Creation to Captivity

 

Age of the Earth as Tallied from Creation to the Captivity using Biblical References

Bodie Hodge, Biblical Authority Ministries, August 14, 2020 

Introduction

The age of the earth is hot topic in today’s culture. The concept of millions of years is not a reality of the past and is a farce from the false religion of humanism (e.g., atheism, naturalism, secularism). There is no greater authority than God and His Word. If someone wants to know the age of the earth then they need to rely on God’s Word, not man’s fallible, sinful, error-prone, opinions about the past. God was there and He eye-witnessed history. 

It would be a faulty appeal to authority fallacy to reject God’s Word, who is the ultimate authority on all subjects, and appeal to arbitrary man’s ideas about the past. So any reliable date for the age of the earth must be grounded in God’s Word. 

Sadly, far too many people, Christians included, just accept secular humanistic dates of the age of the earth without thinking about it. When people use the text of Scripture they get thousands of years—usually around 6,000 years ago or hovering around 4,000 BC. Some Christians like to leave open a range from 6-10 thousand but that leads to more errors than “you can shake a stick at” when you look at the details of stretching that out. Nevertheless, hosts of Christians and Jews have done this calculation of the age of the earth over the past 2,000 years and I’ve written about this previously.

What Was My Goal?

But what I wanted to do is see what date I could get. Not that I am a chronology “junkie”, but I wanted to see if I could come up with a ballpark figure of what others had calculated (using texts based on the Hebrew Old Testament). The Greek LXX translation, though ancient, has inflated dates in the Genesis chrono-genealogies and other errors in Genesis in its translation, so it is better to stick with an original language basis—which is what most Bible translations are based on.

Furthermore, my goal was to go from Creation to the Captivity. Virtually everyone agrees[1] that the captivity of the Jews in finality by the Babylonians was somewhere between 586 BC-588 BC. At this point, it’s not worth the battle over this 2 year discrepancy. So my standard chronology will be +/- 2 due to this.    

I’ve broken this chronology into three tables with references provided. The three tables tabulate data from: 

·         Creation to the Initial Promise given to Abraham

·         The Initial Promise to Abraham to the end of Solomon’s reign (with a  countdown to the Exodus)

·         From Rehoboam (Solomon’s son) until the Captivity   

 The Data Tables (A.M. Dates Anno Mundi--from Creation Forward)

 Table 1: Creation to the Initial Promise given to Abraham  

  

Count from Creation (A.M. or Anno Mundi)	Patriarch/ Event	Age at subsequent son/notes	Age at death/ notes	Bible reference
0	Creation Week	5 days before Adam’s creation on the 6th day	Creation began on Day 1	Genesis 1:1, Exodus 20:11, 31:17
0	Adam and Eve	130	930	Genesis 5:3-5, Mark 10:6
130	Seth	105	912	Genesis 5:6-8
235	Enosh	90	905	Genesis 5:9-11
325	Cainan	70	910	Genesis 5:12-14
395	Mahalalel	65	895	Genesis 5:15-17
460	Jared	162	962	Genesis 5:18-20
622	Enoch	65	365+	Genesis 5:21-23
687	Methuselah	187	969	Genesis 5:25-27
874	Lamech	182	777	Genesis 5:28-31
1056	Noah	502; Noah was 500 when he had his oldest son, Japheth (Genesis 5:32) even though all sons are listed with Shem first. Shem was the one of importance for the lineage of Abraham and ultimately Christ. Shem was second oldest being born 2 years after Japheth, since he was 100, two years after the Flood (Genesis 11:10-11), which is when Noah was 502 years old. Ham was the youngest (Genesis 9:22-24).	950	Genesis 7:6, 9:29,11:10-11
1558	Shem	100	600	Genesis 11:10-11
1656	The Flood			Noah was 600 when the Flood came (Genesis 7:6)
1658	Arphaxad	35	438	Genesis 11:12-13
1693	Shelah	30	433	Genesis 11:14-15
1723	Eber	34	464	Genesis 11:16-17
1757	Peleg	30	239	Genesis 11:18-19
1787	Reu	32	239	Genesis 11:20-21
1819	Serug	30	230	Genesis 11:22-23
1849	Nahor	29	148	Genesis 11:24-25
1878	Terah	70	205	Genesis 11:26-32
1948	Terah fathers Haran, his oldest son	Though all of Terah’s sons are listed, this date is for the eldest. Abraham (Abram) was again listed first due to his importance		Genesis 11:28-29
2008	Terah fathers Abram (Abraham)	130	175	Genesis 11:31-12:4, 25:7
2083	The Promise	The year promise for Abraham and the beginning of the sojourn of Abraham and his promised descendants through Sarah	Abe was 75	Genesis 12:1-7

 

This gives us 2083 years to the initial promise to Abraham. Abraham is born around 2000 years after creation, and most agree that Abraham lived about 2000 BC as well. So this lets me know that I’m in the ballpark so far. In fact, these are the easy calculations—since all the data is readily given; so its simple math for this first table.   

Table 2: The Initial Promise to Abraham Countdown to the end of Solomon’s Reign including a countdown to the Exodus

Count	Count to Exodus	Event	Notes	Reference
2083	430	Initial Promise, Sojourn begins	Abraham, 75 years old	Genesis 12:1-7
2093	420	Reiteration of the Promise	Abraham, 85 years old	Genesis 15:13-15
2094	419	Ishmael born (half-Egyptian)	Abraham, 86 years old	Genesis 16:16
2107	406	Final reiteration of the promise to Abraham	Abraham 99 years old	Genesis 17
2108	405	Isaac, child of promise born	Abraham, 100 years old	Genesis 17:19-21; 21:3-5
2113	400	Isaac, child of promise first persecuted by Ishmael, the half-Egyptian; Ishmael and Hagar (his Egyptian mother) are banished as a result; Beginning of persecution of Abraham’s promised descendants through Sarah	Isaac weaning age (which is very young) perhaps 4-5 years old making Abraham 105 years old (1 Samuel 1:23-24)	Genesis 21:8-14
2173	340	Jacob and Esau born	Isaac was 60	Genesis 25:26
		Esau sells his birthright to Jacob
2183	330	Abraham dies	Abraham, 175 years old	Genesis 25:7-10
		Jacob renamed Israel		Genesis 32:28
		Israel has 12 sons (Levi, Joseph, Judah, etc.; Benjamin last)		Genesis 29-30; 35:16 (Benjamin)
2264	249	Joseph born	Jacob/Israel, 91 years old	Genesis 37:3; see below
2281	232	Joseph sold into slavery; finally to Egypt	Joseph 17 years old	Genesis 37:28; Genesis 37:2
2293	220	Isaac dies	Isaac, 180 years old; Jacob/Israel, 120 years old Joseph 29 years old	Genesis 35:28
2294	219	Joseph in position of power in Egypt	Joseph, 30 years old	Genesis 41:41 Genesis 41:46
2294-2301	219-212	Seven years of Plenty	Joseph, 37 years old	Genesis 41:47
2303	210	Israelites into Egypt (2 years into the 7 years of famine)	Jacob, 130 years old Joseph, 39 years old	Genesis 45:9-46:7; 45:6-11
2320	193	Jacob dies in Egypt	Jacob, 147 years old; after 17 years in Egypt Joseph, 56 years old	Genesis 47:28
		Levi fathers Kohath  (born in Canaan per Genesis 46:7-11)	Ephraim fathers Shuthelah (possibly before coming to Egypt?)	Genesis 50:23, 1 Chronicles 7:20-27; Exodus 6:16-20
		Levi fathers Jochebed who was born in Egypt	Shuthelah fathers Bered	Genesis 50:23, 1 Chronicles 7:20-27; Exodus 6:16-20
		Kohath fathers Amram	Bered fathers Tahath	Genesis 50:23, 1 Chronicles 7:20-27; Exodus 6:16-20
2374	139	Joseph (and his brothers) had died	Joseph, 110 year old	Genesis 50:22-26
		Pharaoh wrongly enslaves the Israelites even though the Egyptians were technically his slaves per Genesis 47:20-26		Exodus 1:8-14
2432	81?-80	Persecution of baby boys in Egypt	Just before and after the birth of Moses	Exodus 1:15-22
2433	80	Moses born to Amram	Moses, 0 years old	Exodus 2:1-10
2473	40	Moses flees Egypt	Moses, 40 years old	Exodus 2:15
2513	0	10 plagues	Moses, 80 years old	Exodus 7:7 (beginning)
2513	0	Exodus from Egypt/Giving of the Law	Moses, 80 years old; Last persecution of Israelites by Egypt	Exodus; Exodus 20
2553	+40	Fourth generation was the first permitted to enter into Canaan (with their descendants of course)	Moses died 120 years old; Joshua leads the fourth generation and their descendants into Canaan	Numbers 14:34, Deuteronomy 1:35; 2:14;
2558	+45	7 Canaanite tribes destroyed and land distributed; about 450 years after the promise given to the fathers (plural meaning at least Abraham and Isaac) and this is 450 years after Isaac was born	Caleb was 85 now (40 when he spied out the land, 40 years after the wandering, and 5 more years after conquest and now the land distribution)	Joshua 13:1-7, 14:7, Act 13:16-19
2993	+480	Solomon is in his 4th year as king	Temple began to be built	1 Kings 6:1
3029	+516	Solomon’s dies and his reign ends after 40 years in power, 36 years later	The kingdom splits into Israel (Northern) and Judah (Southern)	2 Chronicles 9:30

There have been 946 years from the promise to Abraham until the end of Solomon’s reign and 3029 years since creation.

How did you get the age of Joseph?

To establish the age of Joseph with respect to Jacob his father, you need to do a calculation. Allow me to explain this because Jacob’s age is not given when Joseph is born—which is unlike the previous patriarchs going back to Adam in Genesis 5 and 11. So we have to come to it by a “round-about” way. 

Jacob (Israel) died when he was 147 years old (Genesis 47:28). He had been in the land of Egypt for 17 years (Genesis 47:28). He came to the land of Egypt in the 2^nd year of the 7 years of famine (Genesis 45:6-46:7). This was after the 7 years of plenty (Genesis 41:47-49). The first year of plenty, we know that Joseph was 30 years old and that is when he came to power in Egypt (Genesis 41:46-47).

So Joseph was 30 when he came to power to begin the 7 years of plenty. So Joseph was 37 when the years of famine began. Two years later, Joseph was 39. This was when Jacob (Israel) moved to Egypt for his final 17 years. So take Jacob’s total years (147) and subtract 17 years to get to the year he came to Egypt. Jacob was 130 years old when Joseph was 39 years old. Now we have the age relationship between Joseph and his father Jacob.

This means that Jacob was 91 years old when Joseph was born. Because we now know they were 91 years apart, then anytime we know Jacob’s age, we know Joseph was 91 years younger. Or when we know Joseph’s age, Jacob was 91 years older. 

Table 3: Kings of Judah (Southern Kingdom) from Rehoboam (Solomon’s son) until the Captivity 

Count	King/ Queen/ Event	Length of Reign (years or months)	Notes	Reference
3029	Rehoboam	17	Began reign upon Solomon’s death of the Southern Split Kingdom	2 Chronicles 9:31; 1 Kings 14:21
3046	Abijah (Abijam)	3	Jeroboam was king in the Northern Kingdom of Israel for 18 years (he began reigning in Israel at the same time as Rehoboam began reigning in Judah, the Southern Kingdom) Rehoboam reigned 17 years so in the 18th year, Abijah began his 3 year term	1 Kings 15:1-2
3049	Asa	41	In the 20th year of Jeroboam, Asa began to reign in Judah after Abijah’s 3 years on the throne. He then reigned 41 years	1 Kings 15:9-10
3090	Jehoshaphat	25	After Asa, Jehoshaphat began to reign for 25 years	1 Kings 22:41-42
3115	Jehoram (Joram)	8	He had an 8 year reign	2 Chronicles 21:1-5
3123	Ahaziah (Azariah/ Jehoahaz)	1	He only had a 1 year reign	2 Chronicles 22:1-2
3124	Queen Athaliah	6	Mother of Ahaziah, ruled 6 years after killing most of the royal family	2 Chronicles 22:10-12
3130	Joash (Jehoash)	40	Son of Ahaziah/Jehoahaz reigned 40 years starting at the age of 7 after being in hiding from his grandmother Queen Athaliah who killed all of his relatives and tried to kill him too to secure her throne;  After her 6 year reign she was slain by the word and Joash became king at a young age	2 Chronicles 24:1-2, (see also 2 Chronicles 22:10-12)
3170	Amaziah	29	He reigned 29 years	2 Chronicles 24:27-2 Chronicles 25:1
3199	Azariah (Uzziah)	52	He reigned 52 years	2 Chronicles 25:27-2 Chronicles 26:3
3251	Jotham	16	He reigned 16 years	2 Chronicles 26:23-2 Chronicles 27:1
3267	Ahaz	16	He also reigned 16 years	2 Chronicles 27:9-2 Chronicles 28:1
3283	Hezekiah	29	He reigned 29 years	2 Chronicles 28:27-2 Chronicles 29:1
3312	Manasseh	55	He reigned 55 years	2 Chronicles 32:33-2 Chronicles 33:1
3367	Amon	2	He reigned 2 years and after his excessive sin he was killed	2 Chronicles 33:20-21
3369	Josiah	31	He reigned 31 years	2 Chronicles 33:23-2 Chronicles 34:1
3400	Jehoahaz (Shallum)	3 months	He reigned 3 months and was disposed by the Egyptians and carried off to Egypt	2 Chronicles 36:1-4
3400	Jehoiakim (Eliakim)	11	Son of Josiah and brother of Jehoahaz was put on the throne by the Egyptians; His reign was 11 years; his reign was cut short due to Nebuchadnezzar taking him captive to Babylon when opposing each other	2 Chronicles 36:3-5
3411	Jehoiachin (Jeconiah/ Coniah)	3 months (and 10 days)	His short reign of about 3 months was due to Nebuchadnezzar’s further exploits into Jerusalem/Judah; He too was taken into captivity with many precious items from the Temple.	2 Chronicles 36:8-10
3411	Zedekiah (Mattaniah)	11	Son of Josiah, set up as king by Nebuchadnezzar and he reigned 11 years subordinate to Babylon	2 Chronicles 36:10-19
3422	The Captivity and desolation of Jerusalem		The Chaldeans under the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and carried off the last of its items.	Daniel 9:2, 2 Chronicles 36:10-19, 2 Chronicles 36:21

From Rehoboam until the Captivity was 393 years in this tabulation. The captivity began 3422 years after Creation by this calculation.

Well, Was I Close?

At this point I had not looked at other chronologies in my possession (Floyd Jones, Jeanne Calmet, Frank Klassen, James Ussher, and several others). So I decided to see where I was at this point. Because of his popularity and his numbers being considered the standard, I looked up  Archbishop James Ussher’s The Annals of the World to see where I was in comparison to where he was at regarding the captivity.

Many of our dates overlapped but then they began to deviate toward the end in the third table with the kings. At the captivity we were off by 6 years. Ussher has the captivity at 3416 AM (Anno Mundi; Years after Creation), where I had 3422 AM. So I decided to investigate why we were different. Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled to be this close to Ussher’s date!

Ussher was able to spot coregency  (where a king and his son co-reigned during transfers of power) where my initial calculation missed those. This brings the date down by a year here and a year there. So in retrospect, I believe that Ussher was more careful on his numbers and that gives me an even greater respect for what he did—especially without computers and search programs like I have!

If I use 588 BC as Ussher did for the Captivity [to anchor my chronology to Ussher’s chronology], I would have went back to 4010 BC as the creation date. But as I mentioned, I believe I began deviating due to my own human error. I looked up each of the discrepancies of coregency and I firmly believe Ussher got them right and I didn’t. So of course, I’ll still defer to Ussher as the expert and highly recommend his work.  

But the point is that with a little time and effort, it is easier than I thought to add up the age of the earth. There were some tricky spots, like the relationship between Jacob’s and Joseph’s age, but I arrived, like most others, at a date near 4,000 BC and the age of the earth of about 6,000 years.        

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[1] Be careful because there are some cults like Jehovah’s Witnesses that have other dates for the captivity to try to make certain false prophecies that they have made appear better.