Adam to Abraham
Gen 5:24 (KJV)lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son;
all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died
lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos;
all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died
lived ninety years, and begat Cainan;
all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died
lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel;
all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died
lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared;
all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died
lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch;
all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died
lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah;
all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years, and
Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him
lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech;
all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died
lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son;
all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died
Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth;
all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died
Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the floodand
lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years: 600 years in all
lived five and thirty years, and begat Salahand
lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years: 438 years in all
lived thirty years, and begat Eberand
lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years: 433 years in all
lived four and thirty years, and begat Pelegand
lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years: 464 years in all
lived thirty years, and begat Reuand
lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years: 239 years in all
lived two and thirty years, and begat Serugand
lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years: 239 years in all
lived thirty years, and begat Nahorand
lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years: 230 years in all
lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terahand
lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years: 148 years in all
lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran;
the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran
Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran, after Terah’s death (Acts 7:4); Abraham’s life was
an hundred threescore and fifteen years
Dated lines on the chart
Creation: AM 01 — 4004 BC (Gen 1:1)
The Flood: AM 165614 — 2348 BC (Gen 7:6, 11)
Abram born: AM 20083 — 1996 BC (Gen 11:26, 32; 12:4)
How the dates were worked out
Genesis 5 and 11 give each man’s age when the next man in the line was born and how long he lived (Noah’s 950 years are in Genesis 9:29; for Shem to Nahor Genesis 11 gives the years lived after that birth, and the total is their sum). Adding the ages from Adam gives the years after Creation (AM): Adam’s life begins in AM 0, Seth is born in AM 130, Noah in AM 1056, the Flood comes in AM 1656 (Noah is 600, Genesis 7:6) and Abram is born in AM 2008. The Bible gives no BC year. This chart uses Ussher’s (1650), who put Creation in 4004 BC, so a BC year is 4004 minus the AM number (the Flood, AM 1656, is 2348 BC; Ussher’s years begin in the autumn, and his own headings for two of these years read one year earlier, 2349 BC for the Flood and 1922 BC for Terah’s death in AM 2083, while his headings for every other birth and death of these twenty lives agree with the subtraction). The numbers are those of the Hebrew text as the KJV prints them; the Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch give other numbers (see the notes). Two numbers are worked out and not stated: Noah was 502 when Shem was born (Shem was 100 two years after the Flood), and Terah was 130 when Abram was born. From Abraham on, the series’ other charts use System A, which puts Abraham’s birth in 2166 BC, 170 years earlier than Ussher’s 1996 BC. One chronology for the whole series: the Bible's own numbers with the main ancient records. "c." = about; a range (e.g. 6–4 BC) = some time in that range.
Notes
1The Bible gives the years between births, not BC dates. These BC years are Ussher’s (1650): Creation in 4004 BC; a year is 4004 minus its years after Creation (AM).
2The Septuagint (in Brenton’s translation) and the Samaritan Pentateuch give other numbers: their Floods fall in AM 2242 and AM 1307, not AM 1656. The Septuagint also adds a second Cainan (Gen 11:13).
3Terah was 70 when his sons began to be born (Gen 11:26), but he died at 205 and Abram left Haran at 75 only after that (Acts 7:4), so Abram was born when Terah was 130.
4By these numbers Adam lived until Lamech was 56, Noah never knew Adam or Seth, Lamech died 5 years before the Flood, and Methuselah in the year of the Flood.
5Enoch’s 365 years end when God took him
(Gen 5:24; Heb 11:5): no death is stated. The bar shows the years to his departure.
6By the numbers Methuselah’s 969 years end in AM 1656, the year of the Flood (Gen 7:6). Genesis does not say that he died in the Flood, only that he died (Gen 5:27).
7Noah was 500 when he begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth
(Gen 5:32), but Shem was 100 two years after the Flood (Gen 11:10), when Noah was 602 (Gen 7:6), so Shem was born when Noah was 502.
8Luke 3:35–36 has a Cainan between Arphaxad and Salah. The Hebrew text of Genesis 11 has none; the Septuagint has one (Gen 11:13). This chart follows the Hebrew.
9Of Peleg Genesis says in his days was the earth divided
(Gen 10:25) but gives no date; the chart shows only his years.
Key
dashed = reconstructed date (scholars differ). Certainty: A Stated in Scripture · B Worked out from Scripture · C Ancient record or astronomy · D Scholarly reconstruction · E Tradition / uncertain — scholars differ.
Scripture quotations: King James Version (KJV)