Genesis 11: Part 1 Overview

In my last series, I looked at the astronomical data I discovered in Genesis 5. We will now unpack the data I have found in Genesis 11.

Genesis 11 v 10-26

This is the account of Shem’s family line.

Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad. And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

So the structure of the text gives the name of the patriarch, followed by their age at which their first child was born. It gives the name of the child and then tells us how long they lived for after their child was born. It then says that they had many other sons and daughters.

Similarities with Genesis 5

We can see this pattern is very similar to the genealogy in Genesis 5. But where three numbers are given for each patriarch, only two are given in Genesis 11. The lifespan for each patriarch is not given.

Both texts have the phrase, sons and daughters. This is said at the end of every second verse apart from Terah. In Hebrew, the phrase is pronounced banim ubanowt. When said out loud, it has a very poetic sound. And I wonder if this is done on purpose, in order to help remember the text of the genealogies.

Long Life-Spans

Like Genesis 5, the patriarchs have extended life spans. Though they do not live as long as Adam and his immediate descendents. I have discussed the different ideas around the long life spans, and you can read them all here.

We see the same pattern in the Sumerian Kings List too. Where the post-Flood kings reign for lesser periods than those pre-Flood monarchs.

The Astronomical Connection

Just like Genesis 5, this genealogy has astronomical data encoded into the ages and names of the patriarchs. Over this series, I will show how we can convert these numbers into astronomical data, which will detail the movement of the planets and eclipses.

The next post will reveal the synodic orbits within the text and begin to unpack the meaning of their names.