The biblical Book of Genesis contains a number of genealogies, which provide a framework around which the book is structured. Beginning with Adam, genealogies in Genesis 4, 5, 10, 11, 22, 25, 29–30, 35–36, and 46 move the narrative forward from the creation to the beginnings of the Israelites' existence as a people.
Adam's lineage in Genesis contains two branches: Genesis 4:17-26 identifies the descendants of Cain, and Genesis 5 identifies the descendants of Seth. Seth's genealogy is then continued in later chapters. and
Chapter 10 sets out the Generations of Noah (also called the Table of Nations), accounting for the populating of the Earth by Noah's descendants. This section is not strictly a genealogy but an ethnography.
Treatment of ages Genesis 5 and Genesis 11 include the ages at which each of the patriarchs had the progeny named as well as the number of years he lived thereafter. Many of the ages given in the text are long, but could have been considered modest in comparison to the ages given in other works (for instance, the Sumerian King List).
The ages include patterns surrounding the numbers five and seven, for instance the 365 year life of Enoch (the same as the number of full calendar days in a solar year) and the 777 year life of Lamech (repetitional emphasis of the number seven). Overall, the ages display clear mathematical patterns, leading some people to conclude that number symbolism was used to construct them. Nevertheless, since Genesis 5 and 11 provide the age of each patriarch at the birth of his named descendant, it also appears to present a gapless chronology from Adam to Abraham, even if the named descendant is not always a first-generation son.
Generations of Adam and Eve Genesis names three children of Adam and Eve, Cain, Abel and Seth. Genesis 4:1–18 recounts how Cain killed his brother Abel: there is no record of Abel having any descendants, and Eve refers to Seth in Genesis 4:25 as "another child in place of Abel".: New American Standard Bible A genealogy tracing the descendants of Cain is given in , while the line from Seth down to Noah appears in . Scholars have noted similarities between these descents: most of the names in each are variants of those in the other, though their order differs, with the names of Enoch and Mahalalel/Mehujael switching places in the two pedigrees. It is "as if they were different versions of the same underlying tradition". This has led to speculation that a single original genealogical descent had diverged during independent transmission, only to be brought back together and put to different uses when the Book of Genesis was compiled from its Jahwist and Priestly sources.
The ages at which each of these characters fathered their children are all high by later standards, ranging from 65 (when Enoch and Mahalalel fathered their sons) to 500 years (Noah). Theologian John Gill speculated that "no doubt" earlier children were born before the ones listed, who are named because they are the ones who take forward the lineage "directly from Adam to Noah".Gill, J. (1748–63), Gill's Exposition on Genesis 5, accessed on 3 December 2025
Generations of Noah
Following the Genesis flood narrative, a large multi-branched genealogy presents the descendants of the sons of Noah. () The 70 names given represent biblical geography, consisting of local ethnonyms and toponyms presented in the form of eponymous ancestors (names in origin-myth genealogies that are to be understood as ancestors and embodiments of the peoples whose names they bear). This is a symbolic presentation of the peopling of the world and indicates a view of the unity of the human race. The peoples and places are not organised by geography, language family or ethnic groups, and probably do not represent the geography of a particular point in history, instead deriving from an old nucleus of geographical knowledge to which additional names/peoples were subsequently added.
Abraham's family tree
The following is a family tree for the descendants of the line of Noah's son Shem, through Abraham to Jacob and his sons. Dashed lines are marriage connections.
Genesis chrono-genealogy The numbers given in the text are usually similar but do vary between versions. Nearly all modern translations of Genesis are derived from the Masoretic Text, but there are also two other versions of Genesis: the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint (a Greek translation of a Hebrew text). Translations from the Masoretic Text are preferred by Western Christians, including Roman Catholics and Protestants, and by followers of Orthodox Judaism; whereas the Greek version is preferred by Eastern Christians, including Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Ethiopic, Jacobite and Armenian. The Samaritan Pentateuch is held sacred by the Samaritans. The numbers in the Masoretic, Samaritan, and Lucianic Septuagint versions of Genesis are shown in this table:
The following table lists the patriarchs that appear in the Vulgate and the Septuagint, but their names are spelled as they appear in the King James Version of the Bible. Their year of birth differs according to the Vulgate or the Septuagint. Also given is each patriarch's age at the birth of his named son and the age of the patriarch's death. Cainan, born after the flood, is mentioned in the Septuagint but not the Vulgate. Methuselah survived the flood according to the Septuagint (but not the Vulgate), even though he was not on Noah's Ark.
The genealogies of Genesis contain a difficulty with regards to the birth of Arphaxad. One method of calculating places the birth of Arphaxad 600 years after the birth of Noah, while another places Arphaxad's birth 602 years after Noah. The table below uses the 602-year method; the 600 year method would decrease the date for Arphaxad and all the following figures by two years.
This chart counts year totals only. Anno Mundi (AM, or 'in the year of the world') can be calculated by adding 2 to any given value in either the "Birth" or "Death" columns. The result will give a corresponding date in AM.Anno Mundi#Jewish tradition
Occasionally in Talmudic writings, reference was made to other starting points for eras, such as Destruction Era dating, being the number of years since the AD 70 destruction of the Second Temple, and the number of years since the Creation year based on the calculation in the Seder Olam Rabbah of Rabbi Jose ben Halafta in about AD 160. By his calculation, based on the Masoretic Text, Adam and Eve were created on 1st of Tishrei (Rosh Hashanah) Day 1 in 3760 BC, later confirmed by the Muslim chronologist al-Biruni as 3448 years before the Seleucid era. An example is the c. 8th-century AD Baraita of Samuel. The epoch for this calendar system is 3761 BC.Hebrew calendar#Anno Mundi
The Jewish calendar's epoch (reference date), 1 Tishrei AM 1, is equivalent to Monday, 7 October 3761 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar, the equivalent tabular date (same daylight period) and is about one year before the traditional Jewish date of Creation on 25 Elul AM 1, based upon the Seder Olam Rabbah.
(Note: the numbers in green are consistent across all versions, while the numbers in yellow are contradicted in one other version and the numbers in red are contradicted by more than one of the other versions.) Masoretic & Vulgate Samaritan Pentateuch Septuagint (Lucian) Patriarch Meaning Birth Son Remain Lived Death Birth Son Remain Lived Death Birth Son Remain Lived Death Wife/Wives/etc "humanity" 0 800 930 0 800 930 0 700 930 Eve possibly "substitution" 130 807 1042 130 807 1042 230 707 1142 "humanity" 235 815 1140 235 815 1140 435 715 1340 etymology uncertain 325 840 1235 325 840 1235 625 740 1535 "praising El" / "praise of El" 395 830 1290 395 830 1290 795 730 1690 "to descend" 460 800 1422 460 785 1307 960 800 1922 etymology uncertain 622 300 987 522 300 887 1122 200 1487 meaning uncertainFor the proposed etymologies "man of the dart" or "his death shall bring judgement," see Cornwall and Stelman Smith, The Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible NamesFor the proposed etymologies "devotee of Shalach" and other possibilities, see 687 782 1656 587 653 1307 1287 782 2256 meaning unknown 874 595 1651 654 600 1307 1454 565 2207 meaning uncertainProposals include "rest", "comfort", and "settle down" (in an agricultural sense). 1056 — 2006 707 — 1657 1642 — 2592 name 1558 500 2158 1209 500 1809 2144 500 2744 meaning uncertain 1658 403 2096 1309 303 1747 2244 430 2809 meaning uncertain — — — —— — — — —— 2379 330 2839 branch 1693 403 2126 1444 303 1877 2509 330 2969 possibly "traveler" 1723 430 2187 1574 270 1978 2639 270 3043 etymology disputed 1757 209 1996 1708 109 1947 2773 209 3112 possibly "shepherd" or "friend" 1787 207 2026 1838 107 2077 2903 207 3242 Sarug (name of a city) 1819 200 2049 1970 100 2200 3035 200 3365 snorting 1849 119 1997 2100 69 2248 3165 125 3469 etymology debated 1878 135 2083 2179 75 2324 3344 205 3619 exalted father 1948 — 2123 2249 — 2424 3414 — 3589 Sarai; (Hagar); Keturah
1According to most interpretations, including the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews, Enoch did not die, but was taken away by God (at an age of 365). Genesis states that Enoch "walked with God; and he [was] not; for God took him."
2On this chart Noah is listed as having lived 502 years when he begat Shem and this calculation is based on the birth year of Arphaxad. The extra-biblical Book of Jasher also mentions that Noah was 502 years old when his wife Naamah bore Shem.Jasher 5:18 And Noah was five hundred and two years old when Naamah bore Shem, and the boys grew up and went in the ways of the Lord, in all that Methuselah and Noah their father taught them.
Number symbolism The following table lists all the ages of the patriarchs from Adam to Moses in the Masoretic Text, which add up to 12,600.
Patriarchs Age Patriarchs Age 1. Adam 930 14. Eber 464 2. Seth 912 15. Peleg 239 3. Enosh 905 16. Reu 239 4. Kenon 910 17. Serug 230 5. Mehalalel 895 18. Nahor 148 6. Jared 962 19. Terah 205 7. Enoch 365 20. Abraham 175 8. Methuselah 969 21. Isaac 180 9. Lamech 777 22. Jacob 147 10. Noah 950 23. Levi 137 11. Shem 600 24. Kohath 133 12. Arpachshad 438 25. Amram 137 13. Shelah 433 26. Moses 120 TOTAL 12,600
The value of 12,600 is a variant of the symbolic value of 1,260 later used in the Book of Revelation (e.g. Rev. 11:2–11; 12:4–6, 11; 13:5), although may derive from earlier traditions. Another example of the numerical schema of 12,600 can be found in the War Scroll discovered at Qumran, where "the Sons of Light shall fight against the Sons of Darkness in the final days for a period of 35 years. Employing the Jewish luni-solar calendar of the 360-day year, 35 years equals 12,600 days."
Usage of Anno Mundi The current formal usage of the Anno Mundi calendar era is implemented based on the calculations of Maimonides in Mishneh Torah (completed in AD 1178). It is the official method of calculating years for the Hebrew calendar currently in use. Based on a calculation using the Masoretic Text recorded in the Seder Olam Rabbah (c 160 AD) of Rabbi Jose ben Halafta, the first five days of creation in Genesis were in Anno Mundi 1, and the creation of Adam was on 1 Tishrei (Rosh Hashanah) in Anno Mundi 2 which corresponds to 3760 BC.See The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries The official Anno Mundi epoch is Anno Mundi 1. This first year begins almost a full year before creation and is commonly referred to as The Year Of Emptiness or The Ascension Year in Jewish tradition and coincides with the years 3761/3760 BC.
Counting years