Genesis 11:20

Genesis 11:20 

And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: (32 years)

a. NLT: When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. ASV: And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. YLT: And Reu liveth two and thirty years, and begetteth Serug. [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

d. Classic Amplified: When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

e. Septuagint: And Ragau lived and hundred thirty and two years, and begot Seruch.

f. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/ Writings: When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he begat Serug. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ldt.]

1. “And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:”

a. [And] Reu [Strong: 7466 R`uw reh-oo' for 7471 in the sense of 7453; friend; Reu, a postdiluvian patriarch:--Reu.]

b. lived [Strong: 2421 chayah khaw-yaw' a primitive root (Compare 2331, 2421); to live, whether literally or figuratively; causatively, to revive:--keep (leave, make) alive, X certainly, give (promise) life, (let, suffer to) live, nourish up, preserve (alive), quicken, recover, repair, restore (to life), revive, (X God) save (alive, life, lives), X surely, be whole.]

c. two [Strong: 8147 shnayim shen-ah'-yim dual of 8145; feminine shttayim {shet-tah'-yim}; two; also (as ordinal) twofold:--both, couple, double, second, twain, + twelfth, + twelve, + twenty (sixscore) thousand, twice, two.]

d. [and] thirty [Strong: 7970 shlowshiym shel-o-sheem' or shloshiym {shel-o-sheem'}; multiple of 7969; thirty; or (ordinal) thirtieth:--thirty, thirtieth.]

e. years [Strong: 8141 shaneh shaw-neh' (in plura or (feminine) shanah {shaw-naw'}; from 8138; a year (as a revolution of time):--+ whole age, X long, + old, year(X -ly).]

f. [and] begat [Strong: 3205 yalad yaw-lad' a primitive root; to bear young; causatively, to beget; medically, to act as midwife; specifically, to show lineage:--bear, beget, birth((-day)), born, (make to) bring forth (children, young), bring up, calve, child, come, be delivered (of a child), time of delivery, gender, hatch, labour, (do the office of a) midwife, declare pedigrees, be the son of, (woman in, woman that) travail(-eth, -ing woman).]

g. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

h. Serug [Strong: 8286 Sruwg ser-oog' from 8276; tendril; Serug, a postdiluvian patriarch:--Serug.]

1). Shem lived a total of 600 years, 502 of those years after the flood. When the math adding up the years between the patriarchs is done just in this passage, it appears that Abram was born 292 years after the flood. But according to Finis Jennings Dake’s timeline, another chronological fact has to be included to arrive at the proper dates.  Abram was 75 years old when he came into Canaan.

a). Genesis 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

2). If we assume that Abram left right after Terah’s death at 205 years old and we subtract 75 from 205 we find that Abram was born when Terah was 130 years old not 70. Which means Abram was born 352 years after the flood and two years after Noah died.

a). Genesis 9:28, 29 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

9:29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

3). Timeline from Finis Jennings Dake’s God’s Plan For Man

a). Shem 2 years after the flood begat Arphaxad: Genesis 11:10.

b). Arphaxad 35 years and begat Salah: Genesis 11:12.

c). Salah 30 years and begat Eber: Genesis 11:14.

d). Eber 34 years and begat Peleg: Genesis 11:16.

e). Peleg 30 years and begat Reu: Genesis 11:18.

f). Reu 32 years and begat Serug: Genesis 11:20.

g). Serug 30 years and begat Nahor: Genesis 11:22.

h). Nahor 29 years and begat Terah: Genesis 11:24.

i). Terah 205 years and died in Haran: Genesis 11:32; A total of 427 years from the flood.

4). Abraham was 75 when his father Terah died in Haran: Genesis 12:4, which means Terah was 130 when Abram was born not 70 as Genesis 11:26 implies. Doing the math reveals Abraham was born 352 years after the flood. This shows some intriguing revelations. Shem at the birth of Abram, would be 450 years old and he would live another 150 years. When Shem dies Abraham was 150 years old.  Abraham lived another 25 years before he died. Shem was 550 years old when Isaac was born, Genesis 21:5; and he died 10 years before Jacob and Esau was born, Genesis 25:26. Shem was 590 years old when Isaac and Rebekah were married. He seems to fall off the Biblical landscape and yet he lived 500 more years after the flood. It is sobering to think that Shem survived the flood and did not have a prominent effect in the after flood culture. Even though he lived for another 502 years after the flood, it is Abraham that has the prominence, not Shem. Using the Biblical timeline and the length of lives the post flood patriarchs lived we have the following information.

a). Shem, Noah’s son who lived for 98 years before the flood, lived 502 years after the flood. Abraham was 150 years old when Shem died.

b). Arphaxad, Shem’s son, born two years after the flood lived a total of 438 years and died 440 years after the flood. Abraham was 88 when Arphaxad died.

c). Salah, Shem’s grandson and Arphaxad’s son, was born 37 years after the flood. He lived a total of 433 years and died 470 years after the flood. Abram was 118 years old when Salah died.

5).  According to the Biblical chronology, Shem’s grandson, Salah lived until Abraham was 118 years old. Because the Bible does not give the age breakdown of the descendants of Japheth and Ham like it does with Shem’s we have to compare them. Using those comparisons, if Shem’s grandson Salah was contemporary with Abraham for 118 years it is probable that Ham’s grandson, Nimrod was also contemporary with Abraham. Jewish tradition teaches they were not only contemporaries, but because of Abraham’s faith, they were enemies. In the battle with the four Mesopotamian kings in Genesis 14, in which Abraham “slaughtered” all four. Jewish tradition teaches that Amraphel was none other than Nimrod, and Chedolaomer was none other than Elam, the son of Shem!

a). Doing the math, Abraham was 41 when Serug died.