Genesis: Words, Numbers, and Questions Raised

Biblical Words versus Numbers

When two or more people read Scripture, they often disagree about the meaning of the words. That's the case, at least in part, because Scripture has been with us for centuries, and it has been re-written in numerous languages.

Words have multiple meanings, nuances, and synonyms. Words are easily replaced. As a result, readers often trade claims of mistranslations, misinterpretations or misunderstandings.

Frankly, that's not the case with numbers, in Scripture or otherwise. One number cannot be exchanged for another; any mistake with numbers is almost always caught quickly. That's even true when they're translated to other languages or converted among different numeric systems. While words can lead to different understandings, numbers lead to mathematical facts. In Genesis, words and numbers support each other, so combinations of words and numbers often lead to the discovery of more facts.

Numbers in Genesis: Historical, Symbolic, or Both?

Quite a few people mentioned in Genesis are shown to have lived more than 700 years. Jesus had nine generations of ancestors whose lives on earth were completed by the time of the flood. Adam's whole lifetime was 930 years, Seth's was 912, and Enosh's was 905. Kenan's whole lifetime was 910 years, Mahalalel's was 895, and Jared's was 962. Enoch was 365 years old when God assumed him into heaven. Methuselah's whole lifetime was 969 years, and Noah's father Lamech died at 777.

It isn't really known why people may have lived so long or why there might be such discrepancies in age. Many of us have questioned whether people at that time counted years differently than we do. Actually, extensive details relating to the great flood help to reveal that there were twelve months in each year; moreover, the twelve months totaled just beyond 360 days.

Some readers consider all of these ages historical, while others believe them to be symbolic. A third group of readers thinks they are a mixture of both. Nevertheless, for this project, the numbers have been taken as literal. Since the authors of Scripture received divine inspiration, the meaning of their writings is thought to have come directly from God.

Numbers in Genesis: Not Rounded

Some readers consider the ages of people in Genesis to be simply rounded or "ballpark" figures. That's mostly because of the descriptions of a few prominent people, figures, and events, such as the great flood beginning in Noah's six hundredth year of life (Gen 7:11) or Abraham being 100 years old (Gen 21:5) when his son Isaac was born.

Readers won't often observe that a less prominent person like Terah had a lifetime of 205 years (Gen 11:32) while Abraham's wife Sarah lived 127 years (Gen 23:1). Furthermore, no one prior to Noah has numbers even close to rounded. It seems illogical that an author would be inspired to round just a few figures, while leaving so many more untouched. While some figures may seem to be rounded, they are exactly what the author was inspired to write.

Numbers are from Scripture

Some say that, in Genesis, people's ages are "just a bunch of numbers". Many readers aren't naturally drawn to numbers. At the same time, others don't mind working with them. After realizing the numbers come from Scripture, they begin to think there might be something special about them. Those who have studied Genesis over the years have asked interesting, long-lasting questions, such as why is Sarah the only woman in Genesis with an age given, or why are there so many details to the great flood story, giving time to even the day?

Sarah, the Only Woman with an Age

Abraham's wife, Sarah, is the only woman in Genesis with an age provided. There are numerous other important women, such as Isaac's wife, Rebekah, and Jacob's wife, Rachel; nevertheless, not a single age appears for either of them or any other female. Only Sarah has an age mentioned. Furthermore, she is actually the only female in the entire Bible whose age is revealed.

People wonder why that's the case. Further study of Genesis shows Sarah never has a current age given; instead, it only supplies her future age. That's not the case for anyone else. Before she becomes pregnant Gen 17:17 has "Or can Sarah give birth at ninety?" I believe that writing this way calls attention to the time during a mother's pregnancy.

The Flood's Extensive Details

Readers have often wondered why the flood story has so much detail. This particular story differs a lot from any other one in Genesis. Events during the flood are presented by month and even day. For example, the middle of the story contains this passage:

Gen 8:3-5

Gradually the waters receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred and fifty days, the waters had so diminished that, in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The waters continued to diminish until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared.

Another example of the story's extensive detail has to do with how Noah's life is measured. While anyone else in Genesis has an age or numbers given to the year, Noah has points in his life often marked not just to the year, but to the month, and even to the day. One example is at the beginning of the flood.

Gen 7:11

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month: it was on that day that All the fountains of the great abyss burst forth, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

Likewise, at the end of the flood, the narrative relates how the land became dry in the six hundred-first year, second month, and twenty-seventh day of Noah's life.

The detail of the flood seems to stress certain facts. For example, God tells Noah at three times whom he is to take with him. He informs Noah in advance of the flood that only he, his wife, his three sons and his sons' wives will be getting into the ark. Just before the flood God tells Noah to enter the ark, taking only those seven relatives with him. Finally, God tells Noah to leave the ark after the flood, together with "your wife and your sons and your sons' wives". What is almost comical is that five times it's noted that Noah did exactly as told, taking only those seven with him.

There might be specific reasons why this story was written this way. The details even present three different ways to verify that the flood lasted just beyond one year; therefore, it's clear that everyone's age changed.

The Final Verse in Genesis

The last person mentioned in Genesis is Jacob's son, Joseph. I wondered why the end of his life was written of unlike anyone else's. The last verse in the book includes "Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten." (Gen 50:26) What's unique is that the same number was given just four verses earlier. "Joseph remained in Egypt, together with his father's family. He lived a hundred and ten years." (Gen 50:22)

The author provides the same "hundred and ten" twice, with the first being his years of "life" and the second being his "age". Nothing like that is given for anyone else in Genesis, and Joseph's numbers are in the last five verses of the book. I thought the words "life" and "span of life" might be used to count life starting from conception, while the words "age", "lifetime" and "years old" were used to count starting from birth.

The "Two Years after the Flood" Discrepancy

For at least several decades, readers have noted an unresolved math problem in Genesis. At first it appears that Noah's son, Shem, would have been 100 years old at the beginning of the flood, but the book also relates, "When Shem was one hundred years old he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the flood." (Gen 11:10) Shem couldn't have been the same age at the start of the flood and two years after it.

Enoch Assumed into Heaven

Enoch is the only person in Genesis who never died; instead God chose to assume him into heaven. I've wondered why God chose to take Enoch exactly 300 years after the birth of his son, Methuselah. The number seems to be more than coincidental.

Three Enigmas in Genesis

The "Two Years after the Flood" Enigma

What's known as the "Two Years after the Flood" problem, mentioned earlier, comes from combining three verses from three chapters in Genesis. These are the verses:

Gen 5:32

When Noah was five hundred years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Gen 7:11

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month: it was on that day that All the fountains of the great abyss burst forth, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

Gen 11:10

This is the record of the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the flood.

If the flood began when Noah was 600 years old, and he had become Shem's father when he was 500, logic suggests Shem would have been 100 years old when the flood started. (600 – 500 = 100). However, Gen 11:10 indicates Shem wasn't 100 until two years after the flood. This leaves a discrepancy of about two years to resolve.

Theologian's and Scholar's Thoughts

Many experts have studied the problem without finding an acceptable answer. One theologian, Professor Gerhard von Rad, wrote in his book "Genesis":

"There is an inconsistency between the data in Ch. 5.32 and Ch. 7.11 on the one hand and Ch. 11.10 on the other which has not yet been satisfactorily solved, if one decides against simply deleting the words "two years after the flood," for at this time Shem was not 100 years old, but 102."

The scholar Dr. Jeremy Hughes wrote in his "Secrets of the Times" book:

"And the only way out of this dilemma that I can see is to suppose that this 2 year interval is actually a chronological correction made after 2 years had fallen out of antediluvian chronology through some process of textual corruption when it was noticed that the remaining figures no longer added up to the correct totals required by Priestly tradition."

The Length of the Flood

One key point to realize and recall is that the flood lasted a little more than one year. That means everyone's age must have changed during the flood. According to the following verses, the flood lasted one year and ten days.

The flood began with Gen 7:11.

Gen 7:11

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month: it was on that day that All the fountains of the great abyss burst forth, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

The earth was dry again with Gen 8:13-14.

Gen 8:13-14

In the six hundred and first year of Noah's life, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water began to dry up on the earth. Noah then removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was drying up. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

The end of the flood (six hundred and first year, second month, and twenty-seventh day of Noah's life) less the start of the flood (six hundredth year, second month, and seventeenth day of Noah's life) equals 1 year and 10 days.

Five Words are No Mistake

The claim that the phrase "two years after the flood" is simply a mistake and shouldn't be in Genesis is not correct. Merely removing the five words would have Noah leaving the ark with a very young grandson left aboard.

That's because Shem was 100 years old when he became the father of Arpachshad. If Shem was also 100 when the flood began, and it lasted more than one year, Shem would have been 101 at the end; therefore, Arpachshad would have been born when Noah left the ark.

However, the only humans Noah was told to take from the ark were his wife, his three adult sons and his sons' wives. He didn't take any children with him.

Gen 8:18-19

So Noah came out, together with his wife and his sons and his sons' wives; and all the animals, wild and tame, all the birds, and all the creeping creatures of the earth left the ark, one kind after another.

In that case Arpachshad would have been born but left aboard the ark.

Two Additional Enigmas

The theologian Professor Gerhard von Rad and the scholar Dr. Jeremy Hughes did not consider the two year problem a "mistake". Instead, von Rad called it "an inconsistency" and Hughes called it a "dilemma" that hadn't been solved.

When the three verses are shown together, readers can clearly see a math issue. That's because there are only four numbers in it, those being Noah's age of 500, Noah's six hundredth year of life, Shem's age of 100, and the two years discrepancy. Together they don't make sense mathematically.

There is another math problem that isn't as easy to see.

Enigma #2: Was or Wasn't Shem's Son Arpachshad Born on the Ark?

According to the following few verses, it seems he was.

Gen 5:32

When Noah was five hundred years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Gen 7:11

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month: it was on that day that All the fountains of the great abyss burst forth, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

If Noah was 500 years older than Shem and the flood began when Noah was 600 years old, Shem would have been 100 years old when the flood began. (600–500)

The flood lasted just beyond one year. If Shem was 100 years old at the start of it, he would have been 101 when it ended.

Gen 11:10

This is the record of the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad ...

If Shem was 101 when the one year flood ended, Arpachshad was born on the ark.

However, citations show that no child left the ark. God didn't tell Noah to take any child with him. He was to take with him only his wife, his three sons, and his sons' wives.

Gen 8:18-19

So Noah came out, together with his wife and his sons and his sons' wives; 19 and all the animals, wild and tame, all the birds, and all the creeping creatures of the earth left the ark, one kind after another.

Furthermore, only the three sons would people the earth.

Gen 9:18-19

The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) These three were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was peopled.

In summary, while it seems Arpachshad would have been born on the ark, Noah did precisely what God told him to do. He took from the ark every living person and thing. Arpachshad wasn't among them. Moreover, God didn't address or include Arpachshad as one who would be peopling the earth. Still, "When Arpachshad was thirty-five years old, he became the father of Shelah." (Gen 11:12)

So, Enigma #2 is unresolved.

Bible scholars may have overlooked a third mathematical discrepancy. It's regarding Noah's age at death and how long he lived after the flood.

Enigma #3: Could Noah Have Died at Only 950 Years Old?

Gen 8:13-14

In the six hundred and first year of Noah's life, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water began to dry up on the earth. Noah then removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was drying up. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

Gen 9:28-29

Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. The whole lifetime of Noah was nine hundred and fifty years; then he died.

If Noah was 601 years old when the earth was dry and lived 350 years afterward, he would not have died at the age of 950, but at 951 (601 + 350 = 951).

The three enigmas aren't the result of mathematical discrepancies. They are the result of misinterpreting the words of Genesis. The misinterpretations have to be resolved.

Summary so far:

• There are three unresolved math problems from the great flood story. They're difficult to detect because each is a combination of verses from two or more chapters. Each includes its own set of factors, based on people's ages and the times of events.

Parallel Stories with Signs in Them

Sarah, the Only Woman with an Age Provided

As I began studying the stories and ages of the people in Genesis, I first focused on Abraham's wife, Sarah, because she and her son Isaac had so much in common with Mary and Jesus.

Each mother, for example:

• Heard God's angel or representative say she'd soon give birth to a son.

• Found that hard to understand given her circumstances.

• Was told anything is possible with God.

• Did, in fact, give birth to a son.