A.
Biblical Hebrew is a Flexible, Contextual Language: One cannot infer a
greater precision for words and phrases than can be empirically
demonstrated.
B. The Debate: Sequential Chonologies vs. Relational Chronologies
1.
Rabbi Jose ben Halafta in the second century to Bishop Ussher in the
seventeenth century: all who have attempted to calculate an exact
creation date have assumed that the biblical Hebrew in the genealogical
records in the Pentateuch – especially Genesis 5, 10, and 11 –
precisely and explicitly catalog parent/child relationships, that these
records are sequential, and that there are no gaps in the records.
2. William Henry Green et al.:
a. The concept of an unbroken genealogy was unimportant to
Moses
b. Family lines sometimes include only important family members.
c. Translations give the
appearance of precise and complete lists to the Western mind.
d. Genealogical gaps
of varying types exist and doom the creation
of a precise timeline.
C. What are the results of having an opinion?
1. Does a position infer or create apparent errors are inferred in scripture?
2. Does a position remove problems of understanding?