Continuing from Hiding the Messiah: Falsification of Genesis 5 & 11 (Introduction) I thought it prudent to provide you all with a quick overview to have a basic understanding of the four major translations of the Bible which I will list in order from youngest to oldest. From there we will go over the numbers found in the genealogical records of the aforementioned chapters of Genesis:
1) Samaritan Pentatuech (SP)
2) Masoretic Text (MT)
3) Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS)
4) Septuagint (LXX)
The SP is only composed of the five books of Moses as the Samaritans believe those are the only books inspired by God (not different from the Sadducees). And yes these are the same Samaritans spoken of in the Gospels; once in the Maccabees; and once in 2 Kings. And the Jews and the Samaritans are mainly nuisances to one another. The main difference between their text and those of the Jews is that the Samaritans claim that Mt. Gerizim is the place of worship for God instead of Mt. Ebal; Eli is an illegitimate priest who moved the Temple to Shiloh; and that in addition to the Ten Commandments they added an eleventh which states that Mt. Gerizim is the place for worship. The MT however is what many of our modern translations have been based on since the Council of Jamnia.
Since the time of the MT we thought those to be the most ancient translations until the discovery of the DSS at Qumran. And quite a stir was made with these more ancient mss (manuscripts) as the words of Moses and the prophets became clearer and, naturally made the words of Jesus and His twelve apostles clearer who quoted them.
And while the DSS were thought to be the most ancient, there was the discovery of the LXX which caused a bigger stir and, I may add, a disagreement among scholars and theologians. This was due to the fact that after analyzing the text of all four major translations: the words of Christ and the Twelve, and those of Moses and the Prophets, in addition to the DSS aligned more with the LXX than they did the MT, especially those prophesies which relate to the Messiah. For those who are lovers of learning I will not wear out our other readers as my main focus is on the numbers of the genealogical records. But if you must know these things for yourselves then you can read these works:
For DSS, Apocryphal works, and the 364 Day Solar Calendar
Complete English Translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls from Penguin Books
For back story on the DSS found at Qumran
Discoveries in the Judean Desert
For the source text of the LXX and its subsequent translations done by Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and Origen
Letter of Aristeas
Ephianus' Treatise on Weights and Measures
Here's an excellent YouTube series by Post-Apostolic Church comparing numerous quotations of the Masoretic Text with the LXX
Septuagint Series
With that out of the way let us analyze the genealogical records of each of the four major
translations:
Figure 1
The oddball in this list is Flavius Josephus who didn't write a translation of the Hebrew scriptures but, I included him since he was of priestly descent and, one of the main people who lived close to the time of Jesus. And it is around this time that we would have expected the community at Qumran to be alive. And Josephus' genealogical records in Antiquities of the Jews and those in the Dead Sea Scrolls are the closest textual sources I could find which wouldn't be so far removed from Christ or the Septuagint. Therefore Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews and the DSS would be less prone to tampering as compared to the MT and SP which came much later in history.
In order to arrive at the truth of the matter we must use the instructions given to us by Moses:
"One witness will not suffice to convict a person on any matter. But the truth will be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses."
So, we will carefully look at where they agree and disagree and, in each case where the number of witnesses are greater than the other we will accept those testimonies as true. At the end we will take all true testimonies and cause the numbers which don't agree with them to change and, once this has been completed we will change the years from Adam to the Flood for each.
As you can clearly see from the charts above all five of our accounts disagree on four time periods:
1) The total time from Adam to the Flood.
2) When each father begat their son.
3) The length of their lives after begetting their sons.
4) The deaths of Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech.
We will begin with 4)...
Jared [+115 Years to SP]
847 (SP) - 1 Witness
962 (LXX; Josephus; MT) - 3 Witnesses
Methuselah [+316 Years to SP]
653 (SP) - 1 Witness
969 (LXX; Josephus; MT) - 3 Witnesses
Lamech [+24 Years to LXX]
753 Years (LXX) - 1 Witness
777 Years (Josephus; MT) - 2 Witnesses
We will ignore the time each father begat their sons for now as the years they died and, begat their sons will dictate how long they lived after begetting them. And we will start with the same three men as before...
Jared [+100 Years to SP]
62 (SP) - 1 Witness
162 (LXX; Josephus; MT) - 3 Witnesses
Methuselah [+120 Years to SP; +20 Years to LXX]
67 (SP) - 1 Witness
167 (LXX) - 1 Witness
187 (MT; Josephus) - 2 Witnesses
Lamech [+129 Years to SP; -6 Years from LXX]
53 Years (SP) - 1 Witness
182 Years (MT; Josephus) - 2 Witnesses
188 Years (LXX) - 1 Witness
After adding 455 Years to the deaths of each man and, 363 Years to the time each man begat their son, this is what our first correction looks like...
Figure 2
Now we've got to resolve this 600 Year discrepancy between the SP+MT and Josephus+LXX. Thankfully this part is easier to do for, 100 Years each have been shifted from the time Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, and Jared begat their sons to the time they lived after begetting them!
Figure 3
Okay after shifting those numbers around and adding the missing years back we're done right? Not quite, we need to resolve the years added to Methuselah's death. Congratulations to those who have not been letting the photos fool them into not adding the numbers for themselves:
230 Years (Adam)
205 Years (Seth)
190 Years (Enosh)
170 Years (Kenan)
165 Years (Mahalalel)
162 Years (Jared)
165 Years (Enoch)
187 Years (Methuselah)
182 Years (Lamech)
600 Years (Noah)
2256 Years (Adam to Flood)
But where is the discrepancy of Methuselah at? It is hidden in the year he died...in other words the scribes subtracted and shifted hundreds of years around from Genesis 5 in order to hide the fact that they added 14 Years to his death: therefore the true year Methuselah died is 955 Years old, not 969 Years old.
Figure 4
A comparison between Figure 2 and Figure 4 will show that…
Figure 2
Methuselah
187 (Methuselah begets Lamech)
782 (Years lived after begetting)
969 (Methuselah dies)
Figure 4
Methuselah
173 (Methuselah begets Lamech)
782 (Years lived after begetting)
955 (Methuselah dies)
...we see that the scribes changed the year Methuselah died and begat Lamech without affecting the number of years he lived between those two periods...
If you thought that was a headache well get your brains refreshed because we're going to be analyzing the numbers in Genesis 11 but, that will be in Hiding the Messiah: Falsification of Genesis 5 & 11 (Part 2). Just know that for this part we got to this point after sorting out the agreements and disagreements between each of our witnesses' testimonies; and, as a result that led to us having to add, subtract, and shift hundreds of years all so that we could resolve the hidden 14 Year discrepancy placed in the year that Methuselah died!
1) Samaritan Pentatuech (SP)
2) Masoretic Text (MT)
3) Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS)
4) Septuagint (LXX)
The SP is only composed of the five books of Moses as the Samaritans believe those are the only books inspired by God (not different from the Sadducees). And yes these are the same Samaritans spoken of in the Gospels; once in the Maccabees; and once in 2 Kings. And the Jews and the Samaritans are mainly nuisances to one another. The main difference between their text and those of the Jews is that the Samaritans claim that Mt. Gerizim is the place of worship for God instead of Mt. Ebal; Eli is an illegitimate priest who moved the Temple to Shiloh; and that in addition to the Ten Commandments they added an eleventh which states that Mt. Gerizim is the place for worship. The MT however is what many of our modern translations have been based on since the Council of Jamnia.
Since the time of the MT we thought those to be the most ancient translations until the discovery of the DSS at Qumran. And quite a stir was made with these more ancient mss (manuscripts) as the words of Moses and the prophets became clearer and, naturally made the words of Jesus and His twelve apostles clearer who quoted them.
And while the DSS were thought to be the most ancient, there was the discovery of the LXX which caused a bigger stir and, I may add, a disagreement among scholars and theologians. This was due to the fact that after analyzing the text of all four major translations: the words of Christ and the Twelve, and those of Moses and the Prophets, in addition to the DSS aligned more with the LXX than they did the MT, especially those prophesies which relate to the Messiah. For those who are lovers of learning I will not wear out our other readers as my main focus is on the numbers of the genealogical records. But if you must know these things for yourselves then you can read these works:
For DSS, Apocryphal works, and the 364 Day Solar Calendar
Complete English Translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls from Penguin Books
For back story on the DSS found at Qumran
Discoveries in the Judean Desert
For the source text of the LXX and its subsequent translations done by Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and Origen
Letter of Aristeas
Ephianus' Treatise on Weights and Measures
Here's an excellent YouTube series by Post-Apostolic Church comparing numerous quotations of the Masoretic Text with the LXX
Septuagint Series
With that out of the way let us analyze the genealogical records of each of the four major
translations:
Figure 1
The oddball in this list is Flavius Josephus who didn't write a translation of the Hebrew scriptures but, I included him since he was of priestly descent and, one of the main people who lived close to the time of Jesus. And it is around this time that we would have expected the community at Qumran to be alive. And Josephus' genealogical records in Antiquities of the Jews and those in the Dead Sea Scrolls are the closest textual sources I could find which wouldn't be so far removed from Christ or the Septuagint. Therefore Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews and the DSS would be less prone to tampering as compared to the MT and SP which came much later in history.
In order to arrive at the truth of the matter we must use the instructions given to us by Moses:
"One witness will not suffice to convict a person on any matter. But the truth will be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses."
So, we will carefully look at where they agree and disagree and, in each case where the number of witnesses are greater than the other we will accept those testimonies as true. At the end we will take all true testimonies and cause the numbers which don't agree with them to change and, once this has been completed we will change the years from Adam to the Flood for each.
As you can clearly see from the charts above all five of our accounts disagree on four time periods:
1) The total time from Adam to the Flood.
2) When each father begat their son.
3) The length of their lives after begetting their sons.
4) The deaths of Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech.
We will begin with 4)...
Jared [+115 Years to SP]
847 (SP) - 1 Witness
962 (LXX; Josephus; MT) - 3 Witnesses
Methuselah [+316 Years to SP]
653 (SP) - 1 Witness
969 (LXX; Josephus; MT) - 3 Witnesses
Lamech [+24 Years to LXX]
753 Years (LXX) - 1 Witness
777 Years (Josephus; MT) - 2 Witnesses
We will ignore the time each father begat their sons for now as the years they died and, begat their sons will dictate how long they lived after begetting them. And we will start with the same three men as before...
Jared [+100 Years to SP]
62 (SP) - 1 Witness
162 (LXX; Josephus; MT) - 3 Witnesses
Methuselah [+120 Years to SP; +20 Years to LXX]
67 (SP) - 1 Witness
167 (LXX) - 1 Witness
187 (MT; Josephus) - 2 Witnesses
Lamech [+129 Years to SP; -6 Years from LXX]
53 Years (SP) - 1 Witness
182 Years (MT; Josephus) - 2 Witnesses
188 Years (LXX) - 1 Witness
After adding 455 Years to the deaths of each man and, 363 Years to the time each man begat their son, this is what our first correction looks like...
Figure 2
Now we've got to resolve this 600 Year discrepancy between the SP+MT and Josephus+LXX. Thankfully this part is easier to do for, 100 Years each have been shifted from the time Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, and Jared begat their sons to the time they lived after begetting them!
Figure 3
Okay after shifting those numbers around and adding the missing years back we're done right? Not quite, we need to resolve the years added to Methuselah's death. Congratulations to those who have not been letting the photos fool them into not adding the numbers for themselves:
230 Years (Adam)
205 Years (Seth)
190 Years (Enosh)
170 Years (Kenan)
165 Years (Mahalalel)
162 Years (Jared)
165 Years (Enoch)
187 Years (Methuselah)
182 Years (Lamech)
600 Years (Noah)
2256 Years (Adam to Flood)
But where is the discrepancy of Methuselah at? It is hidden in the year he died...in other words the scribes subtracted and shifted hundreds of years around from Genesis 5 in order to hide the fact that they added 14 Years to his death: therefore the true year Methuselah died is 955 Years old, not 969 Years old.
Figure 4
A comparison between Figure 2 and Figure 4 will show that…
Figure 2
Methuselah
187 (Methuselah begets Lamech)
782 (Years lived after begetting)
969 (Methuselah dies)
Figure 4
Methuselah
173 (Methuselah begets Lamech)
782 (Years lived after begetting)
955 (Methuselah dies)
...we see that the scribes changed the year Methuselah died and begat Lamech without affecting the number of years he lived between those two periods...
If you thought that was a headache well get your brains refreshed because we're going to be analyzing the numbers in Genesis 11 but, that will be in Hiding the Messiah: Falsification of Genesis 5 & 11 (Part 2). Just know that for this part we got to this point after sorting out the agreements and disagreements between each of our witnesses' testimonies; and, as a result that led to us having to add, subtract, and shift hundreds of years all so that we could resolve the hidden 14 Year discrepancy placed in the year that Methuselah died!
