Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Kirk" <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
> 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.

Not in ancient Israel. Read any book on the family in Ancient Israel....



> 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.
>

Why do you assume 700 years from Jacob to David? Assuming we're agreed on
dating David to c. 1000 BCE, what indication do you have for Jacob at 1700?

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

True. That's what's called "telescoping".

> >>
> >
> >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.

You're right here - that's what happens when I answer emails at midnight.