Scriptorium · Genealogy

Creation to Abraham

Genesis records every generation from Adam to Abraham with the father's age at each birth. The DAVAR engine adds them up — link by link, chapter 5 and chapter 11 — to reconstruct the genealogical spine of the Bible: how many years, and which year, each name falls after Creation. The arithmetic is exact; the calendar anchor is named honestly.

The 1446 BC Exodus Anchor Back to the Chronology Atlas

This is the book of the generations of Adam. — Genesis 5:1

The Genesis 5 & 11 Genealogical Spine

Computed live by the DAVAR engine: summing the begetting ages of the Genesis 5 and Genesis 11 chains gives 1948 years from Adam to Abraham across 18 linked generations. The Flood falls at year 1656 after Creation.

What the engine computes with certainty is the elapsed time between events — the arithmetic of the stated ages. The absolute BC scale is anchor-dependent: these dates place Creation at c. 4004 BC (Ussher, the Masoretic text), but the Septuagint (LXX) gives longer chains and places Creation nearer 5500 BC. The earliest dates are the most contested and are held with appropriate uncertainty. Scripture is the authority — see /chronology and /apologetics.

AM0 AM500 AM1000 AM1500 AM2000 Adam — AM 0 Seth — AM 130 Enosh — AM 235 Kenan — AM 325 Mahalalel — AM 395 Jared — AM 460 Enoch — AM 622 Methuselah — AM 687 Lamech — AM 874 Noah — AM 1056 The Flood — AM 1656 Arphaxad — AM 1658 Shelah — AM 1693 Eber — AM 1723 Peleg — AM 1757 Reu — AM 1787 Serug — AM 1819 Nahor — AM 1849 Terah — AM 1878 Abraham — AM 1948 Adam (Creation) The Flood Abraham years after Creation (AM) — Masoretic / Ussher anchor

Generation	Scripture	Age at next birth	Years after Creation	Approx. date
Adam Formed from the dust; lived 930 years.	Genesis 5:3	130 yrs	AM 0	4004 BC
Seth The line that carries the promise forward.	Genesis 5:6	105 yrs	AM 130	3874 BC
Enosh Then men began to call on the name of the LORD (Gen 4:26).	Genesis 5:9	90 yrs	AM 235	3769 BC
Kenan	Genesis 5:12	70 yrs	AM 325	3679 BC
Mahalalel	Genesis 5:15	65 yrs	AM 395	3609 BC
Jared	Genesis 5:18	162 yrs	AM 460	3544 BC
Enoch Walked with God, and was not, for God took him.	Genesis 5:21	65 yrs	AM 622	3382 BC
Methuselah 969 years — the longest life recorded in Scripture.	Genesis 5:25	187 yrs	AM 687	3317 BC
Lamech Named the child Noah — rest and comfort.	Genesis 5:28	182 yrs	AM 874	3130 BC
Noah Six hundred years old when the Flood came.	Genesis 7:6	600 yrs	AM 1056	2948 BC
The Flood The fountains of the great deep were broken up.	Genesis 7:11	—	AM 1656	2348 BC
Arphaxad Born two years after the Flood; Shem was 100.	Genesis 11:10	35 yrs	AM 1658	2346 BC
Shelah	Genesis 11:12	30 yrs	AM 1693	2311 BC
Eber Ancestor of the Hebrews.	Genesis 11:14	34 yrs	AM 1723	2281 BC
Peleg In his days the earth was divided (Gen 10:25).	Genesis 11:16	30 yrs	AM 1757	2247 BC
Reu	Genesis 11:18	32 yrs	AM 1787	2217 BC
Serug	Genesis 11:20	30 yrs	AM 1819	2185 BC
Nahor	Genesis 11:22	29 yrs	AM 1849	2155 BC
Terah Took the family from Ur toward Canaan.	Genesis 11:24	70 yrs	AM 1878	2126 BC
Abraham Father of many nations; the covenant line begins.	Genesis 11:26	—	AM 1948	2056 BC

From Abraham to the Exodus

Past Abraham the arithmetic forks on a single textual question: how long was Israel in Egypt? Exodus 12:40 in the Masoretic text reads 430 years; the Septuagint and Galatians 3:17 are read by many to make 430 the span from the covenant with Abraham to the Exodus (about 215 years in Egypt). The two readings move the Exodus by roughly two centuries, which is why this engine stops its certain computation at Abraham.

The Exodus itself is fixed far more securely from the other end of the chain — the 480 years of 1 Kings 6:1 anchored to Solomon's temple. See the 1446 BC anchor, computed →

Begetting ages follow the Masoretic text (Genesis 5; 11:10-26). The Anno-Mundi (years-after-Creation) column is summed directly from those ages and is internally exact. The approximate-date column places Creation at c. 4004 BC following Ussher; the Septuagint chronology would shift every date older by roughly 1,300-1,500 years. The earliest dates are the most contested against secular scholarship and are held with appropriate uncertainty. Scripture, not the engine, is the authority — see /chronology and /apologetics.

How the Engine Works

For each link in the chain, Scripture gives the father's age at the birth of the next named son (Genesis 5:3-32; 11:10-26). The engine accumulates those ages from Adam forward to produce the Anno-Mundi year of each generation, marks the Flood at Noah's 600th year (Genesis 7:6,11), and converts to an approximate BC date under the stated Creation anchor.

What is computed with certainty is the elapsed time between events — the sum of the stated ages. What is anchor-dependent is the absolute placement on the BC calendar, because that depends on which textual tradition and which Creation date one adopts. Past Abraham the chain forks on the length of the Egyptian sojourn, so the engine stops its certain computation there and hands off to the 1 Kings 6:1 Exodus anchor.

Go Deeper

Exodus 1446 Keystone — the keystone Exodus date, computed from 1 Kings 6:1.

The Chronology Atlas — the full chronology atlas, Creation to the Nativity.

Chronology Methodology — editorial source ladder, dating methodology, and evidence tiers.

Apologetics — the case for Scripture, five domains.

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