For centuries, the Bible has offered a detailed genealogy tracing human history from Adam to Jesus—a timeline that, when taken literally, suggests the Earth and humanity are only a few thousand years old. Yet modern science paints a radically different picture, placing the origins of humans around 300,000 years ago and life itself billions of years earlier. This stark contradiction raises important questions: Can religious tradition and scientific evidence be reconciled? Or are they fundamentally at odds when it comes to explaining where we came from?
The Geneolgy of Jesus
The genealogy from Adam to Jesus is one of the most detailed and significant lineages found in the Bible. Spread across multiple books—Genesis 5, Genesis 11, 1 Chronicles 1-3, and the Gospels of Matthew (chapter 1) and Luke (chapter 3)—this lineage aims to connect the story of creation with the coming of the Messiah. For believers, it establishes Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham and David.
Interestingly, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke present two different genealogies. Matthew traces Joseph’s legal lineage, emphasizing Jesus’ royal descent through King David and Solomon, which aligns with Jewish expectations of the Messiah. Luke, on the other hand, is believed to trace Mary’s biological lineage, connecting Jesus to David through Nathan, another of David’s sons. Both genealogies meet at David but split afterward, offering two complementary perspectives on Jesus’ human ancestry.
However, our main focus is to use biblical data to determine how many years passed from Adam to Jesus. Below is a summarized and combined list that focuses on the key figures, providing a clear view of the biblical genealogy that spans from Adam to Jesus.
From Adam to Noah (Genesis 5):
- Adam
- Seth
- Enosh
- Kenan
- Mahalalel
- Jared
- Enoch
- Methuselah
- Lamech
- Noah
From Noah to Abraham (Genesis 11):
- Shem (Noah’s son)
- Arphaxad
- Shelah
- Eber
- Peleg
- Reu
- Serug
- Nahor
- Terah
- Abraham (Abram)
From Abraham to David (Genesis, Ruth, 1 Chronicles, Matthew 1, Luke 3):
- Isaac (son of Abraham)
- Jacob (Israel)
- Judah (one of Jacob’s 12 sons)
- Perez (Pharez)
- Hezron
- Ram (Aram)
- Amminadab
- Nahshon
- Salmon (Sala)
- Boaz
- Obed
- Jesse
- David (King David)
From David to Jesus (Matthew 1 & Luke 3):
From here, Matthew and Luke diverge slightly:
Matthew’s Line (Royal/Legal Line through Solomon):
- Solomon (son of David)
- Rehoboam
- Abijah (Abia)
- Asa
- Jehoshaphat
- Joram (Jehoram)
- Uzziah (Azariah)
- Jotham
- Ahaz
- Hezekiah (Ezekias)
- Manasseh
- Amon
- Josiah (Josias)
- Jeconiah (Jechoniah/Coniah)
(After the Babylonian exile)
48. Shealtiel (Salathiel)
49. Zerubbabel
50. Abiud
51. Eliakim
52. Azor
53. Zadok
54. Achim
55. Eliud
56. Eleazar
57. Matthan
58. Jacob
59. Joseph (husband of Mary, legal father of Jesus)
60. Jesus Christ
Luke’s Line (Biological Line, likely through Mary, via Nathan, another son of David):
- Nathan (son of David)
- Mattatha
- Menna (Menan)
- Melea
- Eliakim
- Jonan
- Joseph
- Juda
- Simeon
- Levi
- Matthat
- Jorim
- Eliezer
- Joshua (Jose)
- Er
- Elmadam
- Cosam
- Addi
- Melchi
- Neri
- Shealtiel (Salathiel)
- Zerubbabel
- Rhesa
- Joanan
- Joda
- Josech
- Semein
- Mattathias
- Maath
- Nagge
- Esli
- Nahum
- Amos
- Mattathias
- Joseph
- Jannai
- Melchi
- Levi
- Matthat
- Heli (father of Mary, making Joseph the son-in-law of Heli)
- Jesus Christ
Important Notes:
- Matthew traces the royal line through Solomon, emphasizing Jesus as heir to David’s throne.
- Luke traces a biological line through Nathan, showing Jesus’ blood relation to David.
- Both genealogies connect to Abraham (fulfilling Jewish Messianic prophecy) and ultimately to Adam (Luke 3:38, “the son of Adam, the son of God”).
Biblical Timelines: How Long from Adam to Jesus?
To estimate how many years passed from Adam to Jesus, we need to rely on biblical chronologies. The calculation depends on the textual source used (e.g., Masoretic Text, Septuagint, or Samaritan Pentateuch), but the Masoretic Text (MT) is the basis for most Protestant Bibles and is often used for these estimates.
From Adam to Abraham: ~2,000 years
Based on the Masoretic Text (Genesis 5 and 11), the genealogy from Adam to Abraham adds up to approximately 2,000 years.
- Adam to Noah (Flood): ~1,656 years (from creation to the Flood).
- Flood to Abraham: ~352 years.
Thus: 1,656 + 352 = ~2,008 years.
2. From Abraham to Jesus: ~2,000 years
From Abraham to Jesus, historical and biblical estimates suggest another ~2,000 years:
- Abraham to David: ~1,000 years.
- David to Jesus: ~1,000 years.
This is rounded and based on major biblical and historical milestones (e.g., David’s reign around 1,000 BC, Jesus’ birth around 4–6 BC).
Total time from Adam to Jesus: ~4,000 years
- Adam to Abraham: ~2,000 years.
- Abraham to Jesus: ~2,000 years.
Total: ~4,000 years (based on Masoretic Text estimates).
| Timeline | Masoretic Text (MT) | Septuagint (LXX) |
|---|---|---|
| Adam to Flood | ~1,656 years | ~2,242 years |
| Flood to Abraham | ~352 years | ~1,072 years |
| Adam to Abraham Total | ~2,008 years | ~3,312 years |
| Abraham to Jesus (approx.) | ~2,000 years | ~2,000 years |
| Adam to Jesus (Total) | ~4,000 years | ~5,300 years |
Key Takeaways:
- Masoretic Text (MT) gives a shorter timeline (~4,000 years from Adam to Jesus).
- Septuagint (LXX) gives a much longer timeline (~5,300 years), due to higher ages at son’s birth and extra generation (Cainan).
- Both are biblical-based chronologies, but science and archaeology point to humans existing for hundreds of thousands of years, far exceeding either timeline.
According to the Bible, how long did the days of creation last?
1. Literal Interpretation
- According to Genesis 1, God created the world in six days, and on the seventh day, He rested (Genesis 2:2-3).
- Literal readers take these as six 24-hour days, meaning that creation took exactly six days, not years or ages.
- Based on adding up biblical genealogies, many Young Earth Creationists argue the Earth is about 6,000 to 10,000 years old.
- Key verse: “And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” — Genesis 1:5
Summary:
- Total duration: 6 literal days (144 hours)
- Earth’s age (according to this view): ~6,000–10,000 years at most
2. 1 Day = 1,000 Years
- Each “day” of creation in Genesis 1 represents 1,000 years, not a literal 24-hour period.
- Supported by verses like 2 Peter 3:8 and Psalm 90:4, which emphasize that God’s perception of time is different from ours.
- Suggests that creation took approximately 6,000 years, followed by a seventh “day” of rest, often interpreted as a future millennial reign or symbolic period of divine rest — totaling about 7,000 years.
- Attempts to stretch the creation account to fit a longer historical timeline without abandoning biblical structure.
- Still inconsistent with scientific evidence, which dates the Earth at 4.54 billion years.
- Key verse: “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” — 2 Peter 3:8
Summary:
- Total duration: ~6,000 years (plus a seventh “day” of rest for a total ~7,000 years)
- Earth’s age (according to this view): ~12,000–14,000 years at most
According to a literal reading of the Bible, particularly when using the Masoretic Text genealogies, the Earth and humanity are roughly 6,000 to 10,000 years old. This timeline is built by adding up the ages of key biblical figures from Adam to Jesus, and then to today.
However, scientific evidence tells a very different story. For example, Tyrannosaurus rex lived 68 to 66 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period — long before humans, and even before many modern animals and plants. This fact is backed by fossil records, radiometric dating, and a well-established geological timeline.
If Earth were only 6,000 to 10,000 years old, let’s say 20,000 years old if we want to go way beyond, as the literal biblical timeline suggests, there would be no room in that timeframe for T-rex or the entire Mesozoic Era, which spanned about 186 million years (Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods).
The existence of T-rex, and dinosaurs as a whole, cannot fit within a 6,000–10,000-year-old Earth model. This is one of the strongest scientific challenges to a literal reading of the biblical creation timeline.
Dickinsonia is one of the oldest known complex life forms, and including it makes the contradiction between the literal biblical timeline and scientific evidence even more striking. Lived during the Ediacaran period, approximately 558 to 550 million years ago — long before dinosaurs, mammals, or humans.
Fossils of Dickinsonia show bilateral symmetry and complex body structures, indicating that complex life existed hundreds of millions of years before the Cambrian Explosion, which occurred around 541 million years ago.
The existence of Dickinsonia pushes the origin of complex life far beyond the biblical literal timeline. If complex life existed 550 million years ago, and humans only emerged recently (300,000 years ago in geological terms), the literal biblical timeline cannot align with scientific reality.
