CHAPTERONE

TERMS USED TO INDICATE TIME IN THE

The determination of the time when a given event or action took place is extremely important for understanding the situation described. During the biblical period, in the absence of a universal, generally accepted system for recording time, various other methods were used, most of which utilized "particular" designations. I The norm for purposes of recording time was a method of relative designation: that is, a given event was recorded as taking place in relation to some other point in time whose date was known, and hence perceived as relatively flXed. The reference point in time was known either because of its special farne, or because it had already been mentioned earlier in the text. But there were other methods used for this purpose as well, based upon other wordings, whether absolute or relative. In the present chapter, I shall show that there are in principle several different ways of treating a specific point in time that serves as a basic time marker or reference point. Most recording techniques describe time in terms of the reference point; some refer to something that is contemporaneous with it. A third form, rarely used, describes a time prior to the reference point. Our discussion shall survey the three basic types: events recorded as being later than the point of reference; that which is contemporaneous with it; and that which precedes it.

1. Phrases Indicating a Date According to the Time Following a Specifzc Deed or Matter

We shall begin with a list of phrases to indicate time in terms of its following a particular action or matter.

I For more on this principle, see Tadmor, "Chronology." 26 CHAPTER ONE

I. One method of recording time is by designating the age of the indi• vidual of whom the text is speaking at the time of the described occur• rence; that is, time is determined in terms of its "distance" from the individual's birth: in other words, x number of years have passed since someone's birth. It is worth noting that this method is only used in refer• ence to the most ancient periods. Other methods of recording later replaced this one. In Gen 7: 11, we read in the description of the flood: "In the six hundredth year of 's life ... all the fountains of the great deep burst forth." Later, in Gen 8: 13, the reference to "Noah's life" is missing (although it appears in the Septuagint). It is nonetheless clear that he re too this is the principle used: "In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried ... "2 The beginning of the story is couched in a slightly different style, but here too (7:6) the same principle of dating is in evidence: "Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth"• that is, that was his age when the flood began. This is confirmed, as we mentioned previously, in 7:11. Compare the style in Exod 7:7: "Now was eighty years old, and eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh."3 We thus find that the formulae "of x's life" or "x was such-and-such years old" are identical as examples of the technique of noting time according to the events in an individual's life. The interchangeability of these formulae also explains such phrases as "When had lived a hundred and five years, he became the father of Enosh" (Gen 5:6).4 This is not to be confused with another usage (ibid., v. 7), "Seth lived ... eight hundred and seven years," concerned with reckoning the years of Seth-that is, an indication of a life-span in general or of the time-interval until a given event.

2 According to Cassutto (Commentary to Genesis, 11: 57), the year is ordinarily counted according to the years of the royal reign. Hence, it was fitting to number the years in reference to Noah as he was the leader of humanity, as the other kings died at that time. It follows that Cassutto views this as a variant on the recording of time according to royal years, on which see more below. 3 Cf. Gen 12:4: '~bram was seventy-five years old when he departed Haran"; Gen 16:16: '~nd Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram"; Gen 17: I: "When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to hirn ... " And cf. I Chr 2:21: '~terward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old; and she bore hirn Segub." And see also in Gen 17:24,25; 25:20; 26:34; etc. 4 It bears mention that this method of recording time appears frequently in the Book of Genesis, and it seems that this is linked to the periods recorded therein. This stylistic feature should be added to the other characteristics of the book, such as those noted by Grintz, The Book rif Genesis, 1-9.