CP3: Methods, Chronology, Calendars, Absolute Dates, Chaos, and other Details

Patriarchal Years

Inclusive Counting

Comparing Reigns

Hebrew Calendar

Absolute Dates

Astronomical Chaos

Other Important Information

cp196» As we just saw in the Chronology Papers, Part 2, secular chronology is very difficult and probably incorrect in some cases by hundreds, if not thousands of years. Also the evolutionary time scale may be off billions of years because of its premises. So we turn to the Bible and its chronology. This is also not simple and not obvious. There are several ways, or methods, used to figure the number of years of man, that is, to figure the chronology of man. Remember this is a Biblical chronology. We showed in CP2 why secular chronology cannot be trusted. The Bible has different ways of counting time. We'll show you each method in chronological order.

(1)Patriarchal-Year Method of Counting Years

Method used from Creation to Abram

cp197» The beginning of the biblical chronology is figured through the count of years of a patriarch from his first New Year’s day on which he was alive until (and counting) the birth year of his son. In Adam’s case his birth day was the very first year of man (YM), and since there was no patriarchs before him, the first year had to count as his first year, the first year of the patriarchs and the first year in the count of the years of mankind. This patriarchal-year method is the addition of the years (of man) from one patriarch to the next patriarch. For example, “And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat [# 3205, ‘was born’] ... Seth ... And Seth lived a hundred and five years, and begat [# 3205] Enos” (Gen 5:3, 6). From this we see that Adam lived in 130 years, and in his 130th year Adam’s son, Seth, was born, and Seth lived in 105 years and then his son Enos was born in his 105th year.

cp198» Adam was created in the very first year of man (YM) — and since there were no patriarchs before him this very first year had to count as his first year. Adam lived throughout the first year. It was his first year. It was also the first year of man. In the English Old Testament of the Bible the word “man” is translated from the Hebrew word, adam. In Hebrew adam means “red” or by inference (Gen 2:7), “red clay.”: “And Lord God formed man of the dust [Hebrew: Strong’s # 6083 - ‘(red) clay or dirt’] of the ground” (Gen 2:7). Thus the first year of man was counted also as Adam’s first year. Sometime in the 130th year of man (130 YM), which was also the 130th year of Adam, Seth was born to Adam. But Seth’s first year in the patriarchic count of years was not the year 130 YM, but the year 131 YM because Seth was not alive on the first day of the 130th year of mankind. Thus, Seth’s patriarchic years are counted from the very beginning of 131 YM. Seth’s 105th year was the year 235 YM. Sometime in that year Enos was born. But Enos first year, that is his first New Year’s day, was not in the year 235 YM, but the year 236 YM. Enos’s years began at the very beginning of 236 YM.