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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Genealogy of David

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • Cc: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genealogy of David
  • Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 21:59:03 +0000

On 24/02/2005 20:54, Yigal Levin wrote:

...

[Peter:]
The full genealogy from Perez son of Judah to David is given in Ruth
4:18-22, 1 Chronicles 2:5,9-15, Matthew 1:2-6 and Luke 3:32-33. In each
case the list is (Jacob), (Judah), Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab,
Nahshon, Salmon/Salma, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David. So 11 recorded
generations to cover probably at least 700 years:


Why 700 years. Assuming that the average male has his first son at age 25
(which is probably high for ancient Israel, but would compensate for some
late starters or cases in which the son listed is not the eldest), 11
geneations would cover 275 years.


Precisely, as I wrote in the continuation of this sentence:

it looks as if

something must have been left out ...


But don't count on the length of a generation being so short. In some societies it is common for men not to get married until their 40's, so a generation length could be as long as 40 years. My "700 years" came from estimates of the time between Jacob and David. I agree that this is rather uncertain, but no one suggests it was as short as 275 years. For one thing, there are I think also 11 recorded generations from Jacob to Joshua, which could not have taken much less than 200 years.


... Four generations are unlikely to cover 230 years. So four
generations from the Conquest to David seems too few on almost any
chronology.


Once again - 4 generations are about 200 years. 230 is not that far.


No, on your assumptions 4 generations are about 100 years. 230 years means 57½ years per generation, not impossible but improbable.


--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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