How does the Bible teach 6,000 years?

The Bible’s history gives us the answer to the age of the earth
Many people write in and ask, “How do we know that the earth is 6,000 years old from the Bible?” Given that the chronogenealogies—genealogies where the age of the father at the time of the son’s birth is given in an unbroken chain—end shortly after Noah, how do we get from ~1600 AM (anno mundi = ‘year of the world’) to today, which we would argue is about 6000 AM?
How precisely can we know the earth’s age?
The precision by which we can know the timing of historical events or ages of things is constrained by the precision of the data we’re given. The timing we’re given in the chronogenealogies is accurate to within one year of the event. By this, I mean we can know that Adam was 130 years old when he fathered Seth, but we don’t know if he was 130 and 3 months, or just shy of 131, for example. This is true for all the ages. So when you add up the chronogenealogies, we know that the Flood happened in 1656, plus up to less than 10 years, because we have 10 numbers that have less than a year of uncertainty. If all of the numbers were recorded just shy of the next birthday (for instance, Adam was 130 and 11 months when he fathered Seth, Seth was 105 and 11 months when he fathered Enosh, and so on), the Flood could have been as late as 1665 AM. But clearly this sort of small-scale uncertainty won’t give any comfort to people who want to add thousands of years to human history.
The Flood to the Patriarchs
There is an unbroken chronogenealogy from Shem to Abraham in Genesis 11, and we’re given the information elsewhere in Genesis1 to extend the chronology until the relocation of Israel to Egypt when Jacob was 130 years old. Going by these numbers, Jacob went to Egypt in 642 + less than 12 years after the Flood, or 2298 + less than 22 years AM. The chronogenealogy ends here, with nearly 2,000 years to go until Christ.2 How do we extend the timeline?
The Patriarchs to the Exodus
Exodus 12:40 says that Israel was in Egypt for 430 years. This harmonizes well with Genesis 15:13 where God tells Abram that his descendants will be enslaved and mistreated for 400 years (enslavement did not happen on their arrival in Egypt but some time after Joseph died, when their number became threatening). So the Exodus happened in 2728 + less than 23 years AM.
The Exodus to the Kings
We know that Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years, meaning that they entered the Promised Land in 2768 + less than 24 years AM. But here the chronology becomes a bit hazier for a while. This is because we don’t know exactly how long the conquest took, or exactly how long it was before the judges started ruling Israel. We’re told how long each judge ruled, and how long each period of peace lasted, but some of these clearly overlap, and some judges clearly only ruled part of Israel, while another judge was ruling another part.
What about different dates for creation?
Many people have come up with dates for creation, such as James Ussher (4004 BC), Johannes Kepler (3992 BC), Gerhard Hasel (4178 BC), and Isaac Newton (~4000 BC). Additionally, there are various chronologies competing with each other today (though all with the same ballpark outcome) which would be more precise than this article, but also rely on assumptions that must come from a particular interpretation of the text. It is not the purpose of this article to choose any particular one of these chronologies, but rather to show how the plain interpretation of Scripture gives a straightforward chronology that leads us to believe the world is around 6,000 years old, regardless of which of these other chronological frameworks one uses.
But we have a clear statement in 1 Kings that allows us to continue a reliable chronology. 1 Kings 6:1 says “In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord.”
So if we subtract 124 years (40 each for the wandering in the desert, Saul’s reign, and David’s reign, and 4 for the partial reign of Solomon), we get a period of about 356 years for the judges, which fits well with the numbers in Judges if we assume a few overlaps. So Solomon began to build the Temple in 3208 + less than 23 years AM. Notice that even though we’re thousands of years into history at this point, the uncertainty about the dates is less than 25 years!
The Kings to the Exile
If we go by the reigns of the kings of Judah, without assuming any co-regencies, from the Temple to the Exile of Judah would have been 429.5 years + less than 21 years. But we know that there were co-regencies in Judah, partly by comparing the kings of Judah to the kings of Israel.3 If we do that, we know that from the Temple to the Exile of Judah is actually around 345 years, at around 3553 AM. At this point, it’s possible to say what the date would be in our terms—and when one adjusts for the differences in calendrical systems, the vast majority consensus is 586 BC. This would mean that 1 AD would be around 4150 AM, plus or minus less than 50 years, and today we would be around 6150 AM, plus or minus less than 50 years.
The Bible is history!
It’s clear that from the very first verse of Genesis, the Bible is concerned with giving a factual account of how God has interacted with the earth. This means that it must give historically accurate details, as well as being theologically accurate. In fact, what we believe about God is based on historical claims, so if the history is inaccurate, then the theology must be as well! One of the ways the biblical authors communicated that they were giving actual history is by recording lifespans, or measuring the amount of time between certain events.
We can be confident that God’s Word is accurate in its historical details as well as in what it tells us about theology.
Father/Event 1 | Son/Event 2 | Age/Length of time | Running total | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adam | Seth | 130 | 130 | Genesis 5 |
Seth | Enosh | 105 | 235 | Genesis 5 |
Enosh | Kenan | 90 | 325 | Genesis 5 |
Kenan | Mahalel | 70 | 395 | Genesis 5 |
Mahalel | Jared | 65 | 460 | Genesis 5 |
Jared | Enoch | 162 | 622 | Genesis 5 |
Enoch | Methuselah | 65 | 687 | Genesis 5 |
Methuselah | Lamech | 187 | 874 | Genesis 5 |
Lamech | Noah | 182 | 1056 | Genesis 5 |
Noah | Flood | 600 | 1656 | Genesis 7:11 |
Flood | Arphaxad | 2 | 1658 | Genesis 11 |
Arphaxad | Shelah | 35 | 1693 | Genesis 11 |
Shelah | Eber | 30 | 1723 | Genesis 11 |
Eber | Peleg | 34 | 1757 | Genesis 11 |
Peleg | Reu | 30 | 1787 | Genesis 11 |
Reu | Serug | 32 | 1819 | Genesis 11 |
Serug | Nahor | 30 | 1849 | Genesis 11 |
Nahor | Terah | 29 | 1878 | Genesis 11 |
Terah | Abram | 130 | 2008 | Genesis 11 |
Abraham | Isaac | 100 | 2108 | Genesis 21:5 |
Isaac | Jacob | 60 | 2168 | Genesis 25:26 |
Jacob | Egypt | 130 | 2298 | Genesis 47:9 |
Jacob in Egypt | Exodus | 430 | 2728 | Exodus 12:40 |
Exodus | Temple begun | 480 | 3208 | 1 Kings 6:1 |
Temple | Exile | 345 | 3553 |
Related Articles
Further Reading
References and notes
- Genesis 5 goes from Adam to Noah and his sons; Genesis 11:10ff goes from Shem to Abram; Genesis 21:5 states that Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born; Genesis 25:26 states that Isaac was 60 when Jacob and Esau were born, and Genesis 47:9 says that Jacob was 130 when he went to Egypt. Return to text.
- Some argue for gaps in the Genesis 5 and 11 genealogies. For the reasons to take them as unbroken genealogies, see Sarfati, J. Biblical chronogenealogies, J. Creation 17(3):14–18, December 2003, creation.com/chronogenealogies. Return to text.
- For more detail about the challenges of interpreting the chronology of the kings of Israel and Judah, see Kaiser W., A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age Through the Jewish Wars (Broadville & Holman: Nashville, TN, 1998), p. 292–300. Return to text.
Readers’ comments
Before you claim that the Biblical Chronology is not accurate as claimed, please study the Biblical Chronology yourself and do not include extra-biblical sources. You may be surprised just how accurate it is. It will astound you to see that the king lists of many other ancient nations, are full of gigantic holes, glaring inaccuracies, and filled with fictional accounts of events that make it extremely difficult to really know what happened.
In contrast, the biblical timeline, is self-authenticating and supports the doctrines of the Bible. It points to Jesus Christ and Him alone. It also proves that, even though the Bible is a collection of books written over a period of 4000 years by different scribes as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, it is one book written by one Author and fits perfectly together with no discrepancies. No other book can compare. This is also the reason why spurious books, Gospel of Thomas, Tobit, Maccabees, and etc., exclude themselves rather than them being excluded by some council.
Luke 16:31:
John 5:46–47:
Moses was the editor of those reports of ages. Jesus said that disbelief in Moses was tantamount to disbelieving Him.
Therefore He has confirmed the accuracy of the ages reported by Moses in Scripture.
See also The authority of Scripture and Jesus on the age of the earth.
I have been studying the Chronology for many years and have come to the one important conclusion. It witnesses of the accuracy of the Scriptures and points to Jesus Christ. In the beginning it highlights the coming of the Saviour and it, the chronology, ends with the beginning of Christ's Kingdom—when He was glorified (risen and ascended).
It has taken me years of study and I'm always filled with joy when I see the work of godly men supporting the Scriptures. Philip Mauro comes to 4046 BC as the date of creation.
Dr Jonathan Sarfati responds: But be careful to understand what we actually teach, e.g. Should Genesis be taken literally?
JW: I am NOT saying that it is not important, but I think that the content of the Bible (ie the various books) was decided at the Council of Nicea and the Council of Carthage? So a group of learned Christians convened and prayerfully decided which books were inspired by God and which weren’t.
JW: The Old Testament or T'naach contains the Origins of Creation, the Origins and laws of Judaism, the history of Israel and Judah, the Prophets, Psalms, Wisdom and the Song of Solomon.
I accept the truths of the Old and New Testament. I accept that Salvation is found therein, as the Holy Spirit quickens it to our understanding.
JW: So, I believe that God created the Cosmos, that He is separate from it, that He has always existed. I am not so sure that trying to work out how old the earth is,
JW: or whether God literally created the world in six 24 hour days is essential to salvation.
JW: I have read and enjoyed many books about the early earth (Morrison etc),
JW: and I believe that God did it all-somehow!
JW: Whether it was EXACTLY as recorded does not to my mind throw doubt on the inspiration of Scripture or that archaeology is unimportant. I just think it is enough to know that where the Bible refers to God, His nature, Creation, our sinfulness and the history of the Jews, Jesus and the early Church; it is all true. The dates and understandings of some happenings might be cultural.
Caleb was 40 years old when the Exodus began. He was 80 (40 + 40) years old when Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan. In Joshua 14:10, Caleb says that he is 85 (40 + 40 + 5).
Another interesting fact not mentioned is that there were only 64 years between the death of Joseph and the birth of Moses.
On another note regarding Chronology, I prefer Philip Mauro's to Ussher’s—Mauro uses the Bible Text only and fits the Bible perfectly without having to reference other extra-biblical sources.
SW: God’s Word is not about propositions or logic, as you put it; a human approach! Please read 1 Corinthians 2.
SW: The article links Exodus 12:40 and Genesis 15:13 to prove that Israel was 430 yrs in Egypt; wrong! You have to separate the “sojourning … of Israel” from “who dwelt in Egypt.” The faulty ESV on Exodus 12:40, is no substitute for searching the Scriptures & careful exegesis.
SW: Karen M, USA, asked the right question on Galatians 3:17, “it seems to indicate that there were 430 years from the time the promise was given to Abraham, not the number of years spent in Egypt;” she indicated the correct answer. Your answer was wrong, “dating from God’s reaffirmation of the Abrahamic Covenant through Jacob.” In Genesis 15:13,14 there is also a difference between being a stranger in a ‘land’—Canaan & Egypt—and serving a ‘nation’—Egypt. Check from Abraham’s entering Canaan until Israel left Egypt (about 215 yrs); you’ll find your 430 yrs. Scripture cannot be broken.
[Note: not all in CMI are in agreement on which of the three resolutions to prefer, though we are all agreed that there is no way that this undermines the validity of the biblical 'big picture’ on this matter of chronology, which is an age of the earth to an order of magnitude of 6,000 years—Ed.]
SW: If CMI is wrong on this, can it be wrong on the 6000 yrs from Gen 1:1? Yes it can, and is.
SW: How? Faulty exegesis. Both Exodus 20:11 and Mark 10:5–9 speak to the 6-day creation,
SW: but you cannot now throw in Genesis 1:1–2. This is gross misinterpretation.
SW: Is there a hint of “high-mindedness” with CMI, dismissing others’ arguments of authority and exegesis, but hailing its own as always correct?
SW: I respect the work CMI is doing,
SW: but a loose handling of Scripture is never justified.
SW: A godly Bible scholar of the 19th century said: “we prayed out the truth on our knees in persevering prayer; today it is bought up cheaply.” Could you give me some testimony of CMI’s “praying out the truth”? Regards, Syd
RL: That is a matter of Faith and interpretation of the information given in the Bible.
RL: However, if you want to use all information available including the science of Physics and fossil records, then it is highly probable the Earth is closer to Billions of years old than thousands.
RL: Science doesn’t answer every question and is not a substitute or replacement of God. Science simply states the workings of the Universe using the scientific method. It is useful to explain how things work and why it works that way.
RL: It doesn’t explain who made it or why it was made. God made the Universe.
RL: Now we don't have to look far for many occurrences of the acceptance of scientific facts to replace faulty church dogma based on interpretation of the workings of the Universe using the Bible. Shall we talk of Copernicus and Galileo's persecution for their contribution to refuting the Earth centered Universe?
RL: God has hung the planets in their orbits around the Sun but it was Newton who first calculated their orbits using gravity as a basis for the explanation of how and why they orbit as they do.
RL: Science just explains how God set up the Universe. There are basic physical principles and its good that He established these principles or we'd all be floating up to space.
RL: As far as dating goes, physics experiments have repeatedly proved the decay rate principles used for dating the Earth.
RL: Arguing that the dates are unreliable because of the large range given is actually the same argument that is used to date the Earth around 6000 years. It's just exponentiated.
Furthermore, the patristic sources you rely on for the deletion of the 2nd Cainan nevertheless support a creation date of about 5500 BC.
So there's a bit of a double standard at work here: accept Jewish sources, unless they give too recent a creation date, and accept Christian sources, unless they give too early of a creation date.
Suffice it to say that the Scripture supports a date for the creation of Adam somewhere between 6000 and 7700 years ago. Trying to pin it down more exactly than that is only opens you to charges of special pleading.
Actually, as explained in response to Victor M., New Zealand, 14 December 2012, it was the more recent date of modern Judaism that was the result of trying to fit in the false Messiah.
We also explained in the article referred to, Biblical chronogenealogies, why the LXX chronology was less reliable than the Masoretic. It’s the former that produces the 5500 BC creation date.
So far from “special pleading”, we have provided sound reasons for the date in the article.
They should not have done this because many prophecies have an expiry date (‘expiration date’ in America ;) of the time the Second Temple was destroyed in AD 70. Since all the genealogical records, apart from the Levites, were destroyed, no Messianic claimant can prove that he comes from David’s line. Yeshua could prove it: he came from David: both via Solomon through His adoptive father Joseph, and via Nathan through his biological mother Mary (see The genealogies of Jesus).
Actually, in the modern edition of Ussher's Annals of the World (above right), there is an explanation for the discrepancy in Appendix G. The current ‘Jewish calendar’ comes from Rabbi Yose ben Halafta and his Seder Olam Rabbah (The Great Order of the World, AD 160). For one thing, there is a 60-year shortfall because the Rabbi was mistaken about Terah (see reply to Bernhard v.d.Z., Netherlands, 10 December 2012, above). But more seriously, this Rabbi stripped over a century to make the Daniel 9 ‘Seventy Sevens’ prophecy fall on the false messiah Bar Kochba rather than on the true Messiah, Yeshua. The modern edition of Annals explains in an appendix:
You are right that there are no contradictions in Scripture. This one is resolved by understanding the context. That is, that the Abrahamic Covenant did not apply to all descendants of Abraham. God specifically decreed that it would apply only though Isaac and not Ishmael (or Abraham’s later children via Keturah). Then He specifically decreed that this promise would apply to Jacob and not Esau. So the Galatians 3:17 is dating from God’s reaffirmation of the Abrahamic Covenant through Jacob (renamed Israel) in Genesis 46:1-4).
(From Donald Campbell in The Bible Knowledge Commentary (ed. Walvoord and Zuck, 1983.)
You are mistaken about the parallelism: long-agers place the sun before the earth and whales and birds after land creatures, directly contradicting the order in Genesis 1. See Evolution vs the Bible for more contradictions between the uniformitarian order and Genesis.
When someone died in the OT, the phrase “he was gathered to his fathers” seems to appear a lot. Given the biological difficulties with having multiple fathers, could it be that the writers were a little less literal than than is convenient for us? What if those mentioned in the genealogies were just significant or well-known personalities?
As a firm young-earth creationist, I applaud the gathering and organisation of evidence along biblical lines. However, holding that the earth is 6000 years old (rather than 6500 or 7000) is implied. That the world was created by God is clear and repeated teaching. Exactly when he did it has a lower theological standing.
As for “when God created”, while it might not be important to some, it was clearly important to a tatooed young Canadian man, who told a supporter that:
I think:
I wonder:
About “Satan is darkness”, see What does “God is light” mean?
Genesis 11:12–14
Your model has Arphaxad as the direct father of Salah; however, when we read Luke 3:35–36, we see that is not the case.
Luke 3:35–36
Aphraxad → Cainan → Salah is the correct lineage. Therefore, the genealogy in Genesis 11:12 indicates that Aphraxad is not the direct father, instead he is the grandfather, or great great grandfather. Since this is the case, one cannot simply add the dates up. There is a correct way of tallying the years to determine a sound model that fits dates which corresponds to secular events. For example, according to a more precise method, one can calculate Peleg being born in 3153 BC, which coincides with Genesis 7:7–9, when the earth was divided according to 1 Chronicles 1:19, the invention of writing in Mesopotamia in 3200 BC, and even the Mesoamerican longcount calendar's mythical starting point in 3114 BC.
Unfortunately, the 6,000 year model has been propagated so many times by Christian apologists, it’s hard to reexamine the evidence and admit being wrong.
DN: Second, Exodus 12:40 LXX says 'the sojourning... in the land of Canaan and the land of Egypt was 430 years' So not all of the 430 years was in Egypt. Considering that the Exodus was in the fourth generation (Gen 15:16) and Moses was the fourth generation from Levi (Ex 6:16-20), the 4 generations cannot include Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The 430 years must start with the birth of Isaac (Gen 28:4). So the 400 years (Gen 15:13) and the 430 years Abrahamic covenant to the Exodus (Ex 12:40 LXX, Gal 3:17) terminate in the same year—the year of the Exodus from Egypt and the law at Mt Sinai—2500 AM.
DN: There’s a lot more detail than can be written in the space allotted here [ref. deleted as per feedback rules—Ed.] with a goal of postulating that the early church fathers were correct in their understanding that the earth would be under a curse for 6000 years and the millennial reign of Christ is the last 1000 years
DN: (the sabbath rest—see Hebrews 3).
DN: Therefore we are closer than many think to the end of the age …
SW: If God the Creator is silent on some things, do we His creatures presume to have the perfect answer?
SW: We’re fallible and simply make mistakes.
SW: For example, the verse Genesis 9:15 quoted should be Genesis 15:13; how easily we err.
SW: Also, the 430 yrs of "affliction" (Exodus 12:40) is not the period of enslavement in Egypt as you state.
SW: The accurate KJV says, “now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was 430 yrs.” Scripture is accurate and cannot be broken.
SW: On the 6000 yrs: “In the beginning” in Genesis 1:1 is a grand truth of Scripture when God created the heaven & earth. In no way does it include any measurable time such as we find from vs 3—the 6 literal days of God’s creation for man as we see it today. From Adam, 6000 yrs is fine, but not from “in the beginning.”
SW: This is not a statement introducing the 6-day creation. Hebrew is a language that allows precise usage. “Created” in vs 1 is bara, quite distinct from asah (made) in Exodus 20:11, where after “the Lord made heaven and earth,” it goes on to include the creation of 6 days. Not the case with Genesis 1:1.
SW: Why and how God “prepared” the earth for the creation for man later, Scripture is silent on.
SW: It does not mean that we must look for death & fossils before Adam. There are some things about God, His ways & works that are inscrutable!
SW: The Spirit illuminates Scripture to believers when we wait humbly and prayerfully on Him for that which God would have us know; which brings glory to Him, and not that which serves our own purposes.
SW: I appreciate the task of CMI to counter evolution & atheism, but let’s be careful not to use God’s holy Word, which reveals pre-eminently His Son & salvation,
SW: as a book of human science to outsmart evolutionists.
Thanks for the fantastic work you do and how much light and truth you shed and share with all who want to be a good Barean :)
I would like to comment or better ask for you opinion on the issue regarding the mentioned suggestion that the fall could not have occured before the creation of man.
Could it be possible that the fall took place before at least day 2? I find it very interesting that God does not say "and it was good" after day 2 where the atmosphere is created. He says after day 6 that "all that he had MADE was good" which may not refer to satan being already on earth.
Satan is also called the prince of the power of the air (atmosphere?).
I'd appreciate your thoughts on this and wish you a fantastic Christmas time.
Jochen.
1. He was created on Day 6.
2. He had Seth when he was 130 years old (Genesis 5:3).
Now, it doesn't matter, strictly speaking, how long Adam was unfallen, because that time would still be counted as part of his age when he had Seth.
In spite of an already firm belief in the Biblical chronology’s reliability, I found the surprisingly small margins of error a real eye-opener.
The chronological table was especially helpful. I once tried to work one out and got rather muddled, especially from about Abraham onwards. Kings and Chronicles can be even more confusing because of some overlap (I only remember that Uzziah's son was probably co-regent after he became sick). The fact that many kings had similar names or variations on the same names doesn't help.
Thank you again, and God bless you
GT: The age of the earth is a well known fact and it’s much older than 6000 years old, by a couple orders of magnitude.
GT: You’d have an easier time convincing people that the earth is flat.
If the Septuagint is used, the date for creation is pushed back 1386 years and for the Samaritan, 301 years. The date for the flood is pushed back 780 years in the Septuagint which predates standard Egyptian civilization, whereas you have to assume the standard Egyptian chronology is wrong using the Masoretic chronologies. Josephus first century Jewish chronologies referred to the Septuagint numbers, as he was apparently unaware or unwilling to use the chronology preferred today.
The Septuagint in Exodus 12:40 also clarifies the pre-exodus enslavement of 430 years as including the time in Canaan.
While this in no way validates or invalidates arguments between old earth creationists, new earth creationists, and atheists I believe it is an often ignored sidebar that some biblical versions teach an age of mankind closer to 7400-7500 years.
SR: There are examples of famous works of myth (The Iliad and Odyssey, for instance) that have historical places and events that are true or possibly true, but that doesn't automatically mean that the stories about the mythical gods and goddesses are also true.
SR: In the Bible, if there is some historical detail that is inaccurate, it doesn't detract from the overall theological content. There are liberal denominations of Christianity, for instance, that believe that even if there are incidental or not-so-incidental historical events that are inaccurate or incomplete, that it doesn't remove anything from the theological message of the Bible.
We see no biblical or scientific evidence that this rotation period was substantially different from the 24 hours of today's solar day (or synodic day, ‘sunrise to sunrise’; compare the sidereal day or ‘star-rise to star-rise’ of 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.0916 seconds).
A long rotation period would not only be ad hoc, it really would not solve the major problem. That is, the billions of years is derived from the rock record, the rock record contains fossils, fossils are remains of dead things. But death in the Bible is the result of Adam’s sin. Any long-age view puts death—“the wages of sin” (Romans 6:23) and “the last enemy” (1 Corinthians 15:26)—into a creation God declared to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31). See Did God create over billions of years? And why is it important?
Second comment in this regards: are there no possibilities of gaps in the chronologies? I personally do not expect that there would be any, but I raise the question in the hopes of a little further information. Thank you.
but the 130 is not good. even without reading one would know it makes no sense. When Terah really was 130 years old, then why would Abram think he was too old as he reached 90 when the promise of a son was given.
see Gen 11:26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
As the article Biblical Chronogenealogies says:
It is a great exercise for Christians to read the various texts concerned and reconstruct it for themselves. I have done this myself and where there may be difficulties - the various articles mentioned bring light to bear and affirm the incredible internal consistency and evidence of God's word.
God bless you all.
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