While researching the grand old 16th century Geneva Bible, I found in its back matter A Perfite Supputation of the Yeres and Times from Adam unto Christ. Supputation, no longer at the top of the charts in word lists, means a reckoning, accounting, or calculation. Perfite is an older form of the word perfect, here probably connoting complete and/or accurate. This supputation counts 3974 years, 6 months, and 10 days from the creation of Adam to the birth of Jesus Christ.
“…whereupon we recken, that from Adam unto Christ are 3974 yeres, six moneths and ten dayes…”
Biblical chronology has been and is a subject of interest to me. On the one hand, it is intriguing to compare when secular history and biblical history intersect (using common historical dating), but on the other hand, it is more important to fix biblical events by the Bible’s own timeline. I was excited to find that my calculations were similar to those made by men much my betters. When I posted A Biblical timeline from creation in 2009, I had calculated 4238 or 4048 yeres (years), the two differences showing my struggle with fixing the beginning of the 430-year period when Israel went out of Egypt. I have revised that downward, with 4002 years from Adam to Christ in the 2017 posting of Biblical timeline from Creation to Christ and Biblical timeline from creation, posted in 2019. However, in calculations not posted on Seeking the Old Paths, prepared for a handout at church called “Toward a Biblical Timeline from Creation,” I posited 3992 years the sixth day of creation to Christ. I need to go back through my calculations and compare my addition. Math is not always my best subject!
Long story short, my 3992 years varies 18 yeres from the supputation in the Geneva Bible. It will be interesting to compare the similarities and differences. I do not feel competent to calculate down to the months, weeks, and days.
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