TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents  -  About  -  References  -  Outline  -  Chronology

ABOUT THIS CHRONOLOGY

REFERENCES, WITH ABBREVIATIONS

CHRONOLOGY OUTLINE, WITH LINKS TO CENTURIES

CHRONOLOGY

ABOUT THIS CHRONOLOGY

Table of Contents  -  About  -  References  -  Outline  -  Chronology

History of the Chronology:

This collection of dates and events began as a personal project in the early 1980s. My intention was to make a collection of important or interesting dates throughout history so as to get a rough overview of history as a whole. The data has traveled through several computer systems and various computer programs until at last landing in a Microsoft Word 97 document format that includes hyperlinks. The MSWord version is kept roughly in sync with this HTML version and can be downloaded from http://betterdaysarecoming.com/chron/chronology.doc.

This chronology project is by no means complete, but has reached a point where it might be useful in some way to others besides myself. It is intended merely as an outline, with the background material listed as references to be consulted as a starting point when greater detail is needed.

At this point in time, the HTML is not finished, and many links for dates still need linking. I have left in my personal notes to the author (myself) about discrepancies or areas for further research, including many of the century synopses that are unfinished. By checking the Last Updated date listed at the top of the document, you can determine when I last added new material.

Arrangement of the Chronology:

The Chronology is divided into centuries and individual years grouped within each century. At the beginning of each century, navigation links jump forward or backward one century at a time, or to the Table of Contents. References for background and source information can be found in reference citations on the right side of the page following many of the paragraphs. The frames version has a sidebar with links to each century to make navigation easier.

Some notes about dates:

"Circa" before a date indicates uncertainty about the exact year; the event may have occurred a year or so before or after the date listed. "Before" or "After" written with the date indicates that the events happened one or several years, or in some cases many years, before or after the date listed. These modifiers are used when the Bible or other historical references give no definite indication about a specific year for an event.

The figures I have used for showing the time span for each century, such as 1900–1999 for the 20th Century CE, are considered incorrect for defining when a century begins and ends. For example: The 21st Century CE begins in 2001 CE, not in the year 2000. (See Awake! 1997 5/22 29.) I have used the figures 0 to 99 (or 99 to 0 in BCE dates) and higher increments of these numbers to simplify the century divisions.

* BCE = Before the Common Era (corresponds to [year] BC in many secular works).

* CE = Common Era (corresponds to AD [year] in many secular works).

For more information about the use of BCE and CE, see http://www.religioustolerance.org/ce.htm.

Dates are taken from the following sources:

• "All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial" (1990, revised edition) charts on pages 287–90, 294–98, and 313–14
• Insight on the Scriptures (1988), various articles
• Watch Tower Publications Index, 1930–1985, and subsequent indexes, especially under "Dates"
• The Watchtower magazines
• Awake! magazines
• Books listed below under References

Chronology synopses

• "Getting Bible Events in Order" in w75 7/15 446–7
• For a synopsis of events in each millennium, see the three articles in the 1975 Watchtower, 10/1 579–88: "The End of 6,000 Years of Man-Rule Approaches," "Almost 6,000 Years of Witnessing For Jehovah," and "6,000 Years of the Grand Outworking of Jehovah's Purpose Toward Mankind"

REFERENCES & ABBREVIATIONS

Table of Contents  -  About  -  References  -  Outline  -  Chronology

CHRONOLOGY OUTLINE,
WITH LINKS TO CENTURIES

Table of Contents  -  About  -  References  -  Outline  -  Chronology

CREATION:

Creation of the Word (Logos), spirit creatures, the material heavens and earth

CREATION (Before the "Creative Days" Begin)

CREATIVE DAYS:

Six successive "days" of preparing earth for mankind's inhabitation

DAY ONE  - DAY TWO  - DAY THREE  - DAY FOUR  - DAY FIVE  - DAY SIX

4026 – 3500 BCE:

Creation of Adam and Eve;  Seventh "day" of rest begins;  Sin;  Five generations of mankind after Adam

41st CENTURY (4099–4000)  - 40th CENTURY (3999–3900)  - 39th CENTURY (3899–3800)  - 38th CENTURY (3799–3700)  - 37th CENTURY (3699–3600)  - 36th CENTURY (3599–3500)

3499 – 3000 BCE:

Mankind to ninth generation from Adam;  Enoch born, prophesies;  Adam and Enoch die

35th CENTURY (3499–3400)  - 34th CENTURY (3399–3300)  - 33d CENTURY (3299–3200)  - 32d CENTURY (3199–3100)  - 31st CENTURY (3099–3000)

2999 – 2500 BCE:

Noah born;  Lamech's prophecy

30th CENTURY (2999–2900)  - 29th CENTURY (2899–2800)  - 28th CENTURY (2799–2700)  - 27th CENTURY (2699–2600)  - 26th CENTURY (2599–2500)

2499 – 2000 BCE:

Angels marry women;  Nephilim;  Violence in earth;  Deluge and its effects;  Nimrod;  Death of Noah;  Birth of Abraham

25th CENTURY (2499–2400)  - 24th CENTURY (2399–2300)  - 23d CENTURY (2299–2200)  - 22d CENTURY (2199–2100)  - 21st CENTURY (2099–2000)

1999 – 1500 BCE:

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob;  Famine;  Israel into Egypt;  Job;  Moses;  10 plagues;  Exodus;  Wandering in the wilderness

20th CENTURY (1999–1900)  - 19th CENTURY (1899–1800)  - 18th CENTURY (1799–1700)  - 17th CENTURY (1699–1600)  - 16th CENTURY (1599–1500)

1499 – 1000 BCE:

From wilderness into Canaan;  Joshua;  Judges;  Saul;  David;  Solomon;  Temple built

15th CENTURY (1499–1400)  - 14th CENTURY (1399–1300)  - 13th CENTURY (1299–1200)  - 12th CENTURY (1199–1100)  - 11th CENTURY (1099–1000)

999 – 500 BCE:

Solomon dies;  Kingdom divided;  Judah and Israel;  Samaria falls to Assyria;  Jerusalem falls to Babylon;  Captivity and release;  Medo-Persia replaces Babylon as world power;  Temple rebuilt

10th CENTURY (999–900)  - 9th CENTURY (899–800)  - 8th CENTURY (799–700)  - 7th CENTURY (699–600)  - 6th CENTURY (599–500)

499 – 1 BCE:

Greece replaces Medo-Persia as world power;  Alexander the Great;  Rome replaces Greece as world power;  Maccabean wars;  Birth of Jesus

5th CENTURY (499–400)  - 4th CENTURY (399–300)  - 3d CENTURY (299–200)  - 2d CENTURY (199–100)  - 1st CENTURY (99–1)

1 – 499 CE:

Jesus, apostles, and early Christians;  Jerusalem destroyed;  Christian Greek Scriptures;  Apostasy;  Dark Ages begin

1st CENTURY (1–99)  - 2d CENTURY (100–199)  - 3d CENTURY (200–299)  - 4th CENTURY (300–399)  - 5th CENTURY (400–499)

500 – 999 CE:

Dark Ages continue;  Christendom divided in many ways

6th CENTURY (500–599)  - 7th CENTURY (600–699)  - 8th CENTURY (700–799)  - 9th CENTURY (800–899)  - 10th CENTURY (900–999)

1000 – 1499 CE:

Crusades;  John Wycliffe;  Jan Hus;  Printing press;  Spanish Inquisition;  World exploration

11th CENTURY (1000–1099)  - 12th CENTURY (1100–1199)  - 13th CENTURY (1200–1299)  - 14th CENTURY (1300–1399)  - 15th CENTURY (1400–1499)

1500 – 1999 CE:

Martin Luther;  Protestant Reformation;  William Tyndale;  John Calvin;  Bible translations;  Anglo-American World Power emerges;  American and French revolutions;  Modern archaeology begins;  Adventist groups;  C. T. Russell;  Watch Tower Society;  Jehovah's Witnesses;  Last Days

16th CENTURY (1500–1599)  - 17th CENTURY (1600–1699)  - 18th CENTURY (1700–1799)  - 19th CENTURY (1800–1899)  - 20th CENTURY (1900–1999)

2000 – 2499 CE

Exact contents presently unknown; General contents biblically prophesied

21st CENTURY (2000–2099)

A CHRONOLOGY:
A THUMBNAIL SKETCH . . .

Table of Contents  -  About  -  References  -  Outline  -  Chronology

Jehovah, alone from time everlasting, begins creating. His "only-begotten son," called "the Word" (Greek, Logos), is "the beginning of the creation by God" and "the image of the invisible God." After an unspecified time, Jehovah uses his Son, the Word, as a "master worker" through whom 'all [other] things come into existence . . . and apart from him not even one thing comes into existence.'

Genesis 1:1, 26; Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 36:9;
Isaiah 40:26–28; John 1:1–4, 10, 14, 17; 3:16;
2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15–17; Revelation 3:14;
Insight JESUS CHRIST.

First to be created after the Logos are the heavenly angels. After they are created, Jehovah and the "Word" bring into being the material heavens and earth (energy into matter). The morning stars (angelic sons of God) 'joyfully cry out together and shout in applause' when the 'cornerstone' of the earth is laid. (Job 38:4–7) The statement "In the beginning God created (Hebrew, ba-ra') the heavens and the earth" allows for the passing of an indefinite period of time, perhaps billions of years, from the time of the creation of the material universe, including the stars and galaxies, sun, moon, and earth, until the beginning of the preparation of earth for man's habitation. Scientists estimate the age of the earth to be 4 to 4.5 billion years—more or less—and the age of the universe to be as much as 11 to 15 billion years.

Psalm 136:1, 5–9; Insight CREATION; EARTH.

Genesis 1:2 says: "Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and darkness was upon the surface of the watery deep."

Before earth's "creative days" begin, the earth is apparently already orbiting the sun, although it is swaddled in a band of cloud layers that prevents light from reaching its surface. Perhaps the sun is hidden by water vapor, other gases, and volcanic dust in earth's atmosphere. Or perhaps both earth and sun are enveloped in some giant star-producing dust cloud like those in the Eagle Nebula—M16—shown in these three photos: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951106.html,
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951107.html,
and http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020611.html.

Job 38:4–9; g91 6/8 12–15;
ct 93; Insight CREATION; EARTH.

Genesis 1:2, 3 says: "And God's active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters. And God proceeded to say: 'Let light come to be.' Then there came to be light."

The cloud layers swaddling the earth begin to thin, and diffused light (Hebrew, 'ohr, light in a general sense) begins to penetrate gradually to the surface of the earth, although the sun itself cannot yet be discerned as the source of this light. This gradual clearing will continue at least until the fourth creative day when the sun, moon, and stars can be clearly discerned.

The surface of the earth is still covered with water. The earth is rotating on its axis as it revolves around the sun, creating alternating periods of light and darkness. God calls the light Day (Hebrew, yom), and the darkness Night (Hebrew, laylah).

Genesis 1:3–5; g91 6/8 12–15; ct 93–95; Insight CREATION.

Genesis 1:7 says: "Then God proceeded to make the expanse and to make a division between the waters that should be beneath the expanse and the waters that should be above the expanse."

God causes a separation or expanse (Hebrew, ra-qi'a) between "the waters and the waters." The expanse that he calls Heaven begins developing between the waters on the surface of the earth and the waters that become suspended above the earth. Light continues to increase.

Genesis 1:6–8; Genesis 7:11 ftn.; g91 6/8 12–15;
ct 95; Insight CREATION; EXPANSE.

Genesis 1:9 says: "And God went on to say: 'Let the waters under the heavens be brought together into one place and let the dry land appear.'"

God brings the waters on the earth together and dry land begins appearing, perhaps through the geologic movement of tectonic plates that push ocean ridges up to form the continents. Light continues to increase. There is no rain; at this point in earth's preparation, the ground is watered by a mist.

The first and oldest geologic era in which no fossils are found is known as the Azoic era. The time when early forms of microscopic algae and bacteria are created is not dealt with by the writer of Genesis.

Genesis 1:11 says: "And God went on to say: 'Let the earth cause grass to shoot forth, vegetation bearing seed, fruit trees yielding fruit according to their kinds, the seed of which is in it, upon the earth.'"

The earth begins to produce "grass," "vegetation bearing seed," and "fruit trees yielding fruit according to their kinds." The designation "grass" (from Heb., deshe', meaning "grass, new grass, green herb, vegetation, young") may have included other grass-like herbs in addition to the true grasses, which are the most abundant plants on earth (such as bamboo, barley, corn, millet, oats, rice, rye, sorghum, sugarcane, wheat, meadow and pasture grasses).

Because sunlight is weaker, although gradually increasing, the types of vegetation produced at this early stage are probably quite different from the types of vegetation produced later on when light becomes brighter and other conditions on earth change. New varieties of plant life, the creation of which is only beginning on this third day, will likely continue appearing until the sixth creative day when 'God plants a garden in Eden . . . and makes to grow out of the ground every tree desirable to one's sight and good for food.'

Genesis 1:9–13; 2:5–9; 2 Peter 3:5;
ct 92–97; Insight CREATION; GRASS; KIND; MIST;
w56 2/15 126; w53 9/15 573; g02 6/8 16–19;
g91 6/8 12–15; g83 2/22 18–19; g77 6/22 16–21;.

Genesis 1:14 says: "And God went on to say: 'Let luminaries come to be in the expanse of the heavens to make a division between the day and the night.'"

More concentrated sunlight reaches the surface of the earth as Jehovah "makes" the heavenly luminaries appear. (The word "makes" in Hebrew is a form of 'a-sah', "to make," in contrast to ba-ra', "to create.") The sun and moon and stars now appear as the sources of the light (from Hebrew, ma-'ohr', referring to the source of light), that is, they become objects discernible from earth as the source of the light.

Besides shining as luminaries upon the earth and making a division between day and night, light and darkness, God says they "must serve as signs and for seasons and for days and years," that is, they will serve as a means for man to keep a record of events in the passage of time.

Genesis 1:14–19; w99 6/1 3; g91 6/8 12–15;
ct 93–95; Insight CREATION.

Genesis 1:20 says: "And God went on to say: 'Let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living souls and let flying creatures fly over the earth upon the face of the expanse of the heavens.'"

God begins to create "living souls": aquatic creatures, including the "great sea monsters," to swarm in the waters, and winged "flying creatures" to fly in the heavens. These "living souls" are distinct from vegetation by being both "breathers" (the Hebrew word translated "soul" means "breather") and "bleeders" (living souls have blood). "Flying creature" in Hebrew is 'ohph, which includes winged insects, flying reptiles, and birds.

Some types of dinosaurs and pterosaurs may have been created during this time period; other types of dinosaurs may have been created during the sixth creative day. Fossils of early fish, early reptiles, winged insects, crustaceans, shellfish, and others appear in abundance during the Paleozoic era. The first fossils, such as crustaceans and shellfish, appear early in the Paleozoic era (Cambrian period); plants with woody stems appear in the mid-Paleozoic; and insect fossils are found in the upper Paleozoic.

Genesis 1:20–23; 9:4; ct 97; g91 6/8 12–15;
g90 2/8 9–11; g83 2/22 18–19;
Insight BIRDS; CREATION.

Genesis 1:24 says: "And God went on to say: 'Let the earth put forth living souls according to their kinds, domestic animal and moving animal and wild beast of the earth according to its kind.'"

God continues to form flying creatures. Land animals are created, both wild and domestic.

Dinosaur skeletons, the first birds, and small mammals are found in the Mesozoic era (Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods). Large, modern-type mammals are found in the succeeding Cenozoic era. (Scientists theorize that the extinction of the dinosaurs occurs between the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras.)

Regarding geologic evidence and Genesis chapter 1, Wallace Pratt said: "If I, as a geologist, were called upon to explain briefly our modern ideas of the origin of the earth and the development of life on it to a simple, pastoral people, such as the tribes to whom the Book of Genesis was addressed, I could hardly do better than follow rather closely much of the language of the first chapter of Genesis." (Wallace Pratt, quoted by W. L. Copithorne, in "The Worlds of Wallace Pratt," The Lamp, Fall 1971, p. 14.)

(See www.pathlights.com/ce_encyclopedia/21soc04.htm)

Genesis 1:26 says: "And God went on to say: 'Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the domestic animals and all the earth and every moving animal that is moving upon the earth.'"

God prepares a garden in the area called Eden ("Pleasure; Delight") for man and woman, both of whom he creates before the end of the sixth creative day.

Human fossils and artifacts are found in the Pleistocene, a later part of the Cenozoic era.

Genesis 1:31 says: "After that God saw everything he had made and, look! it was very good."

Genesis 1:24–30; 2:1–25; ct 101–2;
g90 2/8 9–11; g83 2/22 18–19.

Synopsis: During this century Jehovah creates man. The sixth creative day continues at least until after the creation of Eve. The time of Eve's creation is not stated in the Bible, nor does the Bible indicate whether man's fall into sin occurs in this century soon after man's creation, or in the next century.

Adam, the "son of God," is created in the fall, perhaps in the month of Ethanim (September/October). (Compare 2 BCE. See 1975 CE.)

Insight ADAM 1; ETHANIM; si 286.

After the creation of Eve (see After 4026 BCE), both Adam and Eve will be given the command at Genesis 1:26–28 to "be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish . . . and the flying creatures . . . and every living creature." Adam will live 930 years, until 3096 BCE, or until after the birth of the ninth generation from himself, namely Lamech, the father of Noah.

Genesis 1:26–31; Genesis 2:7; Genesis 5:5; Insight ADAM 1.

According to ancient biblical reckoning, the year runs from autumn to autumn, beginning about the first part of our month of October. The year will continue to begin in the fall until the Exodus from Egypt in 1513 BCE, at which time a sacred year will begin to be counted as running from spring to spring, beginning with the month Nisan (Abib).

Genesis 1:24–31; Genesis 2:7–15; 18, 19;
g91 6/8 12–15; Insight CREATION; EDEN 1; MAN.

The following events—still within the sixth creative day—occur at an unstated time after the creation of Adam: More land animals and flying creatures are formed and brought to Adam to be named. Eve is created and Adam and Eve are joined in marriage.

Genesis 2:19–24; si 287.

Genesis 2:1–4 says: "Thus the heavens and the earth and all their army came to their completion. And by the seventh day God came to the completion of his work that he had made, and he proceeded to rest on the seventh day from all his work that he had made. And God proceeded to bless the seventh day and make it sacred, because on it he has been resting from all his work that God has created for the purpose of making. This is a history of the heavens and the earth in the time of their being created, in the day [italics added] that Jehovah God made earth and heaven."

The date for the end of the sixth creative day and the beginning of God's day of rest from earth's preparation for man's habitation is not indicated in the Bible, but will occur sometime after 4026 BCE, but before the births of Cain and Abel (two dates not revealed in the Bible).

After Adam and Eve disobey Jehovah's command not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad, he drives them outside the garden of Eden "in order that he may not put his hand out and actually take fruit also from the tree of life and eat and live to time indefinite—" (Genesis 3:22; KJ, "and live forever.")

The soil is cursed. This curse on the ground will not be lifted until the Flood subsides in 2369 BCE. Cherubim guard the way to the tree of life within the garden of Eden. Adam becomes father to his first son Cain, who is born at an unspecified date after Adam and Eve's expulsion from Eden. Adam becomes father to another son, Abel, who becomes the first man of faith. The date of Abel's birth is not indicated in the Bible.

Regarding the meaning of eating from the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil," the footnote for Genesis 2:17 in The Jerusalem Bible says:

This knowledge is a privilege which God reserves to himself and which man, by sinning, is to lay hands on, 3:5, 22. Hence it does not mean omniscience, which fallen man does not possess; nor is it moral discrimination, for unfallen man already had it and God could not refuse it to a rational being. It is the power of deciding for himself what is good and what is evil and of acting accordingly, a claim to complete moral independence by which man refuses to recognise his status as a created being. The first sin was an attack on God's sovereignty, a sin of pride. . . .

Various ancient memories of Eden will be passed on in the legends and religious ideas of the Babylonians, Assyrians, Sumerians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Syrians, Persians, Greeks, Sicilians, Mayans, Mexicans (Aztecs), Javanese, Japanese, Chinese, the natives of India, North American Indians, and the peoples of the Pacific. The Encyclopedia of Religion says, "The nostalgia for paradise is among the powerful nostalgias that seem to haunt human beings. It may be the most powerful and persistent of all. A certain longing for paradise is evidenced at every level of religious life."

Genesis 3:17, 18, 23, 24; 4:1, 2; Hebrews 11:4;
Insight ABEL  1; CAIN; w94 4/1 4; w75 664–6;
g70 3/22 16–20; ip-1 369.

Sacred secret: Satan tempts Eve. Eve, then Adam, sin by eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and bad. Although Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden of Eden, Jehovah makes the Edenic covenant, promising a deliverer "Seed," the identity of which will remain a "sacred secret" for about 4,000 years. Throughout the centuries, true religion will be centered upon this promise of a "Seed." (See 1943 BCE.)

Genesis 3:1–15; COVENANT (The Edenic Promise);
EDEN 1; SEED (A Sacred Secret); w97 6/1 16 (chart);
w89 2/1 10–11.

Synopsis: Some of the events following the creation of Adam that are listed in the forty-first century BCE, such as when Eve was created; when the sixth creative day came to an end and God's seventh day of rest began; when Adam and Eve fell into sin; and when Cain and Abel where born, may have occurred in this fortieth century BCE. Also some of the events listed in the thirty-ninth century BCE, such as the murder of Abel and the banishment of Cain, may have occurred in this century. There is no way of knowing any of this at the present time because the Bible does not give us any way of arriving at these dates.

Synopsis: During this thirty-ninth century BCE, Seth is born to Adam and Eve. Other sons and daughters of Adam and Eve are also born, but the Bible does not give their names or the times of their births. Seth is the only son of Adam whose year of birth can be determined.

Pre-Flood developments in this century and the following centuries until the Flood include agriculture (Cain), animal husbandry (Abel, Jabal), tent-making (Jabal), urbanization or city-building (Cain), and metallurgy—tools are forged from copper and iron (Tubal-cain) many centuries before secular history records the use of these metals in Greece and China. Fire, needed for forging iron, is known. There is also the making and "handling" of musical instruments—harps and pipes or flutes (Jubal). Alcoholic beverages are known. Bitumen is used for waterproofing, and considerable architectural ability is shown (Noah and the Ark). Perhaps alphabetic writing is known.

Genesis 4:2–4,17–22; 6:14–16; Matthew 24:38;
g60 3/8 12; Insight ABEL 1; CAIN; COPPER;
HARP; IRON; JABAL; JUBAL; MUSIC;
NOAH (NOAH'S INTOXICATION);PIPE; SHEPHERD;
TENT; TUBAL-CAIN; WRITING; w02 3/1 5–6; w65 3/15 191.

Cain and Abel offer sacrifices. Because Abel is righteous, Cain slays him, thus making Abel the first martyr and object of religious persecution. Cain is cursed by Jehovah and banished from the ground to the "land of Fugitiveness" ("Nod"), to the east of Eden. Cain later builds a city (perhaps a fortified village) that he names Enoch, after one of his sons.

Genesis 4:3–17; Hebrews 11:4; 1 John 3:12;
Insight ABEL 1; CAIN; ENOCH 1; ENOCH 3;
FUGITIVENESS, LAND OF; w74 11/1 665.

Adam becomes father to Seth at age 130. Although Adam and Eve have other sons and daughters—and perhaps some children other than Cain and Abel are born before Seth—it is Seth who is noteworthy because he is the line from Adam to Noah and is therefore in the common ancestral line of all mankind born after the Flood. Seth is the only son of Adam and Eve whose birth year can be determined. He will live 912 years, until 2984 BCE, which is after Enoch is "transferred" in 3039 BCE.

Genesis 5:3–8; Insight SETH.

Synopsis: During this thirty-eighth century BCE, Enosh and Kenan, third and fourth generation in the line from Adam, are born. During the lifetime of Enosh, either sometime in this century or in the following nine centuries, people begin using God's name in a profane way, either by applying Jehovah's name to themselves or to other men whom they use to pretend approach to God in worship, or by applying his name to idols.

w01 9/15 29.

Seth becomes father to Enosh at age 105. Enosh is the third generation in the line from Adam to Noah. He will live 905 years, until 2886 BCE. During the days of Enosh "a start was made of calling on the name of Jehovah," or according to the Jerusalem Targum, "they began to err, and to make themselves idols, and surnamed their idols by the name of the Word of the Lord."

Genesis 4:26; Genesis 5:6, 9–11;
Insight APPROACH TO GOD (Through
Faith, Right Works, and Sacrifices);
ENOSH; IDOL, IDOLATRY; SETH.

According to the Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971), the Era of the Creation begins this year, on October 7. Jewish belief, like that of Christendom, has the world being created in six literal days, so therefore Adam, they believe, was created this year, in the same year as the creation of the world. Jews date events by how many years have elapsed since 3761 BCE, the Era of the Creation. Dates are designated with the abbreviation A.M., which stands for anno mundi, or "year of the world," an abbreviated form of ab creatione mundi, "from the creation of the world."

See http://webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-jewish.html.

See http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/mathline/concepts/y2k/activity2.shtm.

w94 7/15 28–30.

Enosh becomes father to Kenan at age 90. Kenan is the fourth generation in the line from Adam to Noah. Kenan will live 910 years, until 2791 BCE. Kenan is listed as Cainan by Luke.

Genesis 5:9, 12–14; Luke 3:37, 38; Insight KENAN.

Synopsis: Four generations, Adam, Seth, Enosh, and Kenan, are living during this thirty-seventh century BCE, and a fifth, Mahalalel, is born.

Kenan becomes father to Mahalalel at age 70. Mahalalel is the fifth generation in the line from Adam to Noah. Mahalalel will live 895 years, until 2736 BCE.

Genesis 5:12, 15–17; Insight MAHALALEL 1.

Synopsis: Five generations, Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, and Mahalalel, are living during this thirty-sixth century BCE, and a sixth, Jared, is born.

Mahalalel becomes father to Jared at age 65. Jared is the sixth generation in the line from Adam to Noah. He will live 962 years, until 2604 BCE. Besides Methuselah, Jared's life span will be the second longest recorded in the Bible.

Genesis 5:15, 18–20; Insight JARED.

Synopsis: Six generations are living during this thirty-fifth century BCE, Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, and Jared, and a seventh, Enoch, is born.

Possibly it is in this century or the next that the first recorded instance of polygyny occurs when Lamech takes two wives. He is a seventh generation descendant of Adam through Cain. (This Lamech should not be confused with another pre-Flood Lamech, the father of Noah.)

A violent spirit exists in the earth. Lamech kills a man, as did his forefather Cain, but he pleads self-defense. Also at some point during the next four centuries, Enoch will begin prophesying about "ungodly" people, "ungodly deeds," and speech against Jehovah by "ungodly sinners."

Genesis 4:19–24; Jude 14, 15; Insight LAMECH 1.

Jared becomes father to Enoch at age 162. Enoch is the seventh generation in the line from Adam to Noah. He will live 365 years, until 3039 BCE. Enoch is the second person recorded with the name Enoch (see Before 3896 BCE). Righteous Enoch keeps "walking with the (true) God" and prophesies about the coming destruction of the wicked.

Genesis 5:18, 21–24; Jude 14, 15; w01 9/15 29; Insight ENOCH 1, 2; po 68.

Synopsis: Seven generations are living during this thirty-fourth century BCE, Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, and Enoch, and an eighth, Methuselah, is born. Likely, many wicked events listed in the 35th Century BCE and the 38th Century BCE are also occurring during this century.

Enoch becomes father to Methuselah at age 65. Methuselah is the eighth generation in the line from Adam to Noah. He will live 969 years, until 2370 BCE, the year of the Flood.

Methuselah's is the longest life span recorded in the Bible, which is the basis for the descriptive phrase "as old as Methuselah."

See http://www.bartleby.com/81/12397.html.

Genesis 5:21, 25–27; Insight METHUSELAH.

Synopsis: Eight generations are living during this thirty-third century BCE, Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah. No births, deaths, or other events are recorded in the Bible during this century. No doubt many wicked deeds and violence are occurring during this century, and Enoch may already be prophesying against this wickedness (Jude 14, 15).

Synopsis: Eight generations are living during this thirty-second century BCE: Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, and a ninth, Lamech, is born.

Methuselah becomes father to Lamech at age 187. Lamech is the ninth generation in the line from Adam to Noah. He will live 777 years, until 2375 BCE, or until five years before the Flood in 2370 BCE. Lamech is the second person recorded with the name Lamech.

Genesis 5:25, 28–31; Insight LAMECH 1, 2.

Synopsis: At the beginning of this thirty-first century BCE, nine generations from Adam are living: Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, and Lamech. Soon after this century begins, the first man Adam dies. Later, Lamech's grandfather Enoch (seventh) dies, likely "taken" to escape death from assassination meant to stop his prophesying about Jehovah's coming judgment against the ungodly.

Genesis 5:5; 21–24; Jude 14, 15; Insight ENOCH 2; w85 9/1 3.

Adam, created in 4026 BCE, dies at age 930, condemned by the example of Enoch who was his contemporary for 308 years and who "kept walking with the true God."

Genesis. 5:5, 22; Insight ADAM 1.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam and a prophet of Jehovah, dies at age 365. He was born in 3404 BCE. Enoch does not 'go to heaven,' but is "transferred so as not to see death," that is, he does not experience the pangs of death. He is "no more, for God took him." Jehovah disposes of Enoch's body, just as he does later with Moses' body. (See 1473 BCE.)

Genesis 5:21–24; Deuteronomy 34:6; Matthew 11:11;
John 3:13; Hebrews 11:5, 13, 39; Jude 9;
w01 9/15 31; Insight ENOCH 2; w62 3/1 159–60.

Synopsis: At the beginning of this thirtieth century BCE, Seth (2), Enosh (3), Kenan (4), Mahalalel (5), Jared (6), Methuselah (8), and Lamech (9) are living, but Seth (2) dies, and Noah (the tenth generation from Adam) is born. The problem of wresting a living from the earth due to Jehovah's curse on the ground, a curse given about a thousand years previously, is addressed when Noah's father Lamech prophesies relief from the curse.

Genesis 3:17–19; Genesis 5:29; Insight LAMECH 2.

Seth dies at age 912. He was born in 3896 BCE and was the third named son of Adam. He was also the only offspring of Adam and Eve for which a birth year can be determined.

Genesis 5:3–8; Insight SETH.

Lamech becomes father to Noah at age 182. Noah is the tenth generation in the line from Adam, and is born only 126 years after the death of Adam. Noah will live 950 years, until 2020 BCE, which is just two years before the birth of Abraham. At his birth, Noah's father Lamech prophesies that Noah, whose name means "rest, consolation," will "bring us comfort from our work and from the pain of our hands resulting from the ground which Jehovah has cursed." It will be about 600 years before this prophecy is fulfilled. (See 2369 BCE.) Noah's first 84 years overlap the last 84 years of Adam's grandson Enosh.

Genesis 5:28, 29; Insight LAMECH 2; NOAH; w75 664–6.

Synopsis: At the beginning of this twenty-ninth century BCE, Enosh (3), Kenan (4), Mahalalel (5), Jared (6), Methuselah (8), Lamech (9), and Noah (10) are living, but Enosh (3) dies during this century.

Enosh dies at age 905. He was born in 3791 BCE, the son of Seth, and third in the line from Adam to Noah.

Insight ENOSH; SETH.

Synopsis: At the beginning of this twenty-eighth century BCE, Kenan (4), Mahalalel (5), Jared (6), Methuselah (8), Lamech (9), and Noah (10) are living, but Kenan (4) and Mahalalel (5) die during this century.

Kenan dies at age 910. He was born 3701 BCE, and was the son of Enosh and fourth in the line from Adam to Noah.

Genesis 5:9–14; Insight KENAN.

Mahalalel dies at age 895. He was born 3631 BCE, and was the son of Kenan and fifth in the line from Adam to Noah.

Genesis 5:12–17; Insight MAHALALEL 1.

Synopsis: At the beginning of this twenty-seventh century BCE, Jared (6), Methuselah (8), Lamech (9), and Noah (10) are living, but Jared (6) dies during this century.

The traditional Chinese count time from this year, the beginning of the reign of Huang-Ti, the Yellow Emperor.

w94 7/15 28.

Jared dies at age 962. He was born in 3566 BCE, the sixth in the line from Adam to Noah. Jared was the son of Mahalalel and the father of righteous Enoch. He is second only to his grandson Methuselah in recorded longevity. Both Jared and Methuselah lived longer than Adam, who died at 930 years.

Genesis 5:15–20; Insight JARED.

Synopsis: During this twenty-sixth century BCE, Methuselah (8), Lamech (9), and Noah (10) are living.

Synopsis: During this twenty-fifth century BCE, Methuselah (8), Lamech (9), and Noah (10) are living. Violence fills the earth. Noah becomes a "preacher of righteousness," warning of coming destruction, but people take 'no note until the Flood' comes. Jesus will later refer to the circumstances in the days of Noah as a parallel for the attitude of people during his royal presence.

During this century (and possibly even before this century), angels materialize and marry women and produce the giant hybrid Nephilim who cause much violence in the earth. Jehovah determines how long before he will destroy wicked mankind, namely, 120 years. (See 2490 BCE.) During this century, Noah's three sons are born and marry, and Jehovah makes a covenant with Noah to build an Ark for survival.

Genesis 6:1–13; Matthew 24:3, 37–39;
Luke 17:26, 27; 2 Peter 2:5; Insight PREACHER.

Jehovah pronounces that man's "days shall amount to a hundred and twenty years." Evidently, Noah is not informed of this time schedule, but learns of it only one week before the Deluge begins. (See 2370 BCE.)

Genesis 6:3; w98 9/15 10–11 pars. 5–7.

Angels have been materializing and marrying women and producing offspring. These fallen angels and their hybrid offspring, the Nephilim ("fellers"), will continue causing trouble for another 120 years until the Deluge. Violence and sex perversion abound. The Greek myths and legends of gods and goddesses that develop many centuries later likely originate in accounts of these angels and the Nephilim.

Genesis 6:1–7; 1 Peter 3:19, 20; 2 Peter 2:4;
Jude 6; w00 4/15 27–28; Insight GREECE
(Greek Religion); NEPHILIM.

Noah becomes father to Japheth at age 500. Japheth is probably the oldest son, Shem the second, and Ham the youngest.

Genesis 5:32; Genesis 7:6; Genesis 9:22–24;
Genesis 10:21; Genesis 11:10;
Insight HAM 1; JAPHETH; SHEM.

Noah becomes father to Ham, likely after the birth of Shem in 2468 BCE.

Genesis 6:10; 9:24; Insight HAM 1; SHEM.

Noah becomes father to Shem at age 502. Shem will live 600 years, until 1868 BCE, which is after Sarah dies and Isaac marries Rebekah. The Israelites will descend from Shem's line.

Genesis 6:10; Genesis 7:11; Genesis 11:10;
Insight SHEM.

After Noah's sons are married, a covenant is made with Noah: he is to build an enormous ark (chest) to preserve his family and representative animal life through the coming destructive Deluge or Flood. This covenant with Noah will be completely fulfilled in 2369 BCE.

Likely Noah and his family will spend 40 to 50 years building the ark. The ark will nearly equal the displacement of the Titanic. Noah condemns the ungodly world, for he is a man of faith and "a preacher of righteousness."

Genesis 6:17–21; Genesis 8:15–17; Hebrews 11:7; 2
Pet. 2:5; w98 9/15 10–11; w89 10/1 10–15;
w52 432–4; Insight ARK 1; COVENANT (Covenant With Noah);
DELUGE; NOAH 1.

Synopsis: At the beginning of this twenty-fourth century BCE—the century of the Deluge, or Flood—Methuselah (8), Lamech (9), Noah (10), and Noah's three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth are living, but Methuselah (8) and Lamech (9) die shortly before the Flood. After the Flood, three generations of descendants will be born to Shem during this century.

All mankind living on earth after the Flood will come from Noah, the first patriarch of post-Flood society, through his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 9:18, 19; Genesis 10;
Insight Vol. I, p.329 CHART "Origin of Nations"; NOAH 1.

Shem: The descendants of Shem (all Semitic peoples) will include those through Eber (Hebrews); those who settle in Arabia through Eber's son Joktan; and those who settle in Mesopotamia through Eber's son Peleg. Others of Shem's descendants will include the early Chaldeans; the Elamites through Elam; the Assyrians through Asshur; the Aramaeans and/or Syrians through Aram; and the Lydians through Lud.

Insight ARAM 1; ASSHUR 1; EBER 1; ELAM 1;
LUD 1; SHEM.

Ham: The descendants of Ham will include the Ethiopians (the descendants of Cush, one of Ham's sons); the Egyptians; the Canaanites; the Philistines; the Hittites; and some of the Arabian and African tribes.

rs 303; Insight CANAAN 1; CUSH 1, 2;
HAM 1; MIZRAIM; PUT.

Japheth: The descendants of Japheth will include the Aryan or Indo-European (Indo-Germanic) peoples who generally settle to the north and west of the Fertile Crescent, and spread eastward into Central Asia, westward through Asia Minor to the islands and coastlands of Europe, and along the Mediterranean perhaps all the way to Spain. They will include the Armenians; the Chinese; the Greeks, through Javan; the Medes; the Phyrgians (King Midas); and the pre-Spanish.

Insight GOMER; JAPHETH; JAVAN; MADAI;
MAGOG 1; MESHECH; HRYGIA; TIRAS.

Life Spans: Beginning later in this century, the genealogical line that leads from Noah to Abraham and eventually to Christ Jesus begins to develop much more rapidly than in pre-Flood years, due to decreasing life spans and earlier ages of fathering the next generation. The average life span of the nine men in the line from Adam to Noah (excluding Enoch) is 912 years; the average life span of the ten men from Shem to Abraham is 317 years.

Insight DELUGE.

Lamech dies at age 777, five years before the Flood. He was born in 3152 BCE, the son of Methuselah and the father of Noah, and ninth in the line from Adam to Noah.

Genesis 5:25–31; Insight LAMECH 2.

Methuselah, the grandfather of Noah, dies in the year of the Flood, but apparently not in the Flood, at age 969. He was born in 3339 BCE, the son of righteous Enoch. He is the oldest human on record, and eighth in the line from Adam to Noah.

Genesis 5:21–27; Insight METHUSELAH.

The Flood or Deluge: The Flood begins on the 17^th day of the month of Bul, later called Marheshvan or Heshvan (October/November). The materialized angels dematerialize and return to the spirit realm; their hybrid offspring, the Nephilim, are destroyed in the Flood.

Genesis 7:11 says that the "floodgates of the heavens were opened." The waters that were suspended in the upper atmosphere above the earth during the second creative day begin to pour down upon the earth, possibly as if through floodgates into channels, such as at the poles, and also as rainfall. The weight of the water causes considerable tectonic movements, and the shifting and buckling of earth's crust generates huge destructive tsunami waves.

Noah is 600 years old, Japheth 100, and Shem 98. Noah will live for 350 years after the Flood, or until after the attempted building of the Tower of Babel, the confusion of the languages, and the resultant scattering of mankind.

Genesis 6:13–22; Genesis 7:1–24; w84 3/1 5;
w62 9/15 575; g75 6/8 5–8; g68 10/22 13–16;
Insight BUL; DELUGE; NOAH 1.

After five months, in the month of Nisan (springtime), the Ark comes to rest on a mountain of Ararat. After a year and ten days, again in the month of Bul (October/November), the people and animals leave the Ark.

Genesis 8; Insight BUL.

The pre-Flood covenant made with Noah (see After 2468 BCE) is now completely fulfilled. Jehovah blesses the Flood survivors and tells them to fill the earth. Animals are now allowed as food for man, but eating their life blood is forbidden. Capital punishment is instituted. The Rainbow Covenant is made. The curse on the ground is lifted. (See After 4026 BCE and 2970 BCE.)

Genesis 9; Insight COVENANT (Covenant With Noah),
(Rainbow Covenant); RAINBOW; w75 664–6.

The climate has changed. No longer is it uniformly warm and mild as in the pre-Flood years. The surface of the earth has also changed; the mountains are higher, the oceans deeper.

w68 7/15 419–23; nh 52.

Flood stories will be passed on for millenniums in nearly all nations. It is estimated that over 500 Flood legends are still told by more than 250 tribes and peoples.

The death of the condemned Flood victims will also be commemorated in the unscriptural observances of the "Feast of Ancestors," the "Festival of the Dead," and "All Souls' Day" (November 2).

w02 3/1; w92 1/15 3–8; rs HOLIDAYS; Insight I-328
FLOOD LEGENDS; gm 112–13.

Noah plants a vineyard, drinks the fermented product, becomes intoxicated, and 'uncovers himself in the midst of his tent.' While Noah is asleep, Ham and perhaps Canaan, Ham's son, become implicated in some sort of disrespect for Noah. Ham tells his two brothers about Noah's nakedness, but Shem and Japheth cover their father's nakedness with a mantle.

When awake from his wine and learning about the incident, Noah curses Canaan (likely due to Canaan's sexual abuse or perversion toward Noah) and condemns Canaan to slave for Shem and Japheth. Noah blesses Shem's God Jehovah, and requests that God "grant ample space" to Japheth, whose name means "May He grant ample space." This name appears to indicate that Japheth's descendants would be spread over a wide area. Canaan's curse has a major fulfillment in the fifteenth century BCE when the Semitic Israelites subjugate the Canaanites, and even later when the Canaanites come under the domination of the Japhetic powers of Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.

Genesis 9:20–27; Joshua 9:23; Insight CANAAN 1, 2;
CURSE; JAPHETH; NOAH 1.

Shem becomes father to Arpachshad at age 100, two years after the Flood. He will live 438 years, until 1930 BCE, or until two years after Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, is born. Arpachshad is the second generation from Noah and is the ancestor of the Hebrews through his grandson Eber. NOTE: After the Flood, the Bible begins the count of generations from Noah to Abraham by counting Shem, not Noah, as the first generation.

Genesis 10:22; Genesis 11:10–13; Insight ARPACHSHAD.

Arpachshad becomes father to Shelah at age 35. Shelah will live 433 years, until 1900 BCE, which is after Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, is born. Shelah is the third generation from Noah. Luke adds an intervening generation here, listing Cainan as the son of Arpachshad and father of Shelah, but this is likely a copyist's interpolation.

Genesis 10:24; Genesis 11:12–15; 1 Chronicles 1:18, 24;
Luke 3:36; Insight CAINAN 1, 2; GENEALOGY OF JESUS CHRIST; SHELAH.

Shelah becomes father to Eber at age 30. Eber will live 464 years, until 1839 BCE, which is four years after Abraham dies. Eber is the forefather of the Hebrews and the fourth generation from Noah.

Genesis 11:14–17; Insight EBER 1.

Synopsis: At the beginning of this twenty-third century BCE, four generations from Noah are living, Noah, Shem (1), Arpachshad (2), Shelah (3), and Eber (4), and three more are born, Peleg (5), Reu (6), and Serug (7).

Discoveries of ancient civilizations after the Flood show that the people are highly developed in mathematics, metallurgy, architecture, astronomy, agriculture, refrigeration, and other fields, sometimes rivaling or exceeding the skills of the twentieth century CE. For a fascinating discussion of the advancements of ancient mankind, see the article in the 1953 Awake!: "The Very Stones Cry Out!"

g53 6/22 8–13.

Eber becomes father to Peleg at age 34. Peleg is the fifth generation from Noah. Peleg's name means "Division." He will live 239 years, until 2030 BCE, and during Peleg's lifetime the earth is "divided," that is, when the languages are confused at Babel (Babylon) and mankind is scattered.

Genesis 10:25; 11:1–9; Genesis 16–19; Insight BABEL;
BABYLON; EBER 1; LANGUAGE; PELEG.

Sometime after this year and within the next two centuries, Nimrod, son of Cush and grandson of Ham, will establish a kingdom in Shinar and invade Assyria. He will attempt to build a tower at Babel. At this point, the "wild beast" of Revelation 13:1, 2 will begin emerging. (See 21st Century BCE.)

re 189.

Peleg becomes father to Reu at age 30. Reu will live 239 years, until 2000 BCE, or until after the birth of Abraham. Reu is the sixth generation from Noah.

Genesis 11:18–21; Insight REU.

Reu becomes father to Serug at age 32. Serug will live 230 years, until 1977 BCE. Serug is the seventh generation from Noah.

Genesis 11:20–23; Insight SERUG.

Synopsis: During this twenty-second century BCE, seven generations from Noah are living, Noah, Shem (1), Arpachshad (2), Shelah (3), Eber (4), Peleg (5), Reu (6), and Serug (7), and two more are born, Nahor (8), and Terah (9).

A conservative estimate of the population reached 180 years after the Flood (that is, near the beginning of this century) is over 4000 adult males, not counting women and children. (But see also the calculations for the increase in the nation of Israel while in captivity in Egypt during a similar length of time, an increase of millions rather than thousands.)

Insight CHRONOLOGY (From 2370 BCE to
covenant with Abraham), EXODUS
(Extraordinary increase).

Tower of Babel: It may be approximately during this century (if not during the previous or the next century) that Nimrod, son of Cush and grandson of Ham, establishes a kingdom in Shinar (Babylonia or southern Mesopotamia) with cities at Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh. The Tower of Babel is begun at his direction.

Nimrod, a Hamite, invades the Shemite territory of Asshur, which is Assyria (northern Iraq), and there Nimrod builds the cities of Nineveh with its suburb cities of Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and Resen. When Jehovah confuses the languages among the rebellious at Babel, they begin to scatter. Faithful Noah and Shem likely continue speaking the language originally given to Adam, later called Hebrew.

Legends of an ancient time when people live together and speak one language, build a tower (or some equivalent structure), then are scattered and begin speaking many languages, exist in Burma, Siberia, among the early Aztecs, Maya, and Maidu Indians of California, and in many other cultures.

See, for example: www.varchive.org/itb/confus.htm and
ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/CW_Arnhem/version2/Gen11/Language.htm.

Numerous Flood legends around the earth indirectly confirm the biblical account of the common origin of man, with the subsequent scattering of men who begin to speak different languages. From Babel, they carry their Flood and Tower stories with them, embellishing and distorting them until they reach the status of cultural legend and myth.

The land of Shinar is the birthplace of many false religious concepts such as rule by a powerful priesthood; trinities or triads of gods; the human soul surviving death; spiritism; use of images in worship; and use of spells to placate demons. These concepts and others spread around the earth as the people scatter and develop their various branches of religious beliefs down through the ages.

Genesis 10:6–12; 11:1–9; re 236; Insight ACCAD;
ASSYRIA; BABE; BABYLON; CALAH; CALNEH 1;
DELUGE; ERECH; GODS AND GODDESSES; HEBREW II
(Origin of the Hebrew Language); LANGUAGE;
NIMROD; NINEVEH; NOAH 1 (Nimrod's Rebellion);
RESEN; REHOBOTH-IR; SHINAR; w02 3/1 3–7;
g89 1/22 21; sh 68; re 189, par. 12.

Serug becomes father to Nahor at age 30. Nahor will live 148 years, until 2029 BCE. Nahor is the eighth generation from Noah. Nahor will have a grandson who is also named Nahor, the brother of Abraham.

Genesis 11:22–26; Insight NAHOR 1, 2.

Nahor becomes father to Terah at age 29. Terah will live 205 years, until 1943 BCE. Terah is the ninth generation from Noah. Terah resides at Ur of the Chaldeans and perhaps worships the favorite deity of Ur, the moon-god Nanna, or Sin. Terah may have been an idol-maker. Terah will have children by at least two women (or perhaps three). There is a span of some 60 years between the births of Terah's first son Haran, born in 2078 BCE, and Abraham, born in 2018 BCE, which may indicate two different women. Also Abraham's mother is not the mother of Sarah, who is born 10 years after Abraham.

Genesis 11:24–32; Genesis 20:12; Joshua 24:2;
g88 5/22 25–27; Insight GODS AND GODDESSES
(Babylonian Deities); TERAH 1; UR.

Synopsis: At the beginning of this twenty-first century BCE, nine generations from Noah are living: Noah, Shem (1), Arpachshad (2), Shelah (3), Eber (4), Peleg (5), Reu (6), Serug (7), Nahor (8), and Terah (9). During this century Noah, Peleg (5), Reu (6), and Nahor (8) die.

Terah has three sons: Abram (later Abraham), Nahor, and Haran, and a daughter, Sarai (later Sarah). They and their descendants play a major role in the Bible drama for centuries to come.

Language: In Mesopotamia, the lingua franca of the ancient world at this time is Akkadian (Assyro-Babylonian). Later it will be replaced by Aramaic, a language related to Hebrew.

Insight LANGUAGE.

Archaeology: In Canaan, later archaeological excavations suggest that the city of Bethel in Canaan will be settled during this century. (See 1781 BCE and Before 1750 BCE.)

Insight BETHEL.

Terah becomes father to Haran at age 70. Terah will also father Nahor and Abram (Abraham). Haran will father Lot and his sister Milcah. Haran's younger brother Nahor will marry his niece Milcah, and through their son Bethuel, Nahor will become the grandfather of Laban and Rebekah and the great-grandfather of Esau, Jacob, Leah, and Rachel.

Genesis 11:26–31; Insight HARAN 1, NAHOR 2, TERAH 1.

Peleg dies at age 239. He was born 2269 BCE, the son of Eber and the fifth generation from Noah.

Genesis 11:16–19; Insight PELEG.

Nahor (grandfather of Abraham) dies at age 148. He was born in 2177 BCE, the son of Serug and the eighth generation from Noah.

Genesis 11:22–25; Insight NAHOR 1

Noah dies at age 950. Born in 2970 BCE, he was the first great patriarch of the post-Flood society and the common ancestor of all mankind born after the Flood.

Genesis 9:28, 29; Insight NOAH 1; w52 432–4.

Terah becomes father to Abram (later Abraham) at age 130, in Ur of the Chaldeans along the Euphrates River about 150 miles southeast of Babylon. Abraham is the tenth generation from Noah, and is born only two years after Noah's death. He will live 175 years, until 1843 BCE.

Genesis 11:26, 32; 12:4; Insight ABRAHAM; UR.

Terah becomes father to Sarai (later Sarah) at age 140. She is the half-sister of Abraham and will marry him before leaving Ur sometime before 1943 BCE. Sarah will live 127 years, until 1881 BCE.

Genesis 11:29; 20:12; Insight SARAH.

Reu dies at age 239. He was born in 2239 BCE, the son of Peleg and the fifth generation from Noah.

Genesis 11:18–21; Insight REU.

Synopsis: At the beginning of this twentieth century BCE, the generations from Noah that are living are Shem (1), Arpachshad (2), Shelah (3), Eber (4), Serug (7), Terah (9), and Abraham (10). During this century Arpachshad (2), Shelah (3), Serug (7), Terah (9), and Haran, Abraham's brother, die.

Abraham leaves Ur with his family, lives at Haran, then travels to the Promised Land (Canaan). The Abrahamic Covenant goes into effect. Abraham visits Egypt during a famine in Canaan, returns to Canaan, and rescues Lot from raider kings. Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed. Abraham has two sons, Ishmael and Isaac.

Archaeology: In Mesopotamia, the Amurru (Semitic Akkadian for "Westerners") city-state of Mari (not named in the Bible) on the Middle Euphrates is one of the dominant powers in Upper Mesopotamia during the early part of this millennium, until it is taken and destroyed by Babylonian King Hammurabi (see 18th Century BCE). Clay tablets later discovered here by French archaeologists mention cities by the name of Peleg, Serug, Nahor, Terah, and Haran, all names of Abraham's forebearers.

Egypt: Jewelry testifies to the advancement of the Egyptians in metallurgy. Gold leaf from the Twelfth and Thirteenth dynasties, circa 2000 BCE to 1800 BCE, is as thin as that made in the eighteenth century CE. Gold and cement are used for filling teeth; loose teeth are fastened with copper wire and wire made from precious metals. See "Dentistry" subheading on http://nefertiti.iwebland.com/timelines/topics/medicine.htm.

Archaeology: In Elba, northern Syria, valuable clay tablets have been found dating from the late third or early second millennium that contain personal names such as Abraham, Esau, Michael, David, Ishmael, and Israel, and city names such as Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela.

Genesis 11:17–26; 14:2; Insight AMORITE
(The "Amurru"); w80 10/1 7, 8; g53 6/22 8–13.

Ur of Mesopotamia: During the third millennium BCE, Ur, which is about 150 miles southeast of Babylon and the city that Abraham leaves during this century, becomes highly developed and a center for world trade. Originally a seaport on the Persian Gulf, Ur is the capital of Sumer and the most important city of the region. The people of Ur live in two-story private homes of brick, plastered and whitewashed, with brick stairs, each with 13 or 14 rooms surrounding a paved courtyard. Ur contains complexes of temples and palaces, and a large ziggurat. Architects use both the cantilever arch and the true curved arch with a keystone; also the column, the vault, and the dome. Costly jewels, elaborate jewelry, and precious metals are crafted. Students are taught cuneiform writing and higher mathematics. (See 1922 CE.) See some pictures from Ur here:

http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Royal-Game-Ur.htm and
http://www.taisei.co.jp/cg_e/ancient_world/ur/aur.html .

Archaeology: According to archaeologists, during this century many settlements in the Transjordan and the Negeb disappear (see 1943 to 1933 BCE).

w89 7/1 4–7; g88 5/22 25–27; Insight
ARCHITECTURE (Early Post-Flood Construction);
CHALDEA, CHALDEAN; EUPHRATES (From
Carchemish to the Persian Gulf); UR 2.

Serug dies at age 230. Serug, son of Reu and the seventh generation from Noah, was born in 2207 BCE.

Genesis 11:20–23; Insight SERUG.

The Elamites, descendants of Shem's son Elam, destroy the city of Ur. Subsequently, they will exert considerable influence on the rulers of Babylonia until Hammurabi of Babylon terminates it. (See 18th Century BCE.) Elamite influence will extend as far westward as Canaan.

Genesis 10:22; 14:1–17; w89 7/1 4–7;
Insight ELAM 1 (History).

Questions for research: Was Ur desolated completely, or did the inhabitants stay under the new Elamite rule? Was Abraham in Ur when the Elamites arrived, or did he leave before their invasion? Is there any indication as to how long before 1943 BCE Abraham left Ur? Was Nahor, who stayed in Ur after Abraham left, there when the Elamites came?

Ur: Abraham's brother, Haran, dies in Ur before the age of 135. He was born in 2078 BCE and was the father of Lot and Milcah. Milcah marries her uncle, Nahor.

Genesis 11:26–31; Insight HARAN.

Ur to Haran: Jehovah tells Abram to go out from his country and move "to the country I shall show you." He then promises to make a great nation out of Abram, and says that "all the families of the ground will certainly bless themselves by means of you." At this time, Jehovah does not promise Abraham any land. (See 1943 to 1933 BCE.)

Terah, Abram (later Abraham), Abram's wife and half-sister Sarai (later Sarah), and Abram's fatherless nephew Lot leave Ur to move to an unknown land. They stop about 600 miles from Ur to live in the area of Haran (northern Mesopotamia) until Terah dies in 1943 BCE.

Abraham's brother, Nahor, stays behind in Ur, but evidently moves to Haran later, for his descendants will be found living there in Haran and worshiping Jehovah. While living in Haran, Abraham increases his wealth and 'acquires souls'—a body of servants who are proselytes (according to the Jerusalem Targum and the Chaldee Paraphrase). By obeying Jehovah's command to move, Abraham displays faith in the God of Shem. Shem is still alive.

Genesis 12:1–5; 14:14; 15:18: 18:19; Acts 7:2–5;
w01 11/1 31; w00 9/1 19–20; g88 5/22 25–27; Insight-I 330 map
ABRAHAM'S TRAVELS; Insight ABRAHAM; HARAN 4;
TERAH 1; w64 7/1 410–11; w59 8/15 511.

Haran to Canaan: Terah, the father of Abraham, dies at age 205. He was born in 2148 BCE.

When Abraham crosses the Euphrates on the way to "the country that I shall show you," the 430 years of temporary residence begins. It will last until the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt in 1513 BCE.

Sacred secret: Terah's son, Abram, age 75, crosses the Euphrates on Nisan 14 (March/April), probably at Carchemish, to move to the land to which Jehovah is directing him. Thus the Abrahamic covenant (to make a great nation out of Abraham, and that all families of the ground will bless themselves by means of Abraham) is validated or takes effect. (See After 4026 BCE and 1918 BCE.)

Genesis 11:27–12:5; 15:1–21; Exodus 12:40–43;
Galatians 3:16, 17; w97 6/1 16 (chart);
g88 5/22 25–27; Insight ABRAHAM; COVENANT
(Covenant With Abraham); TERAH 1.

The Abrahamic covenant is expanded when Abram reaches Shechem, which is about 30 miles north of Jerusalem. It is only after Abraham arrives in Canaan that God promises the land to Abram's "seed" or offspring. This connects this covenant to the promise in Eden and reveals that the "seed" would come through a human line of descent. (See After 4026 BCE.)

Abram (later Abraham), Sarai (later Sarah), and Lot move to Egypt during a famine. While in Egypt, they likely see some of the architectural splendors of the land, such as the Step Pyramid of King Djoser at Saqqara built of cut stone. (Illustration, Insight I-530) A Pharaoh in Egypt takes beautiful Sarai into his house, but Jehovah plagues Pharaoh's house. Abram is ordered to leave Egypt. He does so with increased possessions, perhaps including Sarai's maidservant Hagar.

Abram (later named Abraham) returns to the Promised Land. The land cannot sustain the herds of both Abram and Lot, so Lot selects the fertile Lower Jordan district and moves to near Sodom. Later Lot is captured by Elamite raider-king Chedorlaomer and his three confederates. Abram, his 318 trained men, and Abram's three confederates, Mamre, Eschol, and Aner, chase after the four raiding kings and recover Lot. "The book of the Wars of Jehovah" (Numbers 21:14) may have begun with Abraham's war against these four allied invader kings. Upon Abram's returning to Mamre, Melchizedek, the priest-king of Salem who pictures the priest-king Christ Jesus, meets Abram and blesses him. At that, Abram gives Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils of war.

Afterward, Jehovah renews his covenant with Abram, promising him that his seed would become like the stars in heaven in number, that he would possess the land, that his seed would be an alien resident in a land not theirs, and that they would be afflicted for four hundred years. The four hundred years of affliction will begin counting when Ishmael pokes fun at Isaac in 1913 BCE.

Genesis 12:6, 7, 10–13:13; 14:1–17, 18–20; 16:3;
Psalm 110:4–6; Galatians 4:21–31; Hebrews chapter 7;
w01 11/1 31; w00 9/1 19–20; w89 7/1 4–7; w64 411–2; w54 11/15 687;
Insight ABRAHAM; AMRAPHEL;ARCHITECTURE
(Early Post-Flood Construction); ARIOCH 1; BLESSING
(Humans Blessing Other Humans); CHEDORLAOMER;
COVENANT(Covenant With Abraham; EGYPT (History);
HAGAR; LOT II; MELCHIZEDEK; PHARAOH;
SHECHEM 4; TIDAL; TITHE.

Abram (later Abraham), age 86, becomes father to Ishmael by Sarai's Egyptian slave Hagar. Before Ishmael's birth, Jehovah's angel prophesied that Ishmael's hand would be against everyone and he would dwell apart from his brothers (see 1913 BCE). Ishmael will live to age 137, or until 1795 BCE, and father 12 chieftains. His descendants will be called Ishmaelites.

Genesis chapter 16; 25:13–17; Insight HAGAR;
ISHMAEL 1; ISHMAELITE.

Archaeology: After thousands of years, archaeologists will discover clay tablets at Nuzi, a Hurrian city southeast of Nineveh, that authenticate the custom of a barren wife's being obligated to provide her husband with a concubine, just as Sarai gave Hagar to Abram.

Genesis 16:1, 2: w80 10/1 7.

Arpachshad dies at age 438. Born about 2368 BCE, he was the son of Shem and the second generation from Noah. Shem is still living. (See 1868 BCE.)

Genesis 11:10–13; Insight ARPACHSHAD.

Jehovah gives Abram (whose name means "Father is High (Exalted)") the name Abraham (meaning "Father of a Crowd, or Multitude") at age 99, "because a father of a crowd of nations I will make you." (Genesis 17:3–6) He then gives the Covenant of Circumcision to Abraham. (Genesis 17:9–14) Jehovah's angel tells Abraham not to call his wife Sarai (possibly, "Contentious"), but to call her Sarah (meaning "Princess"), because "I will bless her and also give you a son from her; and I will bless her and she will become nations; kings of peoples will come from here." At this news, Abraham laughs for joy. (Genesis 17:15–17) Jehovah promises that although he would also make a great nation out of Ishmael, who will produce twelve chieftains, his covenant will be with Sarah's son, whom he should call Isaac, meaning "Laughter." (Genesis 17:18–21) Abraham circumcises the males of his household, and he and Ishmael are also circumcised. (Genesis 17:22–27)

Abraham soon afterward entertains three angels, and one prophesies that Sarah will have a son. Sarah, at age 89, overhears this and is struck by the humor of the prospect of giving birth to a son and laughs incredulously. The angel promises that when he returns "next year at this time," Sarah will have a son. (Genesis 18:1–15)

Lot is visited by two of the angels in Sodom and told to flee. Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed. Lot and his two daughters escape to Zoar, but Lot's wife looks behind and becomes a "pillar of salt." In the first century CE, Jesus Christ will refer to Lot's circumstances as a parallel to conditions that will occur during his presence in Kingdom power.

Famine drives Abraham to the city of Gerar (near today's Gaza) where the Philistine king Abimelech takes Sarah for his harem. Jehovah intervenes, warning Abimelech that adultery is a sin against God, thus establishing this important principle. (Genesis 39:9. See also 1750 BCE to 1737 BCE.) Sarah is released, untouched.

Genesis chapters 17–20; Luke 17:28–32; 2 Peter 2:6–8;
w88 6/1 30–31; re 273; Insight ABIMELECH 1;
ABRAHAM; COVENANT (Covenant of Circumcision);
GERAR; GOMORRAH; ISHMAEL 1; ISAAC; LOT II;
SARAH, SARAI; SODOM; ZOAR.

Lot moves from Zoar to a cave in the mountains. There he unwittingly fathers Moab and Ammon by his two daughters. Their descendants will be known as Moabites and Ammonites. The Ammonites will later display violent enmity toward the nation of Israel, as will also the Moabites, with few exceptions.

Genesis 17:30–38; Insight AMMON, AMMONITES;
MOAB, MOABITES 1, 2.

Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah and the true heir of the promise, is born. Abraham is 100, Sarah 90, and Ishmael 14. Isaac will live 180 years, until 1738 BCE. The "about 450 years" begins; this period will end about 1467 BCE when Joshua concludes his campaign in Canaan and the land is distributed to the various tribes.

Sacred secret: Isaac becomes heir to the Abrahamic covenant. (See After 4026 BCE, 1943 BCE, and 1761 BCE.)

Genesis 21:1–5; 35:28; Acts 13:17–20;
Hebrews 11:11; w97 6/1 16 (chart); Insight EXODUS
('About 450 years'); ISAAC.

Ishmael, age 19, pokes fun at (afflicts, persecutes) Isaac when he is weaned, probably in regard to heirship. This marks the beginning of the 400-year affliction that Jehovah had prophesied to Abram. (See 1943 to 1933 BCE and 1513 BCE.) Ishmael and Hagar are sent away. Later they will dwell in the wilderness of Paran and Ishmael will marry an Egyptian. Ishmael's afflicting Isaac and dwelling in the wilderness fulfill the pre-birth prophecy of 1932 BCE.

Genesis 15:13; 16:11–16; 21:8–21; Acts 7:6;
Galatians 4:29; w98 9/15 12–13; Insight EXODUS
(Time of the Exodus); ISAAC; ISHMAEL.

Shelah dies at age 433. Born in 2333 BCE, he was the son of Arpachshad, the father of Eber, and the third generation from Noah.

Genesis 11:12–15; Insight SHELAH.

Synopsis: At the beginning of this nineteenth century BCE, the generations from Noah that are living are Shem (1), Eber (4), Abraham (10), and Isaac (11). During this century Abraham attempts to sacrifice Isaac at Jehovah's command. Sarah dies and Abraham later marries Keturah. Isaac marries Rebekah and the twins Esau and Jacob are born to them. Esau marries two pagan Hittite wives. Shem, Abraham, and Eber die. The Abrahamic promise is renewed with Isaac.

Mesopotamia: The Babylonians in Mesopotamia predict many astronomical events using star catalogs that date back to 1800 BCE. Astrology plays a prominent part in the Babylonian religion, even down to the time of Jesus' birth.

Matthew 2:1–16; sh 84; Insight ASTROLOGERS;
BABYLON 1 (Religion).

Abraham attempts to sacrifice Isaac, who is about 25 years old according to Josephus and Jewish tradition. This event becomes a prophetic drama showing how Jesus would willingly lay down his life in sacrifice. God's covenant with Abraham is repeated and enlarged: it will be by means of obedient Abraham's "seed" that all nations will bless themselves.

Genesis 3:15; 22:1–19; Hebrews 11:17–19;
James 2:21–23; w64 7/1 413; Insight
BLESSING (Jehovah Blessing Humans); ISAAC;
JESUS CHRIST (The "sacred secret").

Sarah dies at Hebron at age 127. Born in 2008 BCE, she was the daughter of Terah and the half-sister and wife of Abraham. Abraham buries her in Machpelah, a cave that he purchases from Ephron the Hittite at Mamre near Hebron. Hebron is about 19 miles south-southwest of Jerusalem. The burial cave of Machpelah exists today beneath a Moslem mosque in modern Hebron.

Genesis 17:17; 23:1–20; Insight ABRAHAM;
EPHRON 1; MACHPELAH; PURCHASE;
SARAH, SARAI.

Abraham marries Keturah. By her he will father six sons who become "nations." (See 1919 BCE.) The Midianites, the Medanites, possibly the Sabeans, and others descend from Abraham and Keturah.

Genesis 25:1–6; Insight DEDAN; ISHBAK;
JOKSHAN; KETURAH; MEDAN; MIDIAN,
MIDIANITES 1, 2; SHEBA 3, 6; SHUAH; ZIMRAN.

Isaac, age 40, marries Rebekah, the granddaughter of Abraham's brother Nahor. Rebekah's brother Laban will father Leah and Rachel. (See 1774 BCE.) See the reference to the 1989 Watchtower for the prophetic significance of Isaac and Rebekah's marriage.

Genesis 25:20; w89 7/1 23–28; Insight ISAAC;
LABAN 1; REBEKAH.

Shem dies at age 600. Born in 2468 BCE, he was the son of Noah. Shem was also a contemporary of pre-Flood Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, the fallen angels, and the Nephilim. He was an eye-witness survivor of the Flood and a contemporary of the rebellious Nimrod. Jewish tradition says that Shem was Melchizedek.

Genesis 11:10, 11; Insight MELCHIZEDEK; SHEM.

At age 60, Isaac becomes father to twin sons, Esau and Jacob, by Rebekah. The firstborn Esau will later sell his birthright to Jacob. The Edomites descend from Esau (also called Edom) and the Israelites from Jacob (later named Israel).

Genesis 25:19–26; Insight BIRTHRIGHT; EDOM,
EDOMITES; ESAU; ISRAEL 1; ISRAELITE;
JACOB 1.

Abraham dies at age 175. Born in 2018 BCE, he was the son of Terah. Isaac and Ishmael bury Abraham in the cave of Machpelah where Sarah is already buried. At this time Isaac is 75 years old, Ishmael, 89, and Abraham's grandsons, Esau and Jacob, are 15.

Genesis 25:7–10; Insight ABRAHAM;
MACHPELAH; JACOB.

A second famine occurs, but Isaac is instructed not to move into Egypt. Instead, he moves to Philistine Gerar. The Abrahamic promise is renewed to Isaac. Isaac passes off attractive Rebekah to the Philistines as his sister. Abimelech grants Isaac protection after he discovers the ruse.

Genesis chapter 26; Insight ABIMELECH 2; GERAR;
ISAAC; REBEKAH.

Eber dies at age 464. Born in 2303 BCE, he was the son of Shelah and fourth in the line from Noah. Eber lived at the time of Nimrod's rebellion and the confusing of the languages. The word "Hebrew" comes from the name Eber.

Genesis 11:16, 17; Insight EBER 1; HEBREW, I
(Origin and Significance of the Term).

Esau, age 40, marries two pagan Hittite wives, Judith (Oholibamah?) and Basemath (Adah?) who become a source of bitterness of spirit to Isaac and Rebekah. Adah's son Eliphaz will father Amalek, the forefather of the Amalekites, who will later war against the nation of Israel. (See 1513 BCE and 1512 BCE.)

Genesis 26:34, 35; Insight ADAH 2; AMALEK,
AMALEKITE; BASEMATH 1; EDOM, EDOMITES;
JUDITH; ESAU; OHOLIBAMAH 1.

Synopsis: At the beginning of this eighteenth century BCE, the generations from Noah who are living are Isaac (11) and Jacob (12). Jacob marries Leah and Rachel and his twelve sons are born. Jacob leaves Haran, wrestles with the angel, settles in the Promised Land. Isaac and Deborah die. Joseph is sold into Egypt, imprisoned, released, then made viceroy of Egypt where seven years of plenty are followed by seven years of famine. Jacob moves his family to Egypt, blesses his grandsons and sons, then dies.

Mesopotamia: Hammurabi probably rules during this century. Secular sources give various dates for his rule ranging from the twenty-first century BCE to the seventeenth century BCE. He likely ruled 1728 to 1686 BCE. He was the king of Babylon's first dynasty and the formulator of the Code of Hammurabi consisting of 282 laws. Hammurabi's Code, developed in 1700 BCE and discovered in excavations at Susa, Iran, in 1902 CE, is not the basis for the far superior Mosaic Law later given to Israel, but rather was based mainly on laws already in existence. The Hammurabi Code reflects a spirit of retaliation.

See Code at http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/hammurabi.htm.

w87 11/1 12; w80 10/1 8–9; g88 11/22 7; g81 1/22 20;
Insight CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (Babylonian);
BARTON pp. 378–406.

Egypt: During the latter part of this century and during the seventeenth and sixteenth centuries BCE, the Israelites will reside in Egypt in the area of Goshen. This period of residence when the Israelites increase until they outnumber the Egyptians may be the foundation for the "Hyksos" idea, called the "Hyksos Period" by historians, referring to a time of Egyptian conquest by mysterious foreign invaders.

Exodus 1:7–10; w71 6/15 381–2; Insight EGYPT,
EGYPTIAN (Hyksos Period); GOSHEN;
RAAMSES, RAMESES.

Warfare: Chariots are probably introduced into warfare during this century.

Insight CHARIOT; GATE, GATEWAY (Construction).

Babylon: Th