The 1,400 Missing Years: Genesis 5 and 11 in Greek and Hebrew

Notes from the video. The begetting ages in Genesis 5 and 11 run about 1,400 years longer in the Septuagint than in the Masoretic Text — as a rule the LXX patriarch is 100 years older at the birth of his named son.

What’s at stake, as I said up front, is the date of the Flood and creation: the MT gives roughly 6,000 years, the LXX adds about 1,400. Both sides agree the change was deliberate — somebody altered the text — the only question is whether the Greek inflated or the Hebrew compressed.

I try to keep the language neutral: “adds” and “subtracts” are just relative to the other text, not a verdict.