This qpqsidqra$p£,
anything. k w t f o ^ i w M J$u f t j f
periqd ofSarah’s bearing is so strongly notic'd and is r e ^ e d fq jn
m the Ante-Abrahamic times is^founded on a mistake in )(the j n |$ -
Mg^tipa ? f am further .o^ppinion
*W «ritegfr
Abraham was composed, .since it is. ipapossiWe, to sppiw^ that §B&% f n
inconsistency as would otherwise e x is tm the narrative could,have
occurred through inad^ertenc®, f?
all assist p e in attaining my I
have entered into this enquiry. That was to show that a longer
period may haveelapsed.than common
the genealpgy of one ^ r d in St^Matthew’s (jospelj^wefe g£mstruc|ed
onthepfineiple of omitting some generations, l^ ^ h e g^uealfi^v of
our Lord it may be observed that the ^%l» serief of .pai^es is divined
into fourteens. This may have been usual fof ^ to cg l^ ^ rem em -
bering. -But '.instead' of ' several series o|, fo^lHlq6a<fadjbnWu%P
(Genesis two tables of ten, from Adam to Noah^ . ;^ m Neah, to
Abraham inclusive. It is probable that irome numerical | | w
connected with the name of esmh patriarch, indiegtivo^of h is ja ^ a t
his death, and perhaps also at the birth of his eldest .son; but these
years were denoted with a regard to the f f i o ^ “:_ p f '|^ ^ a g d w »
patriarchy and not with the intent of affording the means of computing
the collective duration of time by casting up the numbers
together. 1 § 1 § at least no proof that this use of the numbers ia
the genealogies entered into thh conception of the writer. Ip the early
ages of tjie world genealogy, held that relatiop to bistpry which has
long, since bfep given V chronology. The computation of time was
not thought of as a thing to be aimed at, or necessary or desirable.*
If these tables Stood in tbe form supposed, we may conjecture that
many generations may have been omitted. As St. Matthew has left
it appears that she had children. The age o f 130 years was- apparently a
common one for the birth of eldest children. This is more strikingly-out of
theipreseritieoursetof:nature- than . even) thteafonghvity. I1 ! iiitsof vet
* In one place-where the years ar^given qhronolQgy CQvtkl ;nO> hfcve-heen
the object, since M down without any^Qt^e
the .age oft each- individual pt % .birth of bis .son,
requisite for the computation of time from genealogies.
out several generations in thé sums óf fourteen, ab It is probable that
the first recorder of the Ahte-Abfahaihic'genealo^ies emitted many in
his two smis f f I Ë t i was q fiWsu^fêni f t t f "purpose contem-
platedin thé conslruc^ön^of fhese geneafogiél0tó mdfcatb by a few steps
the line ofsuccessioh from Shém to Abraham without specifying all
the links In ‘thetcharn. * The^ustóm' of" thus omitting' some generations
seems do have prevailed' amclng those who devoted their cafe to
the preservation1 of hatfonaf^archiveS ; and, aóbÖfËing^ö Eichhom,
frequenf exampis^of ïtiê üincfarelube' found ïb'%e‘inêiënf genéalo-
gies of the Arabians. I,t ïfrT*efeaJ>ld' nainês pfésérvèd are
*'|i(|ie eof renbwneii '-persons, w»b §lbp(i aé'TbÖdmarks ih the historical
'fiiMif tlmy^fe^pro^abl|,flllé ^ i ^ r ‘3 y n 4 # s/fq |bH b k ,^f?'gfèat
families, bfpersonsby whom iome change in regal or patriarchal
succession was brought about. ''Sojni ;e£“fhe' names are only known
elsfewbefe as lie nafhes pf nations, In anothter docUmenf ebntained in
Genesis,^be ^would1© ^ tbaéJépmé'' bf the
names" ! seï dovvn 13^1^ they were Versdnar ones are^m^efy national
‘app^latfvë^ as Miiraim, Pmïisfiqi? ‘ö ^ b ^ nm ^.6 So ^i^hpxad, which
“oepurs ^n tlfc fine fröla^^len? to’Abranamln toOëntb chapter. It
'^ a y ,% E ^ ^ ^ 's i^K J e 4 & a i Arptiaxad was the name'dfia man from
whom the ppópie^soClérme<ï were cfescendeu, Una A^hür that of the
'a®ëii^.*pt ]^ u ^ '!aO T ^ re ,'e v i® i^ to . nave, '"been
a persbh.x£There'V ■'^eVi^ce-^ura&cting^ th^.pgmion as to the
names' in the line of Shem to Abfahamy and (i f is confirmed by
observing itMaf tbe'later iodines are' eiudeiftly Sï|iöse ^r pfereons, as
Ter ah, itaior,
A gene^ogicaï table* "constructed on tie' principle^herc boinfed out
wpr ^ answer1^ pur^|es,'?qg wbicn j t ^ a s üee^gltódi There is
no incoffectness^in^it, since clfoonof^f.'was'ytpf vi ^ of - the
writer.. There w ^ notliingeriine©^ in it at ifs'firs^lmMitiqn'; and
if anything exists fn »Wbltba which
deserves that epithet, it was intro'duced .into^ tRem "^upn the origihal
document was expandecl by Iafer copyi^ i n ^ .
By some it will be objected to . the conclusions at which I have
arrived, that there exists-, according to my hypothesis,, no chronology,
properly so termed, of the 'eafTidsf'ages,' and-'that no nieans are to be
found for ascertaining the real'ageuf the*World'."" This I am prepared