Facts & Figures

Timeline of the Patriarchs

Here, we have the timelines of the biblical patriarchs, beginning at the time of Adam to the death of Joseph, son of Jacob.

The Genesis allowed us to calculate how much time exist, because it gives us two numbers for each patriarch - the 3rd column† shows the age of when he becomes a father of the next patriarch ( 3rd column), thus giving us the number of year of one generation, while the 2nd column shows at what age did each patriarch die. As an example, Noah was 502 when he sired Seth, and he died at the age of 950 years.

The 4th column is the chronology of the Genesis, showing the year of birth and death of patriarch, since the origin of Adam. For example, Noah was born on the year 1056 and died in the year 2006. So the sum of generations will give us the chronological age.

From careful reading and calculation of the Genesis, I was able to work out that the Flood happened 1656 years after the creation of Adam, when Noah was 600 years old (Gen. 7:6); the Flood also happened 726 years after Adam's death. Noah was born 126 years later after Adam's death. Noah began building the Ark at the age of 500, shortly after his vision.

Based on the Jewish calendar for the 2006 AD, the Jewish Era is 5766 years. If we compared this our method of measuring time and era, then Adam was created in 3760 BC.

The year 1656 worked out to be the same year that Methuselah (Noah's grandfather) died at the age of 969, and according to one source (Jubilees), just one week before the flood. The Flood happened 726 years after Adam's death and 292 years before Abraham was born; in our timeline it is in the year 2104 BC.

Methuselah was the longest living patriarch, but of the antediluvian patriarchs Enoch lived the shortest time on earth, before he vanished. Abraham was born 1948 years after Adam's Creation (1812 BC) and died 2123 years (1672 BC).

Below is a more simple timeline of the Genesis. Notice that the year 0 is the creation of Adam and Eve. This can be compared with the current timeline (and work backward with the Jewish Era). Also that most dates are approximate calculation.

Problem of Dating the period between Genesis and Exodus

When it comes to dating the interval between the Genesis and the Exodus, we have this problem. It would seem simple enough, considering that there are short generations between Levi and Moses.

In various translations of the Bible, Exodus 12:40-41 says that the Israelites have lived in Egypt for 430 years:

If the above passages are correct, then the Israelites were in Egypt, from the time of Jacob settled in Egypt, to Moses leaving Egypt with his fellow-Israelites, would be 430 years. This would seem incredibly excessive, given that there were only 1 and 2 generations between Levi and Moses.

We know that Jacob arrived in Egypt in 2238 JE. That would mean Moses' arrival in Mount Sinai with the Israelites was in the year 2668 JE.

Unfortunately, the Genesis provide no date or year as to when Jacob had each of his 12 sons, nor how old Jacob was, with each birth. It would be difficult to work out but not impossible.

Here are the ages and dates that we do know about Jacob, Joseph and Levi:

• Jacob (and Esau) was born when Isaac was 60 years old (2108 JE) - Genesis 25:26.
• Jacob served Laban for 20 years - Genesis 31:38; seven years before he married Leah and Rachel.
• Joseph was 30 when he served the king - Genesis 41:45-46.
• Jacob arrived in Egypt at age 130 (2238) - Genesis 47:9.
• Jacob died in Egypt, at age 147 (2255) - Genesis 47:28.
• Joseph died at age 110 - Genesis 50:26.
• Levi died at age 137 - Exodus 6:16.

To work out what age Joseph was, we need to work out when Jacob arrived, and when the famine began. Fortunately it mentioned that 2 years after the 7-year of famine began, Jacob came to Egypt at age 130, which it was in the year 2238 JE. Since 7 years of plenty plus 2 of 7 years of famine, we worked out that Joseph age at 2238, 39 year of age. So freedom of slavery and 1st year of service (and marriage) at age 30, would mean this happened in the year 2229 JE (because 2238 minus 9 years make 2229).

From these figures and age, we have worked out when Joseph was born, and that's 2199 JE.

A year later (2200 JE), Jacob returned back to his father's home at age 92. With these figures, we can map out, when Jacob's age and date, such as when the service to Laban began (2180 JE, at age 72) and dates of Jacob's marriage (2187 JE, 79) and most of his children's birth.

It is trickier, to work out the date of birth of each of Jacob's sons (and daughter) who were born in Haran. But since we now know the date of marriage and end of Jacob's service to Laban, we can do some guess-work.

Let's say that Jacob had a child each succeeding year, until Joseph was born. So Reuben, the eldest son of Leah was born a year later after the marriage, that mean Jacob was 80, when he had Reuben in 2188. Simeon in 2189, Levi in 2190 and Judah in 2191.

Since we know which year Levi was born, we can now easily work out that he was 48 when he arrived in Egypt in 2238 JE; and died in the year 2327 JE, at age 137.

Unfortunately, we don't have information of when Levi's son and grandson were born, nor that of his daughter.

What is known is that Levi had 3 sons - Gershon, Kohath and Merari (Genesis 46:11), and they were all born at some time before they arrived in Egypt. And Kohath was the father of Amram, who was father of Moses.

Levi's daughter, Jochebed is a complete mystery. All we know about her, is that she married her nephew, Amram, and became mother to Aaron, Miriam and Moses. We don't know if she was born before or after Levi went to Egypt with his father and brothers.

And if we are to believe that the Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years, then there's 261 years between the time of Levi's death and Moses leading people out of Egypt to receive the Ten Commandments. This gap is huge.

(Calculation: 430 years - 80 - 89 = 261 years, because Levi lived in Egypt for 89 years.)

Even if Jochebed was born on the year of her father's death in 2327, that mean Jochebed would be 261-year old, when Moses is born, which is clearly impossible. Hence, the 430 years in Exodus 12:40 is wrong.

Even the generations between Noah and the birth of Abraham (Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, and Terah), 9 generations that amounts to only 370 years. So how could 2 generations (Kohath and Amram) or one generation (Jochebed) make 261 years.

An alternative date can be given, if we accept Paul's statement in Galatians 3:17.

That the 430 years began when Abraham received the covenant from God, Genesis 15. It was the same year that Ishmael was born, when Abraham was 86, in the year 2034 JE. Paul's letter is saying that the Law (Ten Commandments) came 430 years after Abraham's covenant.

This mean the date for the Exodus and receiving the Ten Commandments would be in 2464 JE, instead of 2668 JE.

At the very least, using the new dates, Jochebed would be 137-year old when she gave birth to Moses. The age of 137 is better than 261 years, but it is still excessive, and improbable.

A third alternative, is using the same verse in Exodus - 12:40, but using a different translation of the bible - the Septuagint Bible. The Septuagint Bible was translated into Greek in Egypt, in the 3rd-2nd century BCE.

The Septuagint clearly indicate that the Israelites lived in both Canaan and Egypt for 430 years before their departure from Egypt with Moses, while the other translations of the same verse, only indicated that the Israelites were only in Egypt for 430 years.

And since in every translations say either "Israelites", "Israelite People" or "Children of Israel", then Paul's statement about the period of 430 years between the covenant of Abraham and Moses receiving new law, don't ring true, because technically, Abraham and Isaac were not "Israelites".

And Exodus include both Canaan and Egypt in the 430 years, then it would have started when Jacob brought his family to Canaan, after his 20-year services to his father-in-law, Laban. This would put the date to the year 2200 JE. They stayed in Canaan for 38 years before they migrated to Egypt, in the year 2238 JE. So 430 years would mean that Moses left Egypt and brought the Israelites to Mount Sinai for the new law in 2630 JE.

The number of years between the death of Levi and the birth of Moses would be 223 years; and this number would still be too excessive.