Tracing the Patriarchs Through an Ancient Chronicle

Seder Olam Zutta 1:2

From Adam until the Flood was one thousand six hundred and fifty-six years. From the Flood until the Dispersion was three hundred and forty years. That was the year 1,996 from Creation. From the Dispersion until Isaac our father was born was fifty-two years. That was the year 2,048 from Creation. From the birth of Isaac our father until Israel went out from Egypt was four hundred years. That was the year 2,448 from Creation. The forty years that Israel was in the wilderness brought the count to the year 2,488 from Creation. Eight hundred and fifty years passed from the time they came into the land until they were exiled from it. That was the year 3,338 from Creation. The Babylonian exile lasted seventy years between the First Temple and the building of the later Temple. That was the year 3,408 from Creation. The later Temple stood four hundred and twenty years and was destroyed. That was the year 3,828 from Creation. From the destruction of the Temple until now are one thousand and fifty-three years. Together they are four thousand eight hundred and eighty-one years from Creation.

Themes