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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] 6-Month "Year"

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  • From: "Bryant J. Williams III" <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net>
  • To: <JimStinehart AT aol.com>, <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] 6-Month "Year"
  • Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 09:48:32 -0800

Dear Jim,

First, Matthew gives his own interpretation of the genealogy in 1:1-17 in
verse
17. Furthermore, he is not even discussing the ages of the patriarchs of Jesus
here.

Second, since this list is for Hebrew, and not for Greek, then further
discussion of Matthew or any NT book should be taken off-list to the B-Greek
site in accordance with the list parameters. If I am wrong about this then the
moderators will correct me.

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III


----- Original Message -----
From: <JimStinehart AT aol.com>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 7:32 AM
Subject: [b-hebrew] 6-Month "Year"


>
> Rev. Bryant J. Williams III:
> In considering whether the Hebrews, Jews and early Christians viewed the
> Patriarchs' ages on the basis of a 6-month "year", consider the testimony of
> chapter 1 of the Book of Matthew. Chapter 1 of Matthew begins with a focus
on
> Abraham. Abraham is noted at Matthew 1: 1 as being the founder of a line
> that, according to Matthew, ends with Jesus. Abraham is then the first
> name
in
> the genealogy proper that begins at Matthew 1: 2. Finally, Abraham is
> mentioned a third time at Matthew 1: 17 in summarizing the preceding
genealogy.
> With Abraham being so prominent in chapter 1 of Matthew, and with Matthew
being
> so interested in Hebrew scripture and in numbers, one might expect that
> Matthew would know if Abraham's life was viewed on the basis of a 6-month
"year"
> by Jews and early Christians in the 1st century AD.
> To determine whether this is the case, simply count every name in the
> genealogy set forth at Matthew 1: 2-16. The first 7 names are: (1)
> Abraham,
(2)
> Isaac, (3) Isaac (since Isaac’s name is set forth twice, it must be
> counted
> twice; most, but not all, of the names are set forth twice), (4) Jacob,
> (5)
> Jacob, (6) Judah, (7) “his brothers” (this is a description of a group of
> people, which should be counted as being equivalent to one name). Name #34
is “
> the wife of Uriah”.
> Count all the names in the genealogy at Matthew 1: 2-16, including women's
> names, and count twice any name that appears twice. As to a title, count
> that
> as being equivalent to half a name, since it should not be ignored
> entirely,
> yet it should not count as a full name either.
> If you count every name in the genealogy at Matthew 1: 2-16, which begins
> with Abraham, you will see that the number of names in that genealogy is
> Abraham's actual age at death (on the 6-month "year" view): 87½. That is
> equivalent to age 175 "years" in 6-month "years", which is how the text of
the
> Patriarchal narratives states Abraham's age at death. Genesis 25: 7
> Rather than this being a bizarre "coincidence", in my view this is evidence
> that as of the 1st century AD, both Jews and early Christians alike knew
> the
> "secret" of understanding the Patriarchs' actual ages in terms of a 6-month
> "year".
> Absent the concept of a 6-month "year", the number 87½ has no religious
> significance of any type. But if the Patriarchs' lives are viewed as being
set
> forth in the text in terms of 6-month "years", then the number 87½ will
always
> be associated with the actual lifespan of the first Hebrew: Abraham. In
> my
> view, both Jews and early Christians in the 1st century AD associated
> Abraham with the number 87½, being Abraham's actual age at death on the
> basis
of a
> 6-month "year".
> Jim Stinehart
> Evanston, Illinois
>
>
>
> ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com
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> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
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>


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