Biblical genealogies must be entirely factual? The Japanese counter-example

Thank you Scott for the bring this down to Earth for us. the Bible has one other complication and that it is not intended to be a genealogy but a spiritual document. So, when the Bible says that " And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. (Genesis 5:17), it does not say that Adam’s spirit lived in the same human body for 930 years, but that his spirit resided as a human for a total of 930 years.

In addition, we also have evidence of the famine in Egypt, therefore placing Joseph in Egypt in 1623 BC when the ash from the eruption of Santorini fell on Africa. This, together with the dating of Abraham to the 23rd/22nd century BC[i], creates a 400-year hole in this ancestor’s lineage. This has helped to correct the interpretation of the text! When Jacob lays his head on the stone and dreams of taking a ladder to heaven, this wasn’t a dream, it was literal. This Jacob died and 400 years later the story continues with Jacob (Israel). Again, the Bible tells a spiritual story.

[i] Hinz, Walther. “Wann hat Abraham gelebt.” Museion 2000, 3/1991, 15. Print

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