Morning journal and courier., 1882-02-21
The Ages of the Patriarchs,

lChAEles bryant IN Popular Science
On full examination of the question of
patriarchal longevity the disparity of their
ages to those of latter times disappears A
very slight error in the translation of the
Hebrew numbers has led to all this apparent
disparity. The age of the antediluyians was
not to exceed 120 years. Genesis Vi: 9, And
the Lord said, My spirit shall not always
strive with man, for that he is also flesh, yet
his days shall be an hundred and twenty
years" This was the regular good old age
of men with special variations, both before
and for some time after the days of Abra-
ham.
In reading concrete numbers the Hebrews
gave the large number first, thus: Ninety
and seven for 81, 40 and for II. The reyer-
sal of this rule in the translation of Genesis
VS., as an illustration, viii show the error
In all similar cases. adam lived hundred
and thirty years and begat a son. etc This
is correct according to the rule. Seth was
born when Adam was One hundred and thirty
years old, and was his last child. But IL the
rule were here reversed, as it is in the au-
thorized version in the fifth verse it would
read thus: Adam lived thirty hundred years,
and begat a son This shocked the con
seriousness of the Christian translator, and he
was driven to the true rule of the Hebrew
uses in case of concrete numerals.
In the fifth verse We have the force of the
violated rule, thus: ''And all the day that
Adam lived were $50 years, and he died :" A.
V. The true reading of the rule would be-
And all the days of Adam, which he lived
we're hundred years, and thirty and nine
years, and he died F." making the entire age CT
Adam 139 years, instead of $50 years
1t will be seen on examination that con-
crete numeral adjectives in Hebrew as In
other languages agree in number with their
nouns. In the case cited In the A Y. the
nine is made to agree with hundred in the
singular and not with years in the plural
The error is seen at glance, for the differ
ence between mine years and mine hun
dred years" is too great to be overlooked in
any careful translation of q sacred book
The translator assumed that nine here agreed
with hundred, when il had no such agree
ment; hundred in the text is itself con-
crete numeral, and separately agrees with
years, meaning hundred of years At the
date of this writing the Hebrews had no
means of writing mine hundred, /" or any
number of hundreds above one, with
out repetition or circumlocution. There
were none of the masoretic points in use. In
the case of the age of Terah, the father of
Abraham the translators have made the at
tempt to make two hundred out CT one hun
dred in the word mathim used IN the plural
as it might be to agree with years, thus max
ing Terah POS instead of los years old at his
death holding the theory that the word
u1dt AOE 4bNt HOulA IL TIC ptdAoAp
make 200. This is contrary to all rule. The
Hebrews could By pluralizing mineral,
less than 10, add tenfold to the unit. thus
hemosh, hemoshir, so. This rule, ap-
piled in the case of Terah, would make
him 10 times 1o5 years old, or 1,050 years
old In the case of Terah the historic record
conclusiyely contrsdicts the translation. and
hence demonstrates the rule that pluralizing
100 does not, In the Hebrew tongue, make
200, while as to the numerals bet=een 2 and
10 the rule might apply thus: Shelesh, three
sheleshim, 30; and in Like ~ Ger to ten
wfrE=-----ss=yections, referring TO the ages
of the patriarchs before the Hoachisn deluRe,
the article of n de Solavilles would show 3
wonderful uniformity in the age of man since
the dawn of history.
From Adam to the food the ages would
read as in the table below, subject to a few
uncertainties in the numbers below 100, as
the numerals are sometimes pluralized for
purposes of agreement when they were not
increased tentold. These cases are not al
ways certain; the table to the food is sub
stantially true The table is added, giving
the ages of each at the time of his death
J. ADAM Ise years and not go years
. Seth, 12I years and not 9I2 years
g. Rnos ia years and not 935 years
l. Cainzn. 1l9 years and not 30 years.
S. MAhAlzieel, ia years and not s95 years.
6. Jared, III years and not s62 years
I. Enoch, ia years and not 365 yeArs-
8. NethusslAh 124 years and not 969 years
o. Lamech, III years and not az years
10. Noah. 159 years and Eot $50 years
Average, 120 plus years.