An Eclipse Cycle in the Genesis Record
By: James D. Dwyer
Revision: April 6, 2024
Copyright © 2013-2024 James D. Dwyer
Chapters 7 and 8 of the book of Genesis have detail of a great flood event that occurred in the life of the patriarch Noah. Of significance here is that certain Jewish authors--those who flourished in an era when the old Jerusalem Temple stood--wrote down some additional information as to when on the time line the Genesis flood was believed to have occurred.
To be more specific as to when the Deluge might have occurred, an early-held belief about the Deluge arriving in sync with the spring season can clearly be recognized from writings attributed to the Jewish philosopher: Philo Judaeus (c. 25 BC - 45 AD). The commencement of the great flood on the first day of spring is manifest from a portion of his second dissertation on the book of Genesis--as follows:
"... the deluge fell on the day of the vernal equinox... the first man who was produced out of the earth was also created at the same season of the year, he whom the divine writer calls Adam... Since, therefore, the first beginning of the generation of our race, after the destruction caused by the deluge, commenced with Noah, men being again sown and procreated, therefore he also is recognized as resembling the first man born of the earth... putting them to shame because he would, unquestionably, never, after he had created the universe... have destroyed all the men who lived on the earth... if it had not been for the preposterous excess of their iniquities." (Questions and Answers on Genesis, Part 2:17; translation by Yonge).
The chronology for the patriarchs, shown in Chapter 5 of the book of Genesis, further shows that the flood came 1656 years from the creation of the first man (Adam). So, the composite Hebrew record is explicit in showing the following set of dual (or duplicate) equinox dates:
1. The creation of the first man (Adam) is shown at the time of the spring equinox.
2. The great flood came after 1656 years at the time of the spring equinox.
The cited description of a time span that began with a spring equinox and--after 1656 years--ended with a spring equinox is significant in the regard that a number of 604841 days is recognizable between 'the day that God created man' and the 'same day' that the Deluge occurred on. [Please take note here that each tropical year inherently occupies 365.24219 days. Thus, a time span that reaches from equinox to equinox across 1656 years is inherently equal to 604841days.]
The Hebrew record is additionally significant in describing an origin for the Sun and Moon up in front of (or prior) to the creation of the first man (on the 6th day). To here be more specific, a poem appears to represent the very first chapter of Genesis. This very famous song (or poem) relates a number of Divine creative acts that were sequentially performed on a 1st day, a 2nd day, a 3rd day, a 4th day, a 5th day, and a 6th day (all wrought throughout an initial week of creation). The verses that comprise this respective chapter relate that time was accounted for in association with the creation of light on the 1st day (and thereafter man was created on the 6th day of the same week).
The accounting of time that is shown in the composite Hebrew writings is of special interest in the regard that 604846 days can be counted FROM the noted 1st day of creation TO the day of the flood. This span of time also happens to inherently be equal to 20482 lunar periods.
The synodic month averages 29.53059 solar days (29 days 12 hours 44 minutes 3 seconds). So there are 20482 lunar periods in 604846 days.
Thus an interface with the Moon is manifested in the Hebrew record, and this respective alignment strongly points to a possibility that the ancients would have been mindful of a conjunction at 20482 lunar months.
The Hebrew texts then come very close to proving that an equinox date for the Deluge was ALSO understood in association with the terminus of the lunar month.
The lunar alignment at the equinox seems to have additional significance when the eclipse record is brought into focus. The occurrence of a solar eclipse at the commencement of the biblical flood is reflected from a certain Sumerian/Babylonian poem (or poems). This poem mirrors the Genesis record of a hero who survived a cataclysmic flood. Of significance here is that certain verses handed down from the Babylonians have detail of a blackening of the sky on that morning when the earth was destroyed. In example, a stanza within The Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh relates that: "Early in the morning at dawn a black cloud arose from the horizon . . . [the gods] turned everything to blackness" (English translation from Wikipedia).
The set of Babylonian songs or poems that report a blackening of the sky at the beginning of a great flood then add weight to a possibility that the flood of Noah might have occurred not only at the time of a vernal equinox but also at the time of a solar eclipse.
The cited time cycle of 20482 lunar months has additional significance in the regard that this respective time cycle inherently interfaces with, or conjoins with, the rotation of the Earth.
Please take note that the Earth rotates one time every 24 hours, or also 86400 seconds. The rotational rate thus proves that any given longitude location on the globe will inherenly come back into the same alignment with a same phase of the Moon at the reoccurrence of each 49 lunar months (or also 1447 solar days).
This respective alignment of 1447 solar days with 49 lunar months is easy for almost anyone to prove. [Simply divide 1447 days into 49 equal time segments (or divide 1447 by 49). Each of the resulting time segments (the result of dividing 1447 by 49) can then be compared with the length of lunar period (which is 29.53059 days). A correct result of performing this division will not differ from the actual length of the lunar period by more than 2 seconds.]
Thus, because 20482 lunar months are exactly divisible by 49 then the Earth can be recognized to have stood in the same alignment with the Moon on both the 1st day of the Genesis record (at the beginning) as well as on the last day . . . at the end . . . on the day of the Deluge.
For additional information about the significance of biblical time cycles, refer to the following online publications:
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Copyright © 2013-2024 James D. Dwyer