By Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)

In the Torah, numbers are used deliberately because they convey information. The number ten (10), for example, not only has a meaning: ten is a unity made of parts, but every list of ten items is intrinsically related to every other list of ten items. Thus, each list can add additional information and elaboration of whatever list we may be studying.

Every number has a story to tell based on the list being counted and the context in which it is found. For this reason, we find that in many languages, including Hebrew, the word for ‘counting’ and telling’ is the same, or shares the same root. In Hebrew we have:

Verb: לְסַפֵּר

tell, narrate, trim, relate, recite.

Verb: לִסְפּוֹר

count, number, account, score, tally.

In English, one who counts money in a bank is called a teller; and one who retells a story is said to recount the story. Thus, telling and counting are intrinsically related. Counting something shows that we value it and that it has a story to tell.

In this study, I would like to examine the Torah’s list of ten names found in Bereshit (Genesis) chapters 5 and 11. Most folks find list of names to be very boring and they tend to skip over them. I have found that even the meforshim,[1] the commentators, tend to do only cursory explanations for such lists. I get intrigued by such things because I think to myself, “what are they hiding?” I have found some very interesting and often mystical applications when I study such lists. So, please join me as I explore several boring lists of names.

In The Mishna

When the rabbinic composers of the Mishna studied the first eleven chapters of Genesis, they observed certain structural similarities between Chapter 5 and chapter 11, which suggested to them a basis for periodization. They expressed their teaching in the pithy style of the Mishna:

Avot Chapter 5 MISHNAH 2 [There were] ten generations from Adam to Noah,[2] in order to make known what long-suffering is His; for all those generations kept on provoking Him, until He brought upon them the waters of the flood.

[There were] ten generations from Noah to Abraham,[3] in order to make known what long-suffering is His; for all those generations kept on provoking Him, until Abraham, came and received the reward of all of them.[4]

The opening portions of both sections of these Mishnayot simply note that the number of generations between Adam and Noah and between Noah and Abraham are the same, exactly ten (10), a number which is generally seen as constituting a unit. To the Mishnah this meant that our attention is being drawn to a similarity between the two periods which then surprisingly leads to two quite different personalities and two very different outcomes. Using identical language to emphasize the similarity, the Mishnah proceeds to tell us that

The purpose of the biblical account is to inform us of God's patience or forbearance in that

While all these people continued to anger God. ten full generations elapsed before God. as it were, decided to act. In the case of the Adam-Noah period

"He brought upon them the waters of the Flood" In the case of the Noah-Abraham period

"Abraham our Father came and received the reward due them all."

Rabbi Daniel Lapin’s Shiur

Rabbi Daniel Lapin shared the following understanding:

In Bereshit (Genesis) chapter 5 and 11, we read a whole list of names which represent each generation. The names tell us specifics about that generation. The names in those ten generations are:

Bereshit (Genesis) 5: Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noach.

Bereshit (Genesis) 11: Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abram.

The Hebrew names associated with each generation of chapters 5 and chapter 11, in Bereshit (Genesis), hint at the fundamental characteristics of that generation in the 250-year journey up to greatness and then down to oblivion.

250 Year Civilizations

Rabbi Lapin goes on to note that some of the greatest empires of the past have exhibited a common characteristic: They all lasted approximately 250 years. This was based on the average age of a generation being 25 years. This meant that in ten generations, or 250 years, that the empire would crumble.

The dates given below are largely arbitrary. Empires do not usually begin or end on a certain date. There is normally a gradual period of expansion and then a period of decline. The resemblance in the duration of these great powers may be queried. Human affairs are subject to many chances, and it is not to be expected that they could be calculated with mathematical accuracy.

The empires he noted are summarized below.

The ancient empire of Babylon was formed under Hammurabi (of the famous ‘Code’) around 1780 BC and it was finally sacked by the Hittites in about 1530 BC. This empire lasted 250 years.

Most regard 1492, when Spain evicted the last Moslem from the Iberian peninsula, as the start of the Spanish empire. Its natural ending can easily be seen to be about 1742 after the War of Spanish Succession which followed the death of Charles II. This empire lasted 250 years.

The Pax Romana, began with the rule of Augustus in 27 BC and pretty much ended when all illegal immigrants to Rome were granted citizenship in about 213 AD, about 240 years.

the Assyrian empire is 860 BC to 612 BC for a total of 246 years.

The Mamelukes and the Ottomans enjoyed dominance for 267 and 250 years respectively.

The pre-Communist Russian empire lasted from 1682 until 1916 giving them 234 years.

The British Empire? 1700 to 1950. Two hundred and fifty years.

When using 25 years as the length of a generation, we can see that most empires last ten generations and their stages of development correspond to the meaning of the names in Bereshit (Genesis) chapter 5 and 11.

The Bne Israel were in exile in Egypt for 210 years.

Sir John Glubb’s Observations

Sir John Glubb, in his epic book titled, “THE FATE OF EMPIRES and SEARCH FOR SURVIVAL”, made an observation similar to that of Rabbi Daniel Lapin. The following table summarizes his observations:

*The* *nation*	*Dates of rise and fall*	*Duration in years*
Assyria	859-612 B.C.	247
Persia	538-330 B.C.	208
(Cyrus and his descendants)
Greece	331-100 B.C.	231
(Alexander and his successors)
Roman Republic [5]	260-27 B.C.	233
Roman Empire	27 B.C.-A.D. 180	207
Arab Empire	A.D. 634-880	246
Mameluke Empire	1250-1517	267
Ottoman Empire	1320-1570	250
Spain	1500-1750	250
Romanov Russia	1682-1916	234
Britain	1700-1950	250

Sir John Glubb’s observation suggests that empires last approximately 250 years and then they disappear into the pages of history.

The names of each generation of Genesis 5 & 11 are provided because each Hebrew name has a meaning which identifies that generation’s characteristics in the cosmic pattern of ten-generation-decline.

The ten generations, of Genesis 5, 11 might be briefly summarized as:

Generation	Lapin’s Characteristic
1	Bold breakout and conquest.
2	Commercial expansion.
3	Splendid buildings.
4	Widespread affluence.
5	Zenith and the best of days.
6	Extending influence beyond borders with money instead of military.
7	Rising political power of women and of the intellectual and academic elite.
8	Influx of foreigners.
9	Eat, drink and be merry.
10	Internal political and civic fracture.

I have attempted to correlate these ten generational attributes with the ten sayings of creation and with the ten generations enumerated in sefer Ruth. In looking at the table, below, we can see that the sayings of creation align nicely with the other genealogies, and each brings agreement that the ten are related to each other. The following table summarizes these names and their meaning:

Gen.

Names in

Genesis chapter 5

Names in

Genesis chapter 11

Names in Ruth chapter 4

Meaning of the Name

Genesis chapter 5

Sayings of Creation

Adam

(man)

Shem

(Name)

Peretz

(Breach)

Bold breakout and conquest.

Then G-d said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…

Bereshit 1:26

Seth

(anointed)

Arpachshad

(A healer; a releaser)

Chetzron

(public square)

Commercial expansion.

G-d blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."

Bereshit 1:22

Enosh

(man, person, mortal)

Shelah

(petition, request)

Ram

(high)

Splendid buildings.

And G-d said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."

Bereshit 1:20

Kenan

(possession)

Eber

(to pass over)

Amminadab

(my people are magnanimous)

Widespread affluence.

And G-d said…let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth."

Bereshit 1:15

Mahalaleel

(praise of God)

Peleg

(to split or divide)

Nachshon

(diviner)

Zenith and the best of days.

Then G-d said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds."

Bereshit 1:11

Jared

(he descends)

Reu

(friend)

Salmah / Salmon

(outer garment)

Extending influence beyond borders with money instead of military.

And G-d said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear."

Bereshit 1:9

Enoch

(dedicated)

Serug

(to be intertwined)

Boaz

(swiftness)

Rising political power of women and of the intellectual and academic elite.

G-d called the expanse "sky."

Bereshit 1:8

Methuselah

(one who was sent)

Nahor

(snort vigorously)

Oved

(the one who works)

Influx of foreigners.

G-d said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water."

Bereshit 1:6

Lamech

(to make low; Strong Man

For Humiliation

)

Terah

(to wander)

Yishai

(gift)

Eat, drink and be merry.

G-d said, "Let there be light."

Bereshit 1:3

Noach

(comfort)

Abram

(exalted father)

David

(beloved)

Internal political and civic fracture.

In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth.

Bereshit 1:1

Rabbi Lapin then asked a very pertinent question:

The United States is 244 years old. Do we only have six more years?

Have we learned from the Torah? Have we even learned from history?

I have explored the connection between other ‘tens’ and also the meaning of the number ten in the following papers:

10chart.docx

Ten.docx

* * *

This study was written by

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David (Greg Killian).

Comments may be submitted to:

Rabbi Dr. Greg Killian

12210 Luckey Summit

San Antonio, TX 78252

Internet address: gkilli@aol.com

Web page: https://www.betemunah.org/

(360) 918-2905

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Send comments to Greg Killian at his email address: gkilli@aol.com

[1] roughly meaning "exegetes"

[2] Viz., (i) Adam; (ii) Seth; (iii) Enosh; (iv) Kenan; (v) Mahalaleel; (vi) Jered; (vii) Enoch; (viii) Methuselah; (ix) Lamech; (x) Noah; (Gen. V. 3-29).

[3] Viz., (i) Shem; (ii) Arpachshad; (iii) Shelah; (iv) Eber; (v) Peleg; (vi) Reu; (vii) Serug; (viii) Nahor; (ix) Terah; (x) Abraham; (Gen. XI, 10-26).

[4] I.e., the reward which had been in store for the people of those ten generations and would have been given them had they not by their wickedness angered God and forfeited their share.

[5] The division of Rome into two periods may be thought unwarranted. The first, or republican, period dates from the time when Rome became the mistress of Italy, and ends with the accession of Augustus. The imperial period extends from the accession of Augustus to the death of Marcus Aurelius. It is true that the empire survived nominally for more than a century after this date, but it did so in constant confusion, rebellions, civil wars and barbarian invasions.