Years Between Abraham and Jesus Christ
The period between Abraham and Jesus Christ is a significant span in biblical chronology, often calculated through genealogical records and historical accounts. Matthew's Gospel begins by tracing Jesus's lineage back to Abraham, stating, "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" [7]. This highlights Abraham's foundational role in salvation history, as promises concerning Christ were made specifically to him, such as "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 22:18), which the Apostle Paul interprets as referring to Christ [18].
Various traditions and scholars have attempted to calculate the precise number of years. The Jewish historian Josephus provides extensive chronological data in his Antiquities of the Jews. While he does not give a single figure for the Abraham-to-Christ period, he offers intervals for various epochs. For instance, he states that the period from creation to the death of Isaac was 3,833 years [1, 2]. From the death of Moses to the death of Eli was 476 years [3, 4], and from the death of David to the death of Ahab was 163 years [5, 6].
Early Christian chronographers also engaged in these calculations. Augustine, in City of God, notes that from Abraham to the advent of Christ, there are three periods, each with fourteen generations, as calculated by Matthew: from Abraham to David, from David to the Babylonian captivity, and from the captivity to Christ's birth [12]. Another early Christian writer calculates "from the building of the tower to Abraham, six hundred and six years" [10].
The Apostle Paul, in Galatians 3:17, states that the Law was given "four hundred and thirty years after" the covenant confirmed to Abraham [11, 13, 16]. This 430-year period is understood by commentators like John Calvin to refer to the time between God's promise to Abraham and the giving of the Law at Sinai [13]. The Babylonian Talmud also references a period of 448 years from the time Abraham and Sarah "gotten souls in Haran" until the giving of the Torah [15, 17].
While the exact number of years can vary slightly depending on the specific chronological method and interpretation of biblical genealogies, the period is consistently understood to span many centuries. Matthew Henry observes that the genealogies in Genesis, combined with Matthew's account, provide a comprehensive lineage for Jesus Christ, tracing back to Abraham [14]. Abraham himself lived 175 years, and Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 years old [8, 9]. These detailed biblical and historical records underscore the long preparatory period leading to the incarnation of Christ.
Sources
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, BOOK I, section 1: . Containing The Interval Of Three Thousand Eight Hundred And Thirty-Three Years. — From The Creation To The Death Of Isaac.”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, BOOK I, section 1: . Containing The Interval Of Three Thousand Eight Hundred And Thirty-Three Years. — From The Creation To The Death Of Isaac.”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, BOOK V, section 1: . Containing The Interval Of Four Hundred And Seventy-Six Years.—From The Death Of Moses To The Death Of Eli.”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, BOOK V, section 1: . Containing The Interval Of Four Hundred And Seventy-Six Years.—From The Death Of Moses To The Death Of Eli.”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, BOOK VIII, section 1: . Containing The Interval Of One Hundred And Sixty-Three Years.—From The Death Of David To The Death Of Ahab.”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, BOOK VIII, section 1: . Containing The Interval Of One Hundred And Sixty-Three Years.—From The Death Of David To The Death Of Ahab.”
- Matthew “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. -- Matthew 1:1”
- Genesis “These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred seventy-five years. -- Genesis 25:7”
- Genesis “Genesis 21:5 (YLT) — And Abraham <FI>is<Fi> a son of a hundred years in Isaac his son being born to him,”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 8: Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts, Epistles, Apocrypha, Decretals — CHAP. 12 (28).--After this, Pilate going into the temple of the Jews, assembled all the chief priests, and learned men, and scribes, and teachers of the law, and went in with them into the sanctuary o (part 2): from the time that God made the heaven and the earth and the first man, to the deluge, are two thousand two hundred and twelve[2] years; and from the deluge to the building of the tower, five hundred and thirty-one[3] years; and from the building of the tower to Abraham, six hundred and six[4] years; and from Abrah”
- Galatians (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Galatians 3:17: Confirmed before of God in Christ - i.e. The promise of justification, etc., made to believers in Christ Jesus, who are the spiritual seed of Christ, as they are children of Abraham, from the similitude of their faith. Abraham believed in God, and it was reckoned to him for justification; the Gentiles believed in Christ, and received justification. Probably the word Christ is to be taken, both here and in the preceding verse, for Christians, as has already been hinted. However it be taken, the sense is plainly the same; the promise of salvation must necessarily b”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 30.--OF THE ETERNAL FELICITY OF THE CITY OF GOD, AND OF THE PERPETUAL SABBATH. (part 5): the deluge; the second from the deluge to Abraham, equalling the first, not in length of time, but in the number of generations, there being ten in each. From Abraham to the advent of Christ there are, as the evangelist Matthew calculates, three periods, in each of which are fourteen generations,--one period from Abraham to David, a second from David to the captivity, a third from the captivity to the birth of Christ in the flesh. There are t”
- CCEL (Reformed) “Calvin, Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1 (Gen 1-23), section 16.11: that the promise to the seed of Abraham, that is, to Christ, was given four hundred and thirty years before the law, ( Galatians 3:17 .) But the computation of years requires us to understand, that the blessing was promised him in Christ, when he was coming into the land of Canaan. Therefore God (in my judgment) pronounces that all nations should be blessed in his servant Abram because Christ was included in his loins. In this manner, he not only intimates that Abram would be an example , but a cause of blessing; so that there sh”
- Genesis (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Genesis 11:10: We have here a genealogy, not an endless genealogy, for here it ends in Abram, the friend of God, and leads further to Christ, the promised seed, who was the son of Abram, and from Abram the genealogy of Christ is reckoned (Mat 1:1, etc.); so that put ch. 5, ch. 11, and Mt. 1, together, and you have such an entire genealogy of Jesus Christ as cannot be produced, for aught I know, concerning any person in the world, out of his line, and at such a distance from the fountain-head. And, laying these three genealogies together, we shall find that twice ten, and thric”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Avodah Zarah 153b.17:8: How many years are missing from the two thousand year period of the Messiah, if the period of the Torah that is taught by the tanna is counted from the giving of the Torah? There are 448 missing years. When you examine the calculation from the time when it is stated about Abraham and Sarah: “The souls that they had gotten in Haran,” until the time of the giving of the Torah, there are 448 years.”
- Galatians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Galatians 3:17: And this I say,.... Assert and affirm as a certain truth, that is not to be gainsaid; that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul; by "the covenant" is meant, not the covenant made with Adam, as the federal head of all his posterity; for this was made two thousand years before the law was given; nor that which was made with the Israelites at Mount Sinai, for that itself is the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after this covenant; nor the covenant of circumcision ”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Avodah Zarah 9a.8: How many years are missing from the two thousand year period of the Messiah, if the period of the Torah that is taught by the tanna is counted from the giving of the Torah? There are 448 missing years. When you examine the calculation from the time when it is stated about Abraham and Sarah: “The souls that they had gotten in Haran,” until the time of the giving of the Torah, there are 448 years.”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Third Part (Tertia Pars), Of the Matter From Which the Saviour's Body Was Conceived, Art. 2: Article: Whether Christ took flesh of the seed of David? I answer that, Christ is said to have been the son especially of two of the patriarchs, Abraham and David, as is clear from Mt. 1:1. There are many reasons for this. First to these especially was the promise made concerning Christ. For it was said to Abraham (Gn. 22:18): "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed": which words the Apostle expounds of Christ (Gal. 3:16): "To Abraham were the promises mad”