Study Notes Week 11

Read
Aloud together to hear the Word (Leviticus 23:1-3; Nehemiah 8:1-4; Luke 4:16-17)

Bereshiyt (Genesis) 11:1-32

11:1 The whole land was of one language and of one [voice to all].^(LXX) 2 As they traveled east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there. 3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the heavens, and let's make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole land.” 5 [Elohim]^(mss) came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men built. 6 [Elohim]^(mss) said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. 7 Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's language.” 8 So [Elohim]^(mss) scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the land. They stopped building the city [and the tower].^(LXX)(SP) 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there [Elohim]^(mss) confused the language of all the land. From there, [he]^(mss) scattered them abroad on the surface of all the land. 10 This is the history of the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11 Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX)(SP) 12 Arpachshad lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty-five years and became the father of [Cainan].^(LXX) 13 Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of [Cainan], and became the father of more sons and daughters. [And Cainan lived one hundred and thirty years and became the father of Shelah. And Cainan lived three hundred and thirty years after he had become the father of Shelah, and fathered sons and daughters.]^(LXX) 14 Shelah lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty years, and became the father of Eber. 15 Shelah lived [three hundred thirty]^(LXX) years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 16 Eber lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg. 17 Eber lived [three hundred seventy]^(LXX) years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 18 Peleg lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty years, and became the father of Reu. 19 Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 20 Reu lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug. 21 Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 22 Serug lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty years, and became the father of Nahor. 23 Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 24 Nahor lived [seventy-nine] years, and became the father of Terah. 25 Nahor lived one hundred [twenty-nine]^(LXX) years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 26 Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27 Now these are the birthings of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. 28 Haran died [in]^(LXX) the face of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur Kasdim. 29 Abram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah. 30 Sarai was barren. She had no child. 31 Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife. [He]^(LXX) went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there. 32 The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.

• Genesis 11:1-2 The whole land was of one language and of one [voice to all].^(LXX) 11:2 As they traveled east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.
  • We know that Shem did not travel east with them as he lived with his father Noaḥ and built a city on the mountain. We do not know if Ham and Japheth ended up traveling east with the rest of Noaḥ’s descendants.
    • Jubilees 7:16 And Shem dwelt with his father Noaḥ, and he built a city close to his father on the mountain, and he too called its name after the name of his wife Sedeqetelebab. 17. And behold these three cities are near Mount Lubar; Sedeqetelebab (Shem’s city) fronting the mountain on its east; and Na’eltama’uk (Ham’s city) on the south; ‘Adatan’eses (Japheth’s city) towards the west.
    • This begs the question of whether the original Hebrew language of creation which Shem and Noaḥ spoke was confused with the rest of Noaḥ’s descendants. I am not certain their Hebrew language was taken away or confused since they did not participate in the sin, but the Hebrew language would have died with them if they were the only two who spoke it (Corey).
    • Week 12 Sneak Peek: Jubilees 12:25-28 And the Lord Elohim said: “Open his (Abram’s) mouth and his ears, that he may hear and speak with his mouth, with the language which hath been revealed”; for it had ceased from the mouths of all the children of men from the day of the overthrow of Babel. 26. And I opened his mouth, and his ears and his lips, and I began to speak with him in Hebrew in the tongue of the creation. 27. And he took the books of his fathers, and these were written in Hebrew and he transcribed them, and he began from henceforth to study them, and I made known to him that which he could not understand, and he studied them during the six rainy new moons (the winter). 28. And it came to pass in the seventh year of the sixth week that he spoke to his father, and informed him that he would leave Haran to go into the land of Canaan to see it and return to him.
    • Transcribe means to put (thoughts, speech, or data) into written or printed form and can also mean to transliterate (foreign characters) or write or type out (shorthand, notes, or other abbreviated forms) into ordinary characters or full sentences.
    • 
    • Genesis 14:13 One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. At that time, he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner. They were allies of Abram.
      • עִבְרִי ‘Ivri (H5680) means “Hebrew” אני מדבר עברית ani midber ivrit is how you say “I speak Hebrew”
      • I believe Abram is called “the Hebrew” because he spoke Hebrew and not because he was a descendant of Eber as is commonly taught since all of Abram’s family also descended from Eber, but they are not called Hebrew like Abram.
      • The importance of the Hebrew language is demonstrated throughout the Bible:
        • Acts 21:40 When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, beckoned with his hand to the people. When there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying… 22:2 When they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they were even more quiet…
        • Acts 26:14-15 When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 “I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said, ‘I am Yeshua, whom you are persecuting.
        • Zechariah 8:23 YHWH of Armies says: “In those days, ten men out of all the languages of the nations will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, ‘We will go with you, for we have heard that Elohim is with you.’ ”
        • Why Hebrew and not Aramaic?
          • According to many scholars, Hebrew was a dead, non-spoken language during Yeshua’s days living in the first century. Zondervan, the world’s leading Bible publisher, wrote the following: There is wide consensus among scholars that Aramaic was the primary language spoken by the Jews of first century Palestine. The vast majority of Jews spoke it. Jesus spoke it. This has been the commonly accepted view since 1845, when Abraham Geiger, a German rabbi, showed that even Jewish rabbis from the first century would have spoken Aramaic. He convincingly argued that the Hebrew from the first century (Mishnaic Hebrew) only functioned as a written language, not as a living, spoken language.
          • If such is the case, why and how was Sha’ul able to speak in full Hebrew to the people in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 21:40 – 22:21)? Did the people listen to him and fully understood him speaking a dead, un-spoken language (cf. Acts 22:22)? Why would Yeshua speak to Sha’ul in Hebrew, a language he nor anyone else would understand (cf. Acts 26:14)? Most convincingly, how could anyone read the Torah, Prophets, or Writings which were all written in Hebrew if it was a dead language? Thousands of scrolls found among the Qumran caves were written in Hebrew. A dead language? I think not.
• Genesis 11:3-4 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the heavens, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole land.”
  • From the time Peleg was born until the time the tower build finished was 121 years, thus Shem is still alive since “Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad.” (Genesis 11:10) (more notes on this timeline below)
  • Noaḥ was born around 709 A.M. so he was alive while the tower was under construction, but died in 1659 A.M which was 29 years before the tower was completed.
    • Jubilees 4:28 And in the fifteenth jubilee in the third week [701-707 A.M.] Lamech took to himself a woman, and her name was Bêtênôs the daughter of Bârâkî’îl, the daughter of his father’s brother, and in this week she bare him a son and he called his name Noaḥ̣, saying, “This one will comfort me for my trouble and all my work, and for the ground which the Lord hath cursed.”
    • Jubilees 10:16 Nine hundred and fifty years he completed in his life, nineteen jubilees and two weeks and five years. [1659 A.M.]
  • What does Reu (or Ragau as Josephus spells) have to do with this?
    • Jubilees 10:18-21 And in the three and thirtieth jubilee, in the first year in the second week, Peleg took to himself a wife, whose name was Lomna the daughter of Sina’ar, and she bare him a son in the fourth year of this week, and he called his name Reu; for he said: ‘Behold the children of men have become evil through the wicked purpose of building for themselves a city and a tower in the land of Shinar.‘ 19. For they departed from the land of Ararat eastward to Shinar; for in his days they built the city and the tower, saying, ‘Go to, let us ascend thereby into the heavens.’ 20. And they began to build, and in the fourth week they made brick with fire, and the bricks served them for stone, and the clay with which they cemented them together was asphalt which comes out of the sea, and out of the fountains of water in the land of Shinar. 21. And they built it: forty and three years [1645-1688 A.M.]…
    • רְעוּ Re’u (H7466) is often mistranslated to mean “friend” (ie. רְעוּאֵל Reul is translated to “friend of Elohim” cf. Exodus 2:18). However, רְעוּ Re’u is from רַע r’a (H7451) which means dysfunctional, disorderly, evil, or wicked.
      • Note: The Hebrew letter ע ayin is known as a guttural letter since it is pronounced in the back of the throat (other guttural letters are Aleph, Hey, and Chet) as in עֲמֹרָה Amorah (H6017) which is pronounced Gomorrah. In fact, Josephus spells it Ragu in Antiquities of the Jews 1.6.5: The son of Phaleg, whose father Was Heber, was Ragau (Reu); whose son was Serug, to whom was born Nahor; his son was Terah, who was the father of Abraham, who accordingly was the tenth from Noaḥ̣
        • This does not mean Ragu pasta sauce is evil (Corey)
    • Jubilees 9:14 – 10:17 And thus the sons of Noaḥ divided unto their sons in the face of Noaḥ their father, and he bound them all by an oath, imprecating a curse on every one that sought to seize the portion which had not fallen to him by his lot. 15. And they all said, ‘So be it; so be it‘ (ie. Amen, Amen) for themselves and their sons for ever throughout their generations till the day of judgment, on which the Lord Elohim will judge them with a sword and with fire for all the unclean wickedness of their errors, wherewith they have filled the land with transgression and uncleanness and fornication and sin. 10:1 And in the third week of this jubilee the unclean demons began to lead astray the children of the sons of Noaḥ; and to make to err and destroy them. 2. And the sons of Noaḥ came to Noaḥ their father, and they told him concerning the demons which were, leading astray and blinding and slaying his sons’ sons. 3. And he (Noaḥ) prayed before YHWH his Elohim, and said:
      • “Elohim of the spirits of all flesh, who has shown mercy unto me, And has saved me and my sons from the waters of the flood, And has not caused me to perish as you did the sons of perdition; For your grace has been great towards me, And great has been your mercy to my soul; Let your grace be lifted up upon my sons, And let not wicked spirits rule over them Lest they should destroy them from the land. 4. But, do you, bless me and my sons, that we may increase and multiply and replenish the land. 5. And you know how your Watchers, the fathers of these spirits, acted in my day: and as for these spirits which are living, imprison them and hold them fast in the place of condemnation, and let them not bring destruction on the sons of your servant, my Elohim; for these are malignant, and created in order to destroy. 6. And let them not rule over the spirits of the living; for you alone can exercise dominion over them. And let them not have power over the sons of the righteous from henceforth and for evermore.”
        • Luke 10:1-19 Now after these things, the Lord (Yeshua) also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place where he was about to come… 17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 He said to them, “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, don’t rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
        • Matthew 28:18 Yeshua came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth…”
    • 10:7 And YHWH our Elohim bade us (ie. the angels) to bind all. 8. And the chief of the spirits, Mastema, came and said: “YHWH, Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them hearken to my voice, and do all that I will say unto them; for if some of them are not left to me, I will not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons of men; for these are for corruption and leading astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of the sons of men.” 9. And He said: “Let the tenth part of them remain before him, and let nine parts descend into the place of condemnation.” (cf. Matthew 25:41) 10. And one of us He commanded that we should teach Noaḥ all their medicines; for He knew that they would not walk in uprightness, nor strive in righteousness. 11. And we did according to all His words: all the malignant evil ones we bound in the place of condemnation, and a tenth part of them we left that they might be subject before Satan on the land.
    • 10:12 And we (ie. the angels) explained to Noaḥ all the medicines of their diseases, together with their seductions, how he might heal them with herbs of the land. 13. And Noaḥ wrote down all things in a book as we instructed him concerning every kind of medicine. Thus the evil spirits were precluded from (hurting) (cf. Luke 10:19) the sons of Noaḥ. 14. And he gave all that he had written to Shem, his eldest son; for he loved him exceedingly above all his sons.
    • 10:15 And Noaḥ slept with his fathers, and was buried on Mount Lûbâr in the land of Ararat. 16. Nine hundred and fifty years he completed in his life, nineteen jubilees and two weeks and five years. [1659 A.M.] 17. And in his life on land he excelled the children of men save Enoch because of the righteousness, wherein he was perfect. For Enoch’s office was ordained for a witness to the generations of the world, so that he should recount all the deeds of generation unto generation, till the day of judgment.
• Genesis 11:5-6 [Elohim]^(mss) came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men built. 6 [Elohim]^(mss) said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do.
  • What did they intend to do?
    • Genesis 11:4 They said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the heavens, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole land.”
    • Josephus 1.4.2-3. Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noaḥ̣, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on Elohim for destroying their forefathers! 1.4.3. Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and they built a tower, neither sparing any pains, nor being in any degree negligent about the work: and, by reason of the multitude of hands employed in it, it grew very high, sooner than any one could expect; but the thickness of it was so great, and it was so strongly built, that thereby its great height seemed, upon the view, to be less than it really was. It was built of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar, made of bitumen, that it might not be liable to admit water. When Elohim saw that they acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly, since they were not grown wiser by the destruction of the former sinners; but he caused a tumult among them, by producing in them divers languages, and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel, confusion.
    • Apocalypse of Baruch (3 Baruch) 2:1 – 3:1 The Apocalypse of Baruch (3 Baruch) was written some time between the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 A.D. and the third century A.D. Pilchan Lee asserts that the text was originally written in Greek by someone with a Semitic background. Other scholars find significant that the Old Church Slavonic versions do not contain the Christian overtones of the Greek text and conclude that the extant Greek text represents a rewriting in the Christian age. “The Apocalypse of Baruch is a composite work written in the latter half of the first century of the Christian era. It is thus contemporaneous with the chief writings of the New Testament. Its authors were orthodox Jews, and it is a good representative of the Judaism against which the Pauline dialectic was directed.” – Alexander Kulik
      • 2:1 And he took me and led me where the firmament has been set fast, and where there was a river which no one can cross, nor any strange breeze of all those which Elohim created. And he took me and led me to the first heavens, and showed me a door of great size. And he said to me, Let us enter 3 through it, and we entered as though borne on wings, a distance of about thirty days’ journey. And he showed me within the heavens a plain; and there were men dwelling thereon, with the faces of 4 oxen, and the horns of stags and the feet of goats, and the haunches (a buttock and thigh considered together) of lambs. And I Baruch asked the angel, Make known to me, I pray thee, what is the thickness of the heavens in which we journeyed, 5 or what is its extent, or what is the plain, in order that I may also tell the sons of men? And the angel whose name is Phamael said to me: This door which thou seest is the door of the heavens, and as great as is the distance from the land to the heavens, so great also is its thickness; and again as great as is the distance (from North to South, so great) is the length of the plain which thou didst see. And again the angel of the powers said to me, Come, and I will show thee greater mysteries. But 6 […] 7 I said, I pray thee show me what are these men. And he said to me, These are they who built the tower of strife against Elohim, and the Lord banished them. 3:1 And the angel of the Lord took me and led me to a second heavens. And he showed me there 2 also a door like the first and said, Let us enter through it. And we entered, being borne on wings 3 a distance of about sixty days’ journey. And he showed me there also a plain, and it was full of 4 men, whose appearance was like that of dogs, and whose feet were like those of stags. And I asked 5 the angel: I pray thee, Lord, say to me who are these. And he said, These are they who gave counsel to build the tower, for they whom thou seest drove forth multitudes of both men and women, to make bricks; among whom, a woman making bricks was not allowed to be released in the hour of child-birth, but brought forth while she was making bricks, and carried her child in her apron, and 6 continued to make bricks. And the Lord appeared to them and confused their speech, when they 7 had built the tower to the height of four hundred and sixty-three cubits. And they took a gimlet, and sought to pierce the heavens, saying, Let us see (whether) the heavens is made of clay, or of 8 brass, or of iron. When Elohim saw this He did not permit them, but smote them with blindness and confusion of speech, and rendered them as thou seest.
        • 2 Corinthians 12:1-7 [It is necessary to boast],^(mss) though it is not profitable. But I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Messiah who was caught up into the third heaven fourteen years ago—whether in the body, I don’t know, or whether out of the body, I don’t know; Elohim knows. 3 I know such a man, whether in the body or [apart from]^(mss) the body, I don’t know; Elohim knows, 4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 5 On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in my weaknesses. 6 For if I would desire to boast, I will not be foolish; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, so that no man may think more of me than that which he sees in me or hears from me. 7 By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted excessively, a thorn in the flesh was given to me: a messenger of Satan to torment me, that I should not be exalted excessively.
• Genesis 11:7-9 Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s language.” 8 So [Elohim]^(mss) scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the land. They stopped building the city [and the tower].^(LXX)(SP) 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there [Elohim]^(mss) confused the language of all the land. From there, [he]^(mss) scattered them abroad on the surface of all the land.
  • Babel = Babylon: “The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel, confusion.” (Josephus 1.4.3.)
  • Were all of the languages confused? Is the story of the Tower of Babel a fairytale?
    • Josephus 1.4.3. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel, confusion. The Sibyl also makes mention of this tower, and of the confusion of the language, when she says thus: “When all men were of one language, some of them built a high tower, as if they would thereby ascend up to the heavens, but the elohim sent storms of wind and overthrew the tower, and gave every one his peculiar language; and for this reason it was that the city was called Babylon.” But as to the plan of Shinar, in the country of Babylonia, Hestiaeus mentions it, when he says thus: “Such of the priests as were saved, took the sacred vessels of Jupiter Enyalius, and came to Shinar of Babylonia.”
      • A sibyl was a prophetess in ancient Greece and Rome who was believed to be inspired by the gods and to have the ability to predict the future. The word “sibyl” was used as a title for a group of women, each with their own name.
      • Hestiaeus of Perinthus (Greek: Ἑστιαῖος Περίνθιος) was one of Plato’s students. Plato (born c. 428-423 B.C., died 348 B.C.) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms.
  • Did Yeshua send 70 out on purpose or just coincidence?
    • Genesis 11:1-32 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (composed in Talmudic Israel c.150 – c.250 A.D.) provides insight on the division of the 70 nations of Genesis 11 and the 1st century Jewish understanding of this event.
      • • Remember, this is the time of the divisions of the people where they are split (palag) and the bounds of the people are set. We know from Deuteronomy 32:8 that this was done according to the number of the sons of Elohim.
          1. Deuteronomy 32:8-9 When Elyon gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of man, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of [Elohim].^(DSS) 9 For YHWH’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
        • Targum “…And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and the language of all of them one: and this they have thought to do: and now they will not be restrained from doing whatever they imagine. And the Lord said to the seventy angels which stand before Him, Come, we will descend and will there commingle their language, that a man will not understand the speech of his neighbour. And the Word of the Lord was revealed against the city, and with Him seventy angels, having reference to seventy nations, each having its own language, and thence the writing of its own hand: and He dispersed them from thence upon the face of all the land into seventy languages. And one knew not what his neighbour would say: but one slew the other; and they ceased from building the city. Therefore He called the name of it Bavel, because there did the Lord commingle the speech of all the inhabitants of the land, and from thence did the Lord disperse them upon the faces of all the land…”
        • From last week’s Apostolic Portion Acts 17:23-27 Sha’ul attests to the division of the nations calling them ‘boundaries of their dwellings’ 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, I announce to you. 24 The Elohim who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of the heavens and the land, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands. 25 He isn’t served by [human’s]^(mss) hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath and all things. 26 He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the land, having determined appointed seasons and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 that they should seek [Elohim],^(mss) if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
          • ὁροθεσία horothesia (G3734) is ὅριον horion (G3725) + τίθημι tithēmi (G5087) and means demarcation or delimitation which is the action of fixing the boundary or limits of something.
          • Deuteronomy 32:8 LXX When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God.
            • bounds = ὅριον horion (G3725) which are boundaries for a land, district, region, or territory and from the same word for “boundaries” in Acts 17:26.
• Genesis 11:10-11 This is the history of the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11 Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX)(SP)
  • Jubilees 8:8 And in the sixth year [1567 A.M.] thereof, she bare him son, and he called his name Peleg; for in the days when he was born the children of Noaḥ̣ began to divide the land amongst themselves: for this reason he called his name Peleg.
    • A.M. = Anno Mundi “Year After Creation” (from Latin “in the year of the world”; Hebrew: לבריאת העולם Livryat haOlam, lit. ‘to the creation of the world’), abbreviated as AM or A.M., or Year After Creation, is a calendar era based on the Biblical accounts of the creation of the world and subsequent history.
    • Jubilees 10:21 And they built it: forty and three years [1645-1688 A.M.]
    • From the time Peleg was born until the time the tower build finished was 121 years, thus Shem is still alive since “Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad.” (Genesis 11:10)
• Genesis 11:12-26 Arpachshad lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty-five years and became the father of [Cainan].^(LXX) 13 Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of [Cainan], and became the father of more sons and daughters. [And Cainan lived one hundred and thirty years and became the father of Shelah. And Cainan lived three hundred and thirty years after he had become the father of Shelah, and fathered sons and daughters.]^(LXX) 14 Shelah lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty years, and became the father of Eber. 15 Shelah lived [three hundred thirty]^(LXX) years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 16 Eber lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg. 17 Eber lived [three hundred seventy]^(LXX) years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 18 Peleg lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty years, and became the father of Reu. 19 Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 20 Reu lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug. 21 Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 22 Serug lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty years, and became the father of Nahor. 23 Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 24 Nahor lived [seventy-nine] years, and became the father of Terah. 25 Nahor lived one hundred [twenty-nine]^(LXX) years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 26 Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
• Genesis 11:27-32 Now these are the birthings of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. 28 Haran died [in]^(LXX) the face of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur Kasdim. 29 Abram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah. 30 Sarai was barren. She had no child. 31 Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. [He]^(LXX) went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there. 32 The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.
  • Josephus 1.6.5. Now Abram had two brethren, Nahor and Haran: of these Haran left a son, Lot; as also Sarai and Milcha his daughters; and died among the Kasdim, in a city of the Kasdim, called Ur; and his monument is shown to this day. These married their nieces. Nabor married Milcha, and Abram married Sarai. Now Terah hating Chaldea, on account of his mourning for Haran, they all removed to Haran of Mesopotamia, where Terah died, and was buried
  • Jubilees 11:1-23 And in the thirty-fifth jubilee, in the third week, in the first year thereof, Reu took to himself a wife, and her name was ‘Ôrâ, the daughter of ‘Ûr, the son of Kêsêd, and she bare him a son, and he called his name Sêrôḫ, in the seventh year of this week in this jubilee. 2. And the sons of Noaḥ began to war on each other, to take captive and to slay each other, and to shed the blood of men on the land, and to eat blood, and to build strong cities, and walls, and towers, and individuals began to exalt themselves above the nation, and to found the beginnings of reigns, and to go to war people against people, and nation against nation, and city against city, and all began to do evil, and to acquire arms, and to teach their sons war, and they began to capture cities, and to sell male and female slaves. 3. And ‘Ûr, the son of Kêsêd, built the city of ‘Arâ of the Chaldees, and called its name after his own name and the name of his father. 4. And they made for themselves molten images, and they worshipped each the idol, the molten image which they had made for themselves, and they began to make graven images and unclean simulacra, and malignant spirits assisted and seduced them into committing transgression and uncleanness. 5. And the prince Mastema exerted himself to do all this, and he sent forth other spirits, those which were put under his hand, to do all manner of wrong and sin, and all manner of transgression, to corrupt and destroy, and to shed blood upon the land. 6. For this reason he called the name of Sêrôḫ, Serug, for every one turned to do all manner of sin and transgression. 7. And he grew up, and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, near to the father of his wife’s mother, and he worshipped idols, and he took to himself a wife in the thirty-sixth jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year thereof, and her name was Mêlkâ, the daughter of Kâbêr, the daughter of his father’s brother. 8. And she bare him Nahor, in the first year of this week, and he grew and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, and his father taught him the researches of the Chaldees to divine and augur, according to the signs of the heavens. 9. And in the thirty-seventh jubilee, in the sixth week, in the first year thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was ‘Îjâskâ, the daughter of Nêstâg of the Chaldees. 10. And she bare him Terah in the seventh year of this week. 11. And the prince Mastema sent ravens and birds to devour the seed which was sown in the land, in order to destroy the land, and rob the children of men of their labours. Before they could plough in the seed, the ravens picked it from the surface of the ground. 12. And for this reason he called his name Terah, because the ravens and the birds reduced them to destitution and devoured their seed. 13. And the years began to be barren, owing to the birds, and they devoured all the fruit of the trees from the trees: it was only with great effort that they could save a little of all the fruit of the land in their days. 14. And in this thirty-ninth jubilee, in the second week in the first year, Terah took to himself a wife, and her name was ‘Êdnâ, the daughter of ‘Abrâm the daughter of his father’s sister. 15. And in the seventh year of this week she bare him a son, and he called his name Abram, by the name of the father of his mother; for he had died before his daughter had conceived a son. And the child (Abram) began to understand the errors of the land that all went astray after graven images and after uncleanness, and his father taught him writing, and he was two weeks of years old, [1890 A.M.] and he separated himself from his father that he might not worship idols with him. 16. And he began to pray to the Creator of all things that He might save him from the errors of the children of men, and that his portion should not fall into error after uncleanness and vileness. 17. And the seed time came for the sowing of seed upon the land, and they all went forth together to protect their seed against the ravens, and Abram went forth with those that went, and the child was a lad of fourteen years. 18. And a cloud of ravens came to devour the seed, and Abram ran to meet them before they settled on the ground, and cried to them before they settled on the ground to devour the seed, and said, “Descend not: return to the place whence ye came,” and they proceeded to turn back. 19. And he caused the clouds of ravens to turn back that day seventy times, and of all the ravens throughout all the land where Abram was there settled there not so much as one. 20. And all who were with him throughout all the land saw him cry out, and all the ravens turn back, and his name became great in all the land of the Chaldees. 21. And there came to him this year all those that wished to sow, and he went with them until the time of sowing ceased: and they sowed their land, and that year they brought enough grain home and eat and were satisfied. 22. And in the first year of the fifth week [1891 A.M.] Abram taught those who made implements for oxen, the artificers in wood, and they made a vessel above the ground, facing the frame of the plough, in order to put the seed thereon, and the seed fell down therefrom upon the share of the plough, and was hidden in the earth, and they no longer feared the ravens. 23. And after this manner they made (vessels) above the ground on all the frames of the ploughs, and they sowed and tilled all the land, according as Abram commanded them, and they no longer feared the birds.