
3:12 Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,
1 Chronicles 3:11–12 · King James VersionOpen source names Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah between them. That is a selective list inside Scripture. The gap reading says Genesis 5 and 11 may work the same way, so the years before the named son are not a closed count of every generation, and a sum such as 1,656 is not the age of the earth.
Smith identifies William H. Green’s 1890 essay “Primeval Chronology” as the argument that these chapters should not be read as a chronology at all, and he says that reading became common in conservative scholarship. (3) This page does not quote Green’s essay. The fair statement of the view is the one the Matthew skip makes available: “begat” in a genealogy can pass over names the writer does not need. The fair limit is the one Genesis states. Genesis 5 and Genesis 11 give the ages, the names, and the totals. They do not say a generation was left out. A gap is an inference from other genealogies. It is not a sentence in these two chapters.
Who Wrote Genesis? is the authorship question. Evolution and Creation is where churches disagree about the age of the earth once the biblical sum is no longer treated as that age. The Timeline records Ussher’s flood as 2348 BC and labels it a traditional view, not a scholarly date.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Old Is the Earth According to the Genealogy in Genesis?
The chapters do not say. A continuous addition of the King James begetting ages puts the flood in year 1,656 from Adam. Brenton’s 1851 ages put it in year 2,242. Smith’s Samaritan begetting ages, added the same way, put it in year 1,307. None of those totals is printed as “the age of the earth.”
Why Did They Live so Long?
Genesis 5 records the years, including Methuselah’s 969 in the King James. It does not give a biological explanation.
Was Adam Intersex?
Genesis 1:27Genesis 1:27 · King James VersionSo God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 1:27 · King James VersionOpen source says male and female. Genesis 2:22Genesis 2:22 · King James VersionAnd the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Genesis 2:22 · King James VersionOpen source says the woman was made from the man and brought to him. The text does not say Adam was intersex.
How Many Books of Genesis Are There?
One book. The King James Genesis has fifty chapters. Genesis 5 and Genesis 11 are two chapters inside it.
Keep Reading
Genesis 5 and Genesis 11 are the chapters. Genealogy of Jesus: Matthew vs Luke follows Luke’s Cainan. Biblical Chronology and the Age of the Earth and When Was Noah’s Flood? use these sums. Evolution and Creation is the church disagreement about creation and the age of the earth.
References
- Book of Genesis, 5:3–32; 7:6; 7:11; 9:28–29; 11:10–32Genesis 5:3–32 · King James Version5:3
And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
5:4And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
5:5And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
5:6And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:
5:7And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:8And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.
5:9And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:
5:10And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:11And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
5:12And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:
5:13And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:14And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.
5:15And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
5:16And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:17And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.
5:18And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:
5:19And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:20And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
5:21And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
5:22And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:23And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
5:24And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
5:25And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:
5:26And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:27And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
5:28And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
5:29And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
5:30And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:31And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.
5:32And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 5:3–32 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, Genesis 5 and 11, Brenton’s English, 1851. King James Version (Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton, 1851, public domain. The English is the line in Compare Public-Domain Translations on the Genesis pages. It is one Greek edition in English, not every Septuagint manuscript.)
- Henry B. Smith Jr., “Methuselah’s Begetting Age in Genesis 5:25 and the Primeval Chronology of the Septuagint”, Table 1 and note 5 (Answers Research Journal, 2017. The table compares Masoretic, Septuagint, and Samaritan Pentateuch figures. His Septuagint column is not identical to Brenton 1851.)
- Julius Africanus, Extant Fragments, On the weeks and the floodJulius Africanus, fragment 18 · Ante-Nicene Fathers, New Advent
This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun.
Julius Africanus, fragment 18 · Ante-Nicene Fathers, New AdventOpen source (New Advent. Adam begets Seth at 230. From Adam to the flood, 2262 years.) - Gospel of Matthew, 1:8Matthew 1:8 · King James Version
And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
Matthew 1:8 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - First Book of Chronicles, 3:11–121 Chronicles 3:11–12 · King James Version3:11
Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,
3:12Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,
1 Chronicles 3:11–12 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Gospel of Luke, 3:36Luke 3:36 · King James Version
Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,
Luke 3:36 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version
See Also
- How Old Is the Earth According to the Bible? — No verse dates the earth. Josephus, Africanus, Eusebius, and Ussher added the ages in Genesis to different totals. Ussher reached 4004 BC.
- When Was Noah’s Flood, and How Do World Flood Traditions Compare? — On the King James ages, Noah’s flood is year 1656 from Adam. The timeline labels Ussher’s date 2348 BC. Hancock dates a cataclysm near 12,800 years ago.
- Did Jesus Abolish the Law? — No. Matthew 5:17 says he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it. He presses the commands further and ends the temple shadows in himself.
- Does Archaeology Confirm the Bible? — The Pilate stone, the Tel Dan stele, Hezekiah’s tribute on the Taylor Prism, the Siloam tunnel inscription, and the Cyrus Cylinder name people and events the Bible also names. Each find has a limit.
- Does the Bible Contradict Itself? — Some Bible passages look as if they cannot both be true. Judas, the census numbers, and Matthew’s naming of Jeremy are real differences in the text. A contradiction is two claims that cannot both be true in the same way.