Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bill Rea <bsr15 AT cantsl.it.canterbury.ac.nz>]

Harold wrote:-

>HH: But this tree from the Methuselah Grove is apparently not that old.
>The figure given is five thousand years in a PBS program. However, a
>scientist has recently discovered one older, but I don't know how much:
>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2817methuselah.html
>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/methuselah/
>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/methuselah/explore.html
>
>HH: Actually the age seems to be 4,798 years for the well-known one:
>
>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/08/23/SC7
>2173.DTL

We're talking about different trees. The code of the one discussed in the
URL immediately above is given in the article as WPN-114, which is a
Wheeler Peak number. I'm talking about CA-535 as published by Donald
Graybill in 1980. I downloaded a copy of the data less than three weeks
ago. It has 7,980 annual data points. Graybill doesn't get a mention in
the article in the URL.

The point still stands. Those who wish to understand the text to support a
view that the earth was created around 4,000 BC and underwent a literal
Noah's flood are stuck with the uncomfortable fact that some trees are
then older than the earth on which they grow and survived being under
water for perhaps half a year or so.

Bill Rea, IT Services, University of Canterbury \_
E-Mail bill.rea AT canterbury.ac.nz               </   New
Phone 64-3-364-2331, Fax  64-3-364-2332       /)  Zealand
Unix Systems Administrator                   (/'