From Adam to Jesus: The Timeline of the Generations

How many years and how many generations separate Adam from Jesus? Here is the answer as Sebastian C. Adams set it out on his chart, with the King James text.

In short: about 4,000 years. Following Archbishop Ussher, Adams dates the creation of Adam to 4004 BC, and his chart notes that “it is now held that Christ was born from 4 to 6 B.C.” Genesis gives ten generations from Adam to Noah and ten more to Abraham; Matthew counts three times fourteen generations from Abraham to Christ.

Eight great steps from Adam to Jesus

Each date is the one printed on Adams’ chart, which follows Ussher’s chronology of the Bible.

Year	What happened
4004 BC	The creation of Adam, the beginning of the “year of the world” (A.M.) See panel 2
2348 BC	The Flood, in the year of the world 1656 See panel 3
1921 BC	The call of Abram, 427 years after the Flood See panel 4
1491 BC	The Exodus from Egypt and the Law given at Sinai See panel 5
1048 BC	David takes Jerusalem and makes it his capital See panel 6
606 BC	The seventy years of captivity in Babylon begin See panel 6
536 BC	Cyrus lets the Jews return and rebuild Jerusalem See panel 6
4 to 6 BC	The birth of Christ, as Adams’ chart notes: “it is now held that Christ was born from 4 to 6 B.C.” See panel 7

From Adam to Noah: ten generations

Genesis 5 (verses 3 to 32) gives the age of each father when his son was born, and how long he lived. Adding the ages gives the “year of the world”: Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came, in the year 1656 (Genesis 7:6).

Father	His son, born when he was	He lived	Born, year of the world
Adam	Seth, 130	930 years	Creation
Seth	Enos, 105	912 years	130
Enos	Cainan, 90	905 years	235
Cainan	Mahalaleel, 70	910 years	325
Mahalaleel	Jared, 65	895 years	395
Jared	Enoch, 162	962 years	460
Enoch	Methuselah, 65	365 years	622
Methuselah	Lamech, 187	969 years	687
Lamech	Noah, 182	777 years	874
Noah	Shem, 500	950 years	1056

“And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.” (Genesis 5:5, King James Version)

From Shem to Abram: ten more generations

Genesis 11 (verses 10 to 32) continues the line after the Flood. Shem’s son Arphaxad was born “two years after the flood” (Genesis 11:10). Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran (Genesis 12:4), the call that Adams’ chart dates to 1921 BC.

Father	His son, born when he was	He lived
Shem	Arphaxad, 100	600 years
Arphaxad	Salah, 35	438 years
Salah	Eber, 30	433 years
Eber	Peleg, 34	464 years
Peleg	Reu, 30	239 years
Reu	Serug, 32	239 years
Serug	Nahor, 30	230 years
Nahor	Terah, 29	148 years
Terah	Abram, Nahor and Haran, 70	205 years

Luke’s genealogy also names a Cainan between Arphaxad and Sala (Luke 3:36), who is not in Genesis 11.

From Abraham to Jesus: three times fourteen

“So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.”
Matthew 1:17, King James Version

Abraham to David: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judas, Phares, Esrom, Aram, Aminadab, Naasson, Salmon, Booz, Obed, Jesse, David.
David to the carrying away into Babylon: Solomon, Roboam, Abia, Asa, Josaphat, Joram, Ozias, Joatham, Achaz, Ezekias, Manasses, Amon, Josias, Jechonias.
After the carrying away to Christ: Salathiel, Zorobabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Sadoc, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, Joseph, Jesus.

Counted this way, the third group names thirteen people; readers have long offered different ways of reckoning Matthew’s fourteen.

Matthew follows the line through Joseph, “the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ” (Matthew 1:16). The names are spelled as in the King James Version.

Luke’s genealogy, back to Adam

Luke traces the line the other way, from Jesus back to Adam, through 75 names. Many readers take Luke’s list to follow the family of Mary.

“And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,” … “Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.”
Luke 3:23 and 3:38, King James Version

See it on Adams’ chart

Adams drew all of this on one scale of centuries: the long lives of the patriarchs, the nations around them, and a line that follows the genealogy of Christ from Adam to Mary and Joseph. On the free chart you can zoom into every name and search them.

Free
Follow the generations on the chart
- Zoom into Adam, Seth, Methuselah, Noah and all the patriarchs
- Search any name or date
- Nothing to download
Open the chart
For children and families
The First Generations, illustrated
- From Adam to Noah in plain, simple words
- A large color picture on every page
- Family trees and the King James references
42 pages · $7
See the illustrated book
For adults and teachers
Study the first generations in detail
- Every detail of Panel 1 explained
- The overlapping lives of the patriarchs, year by year
- Adams’ own words and the King James text
Panel 1 · $5 · all ten panels $39
See the book

Questions

How many years from Adam to Jesus? How far apart were Adam and Eve from Jesus?

About 4,000 years, following the chronology of Archbishop Ussher that Adams used: the creation of Adam in 4004 BC, and the birth of Christ, which Adams’ chart notes “it is now held” was “from 4 to 6 B.C.” Other chronologies give somewhat different totals.

How many generations from Adam to Jesus?

Genesis gives ten generations from Adam to Noah and ten more from Shem to Abram. Matthew counts three times fourteen generations from Abraham to Christ. Luke’s genealogy names 75 fathers from Joseph back to Adam.

Is it 77 generations from Adam to Jesus?

That number comes from Luke’s genealogy, which names 77 people from Jesus back to God: Jesus, then 75 fathers from Joseph back to Adam, then God (Luke 3:23-38). Counting Adam as the first generation, Jesus is the 76th.

How many years from Adam to Abraham?

About 2,000 years on Adams’ chart. The chart dates the call of Abram to 1921 BC, and Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran (Genesis 12:4), so he was born about 1996 BC, some 2,008 years after the creation of Adam in 4004 BC.

How many years from Abraham to Jesus?

About 2,000 years as well: from Abram’s birth, about 1996 BC by these dates, to the birth of Christ, which Adams’ chart places “from 4 to 6 B.C.” Matthew divides those generations into three groups of fourteen.

How many years from Adam to the Flood?

1,656 years. Adams’ chart dates the Flood to the year of the world 1656, which is 2348 BC: add up the fathers’ ages in Genesis 5, and Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came (Genesis 7:6).

How old was Adam when Seth was born?

130 years old. “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth” (Genesis 5:3). Adam lived 930 years in all.

Who lived at the same time as both Adam and Noah?

Methuselah. By the ages in Genesis 5, he was born in the year of the world 687, was 243 years old when Adam died, and lived until 1656, the year of the Flood, when Noah was six hundred. Lamech, Noah’s father, also lived 56 years during Adam’s lifetime, as Adams’ chart points out.

Where can I see the timeline from Adam to Jesus?

On adamschart.org, free: Adams’ chart sets these generations and events on one scale of centuries, with a line following the genealogy of Christ from Adam to Mary and Joseph. You can zoom into every name and search them.

Text by Heritage Chronology Press. Scripture from the King James Version. Dates as printed on Sebastian C. Adams’ chart, following Archbishop Ussher; some other chronologies place certain events at different dates. Spotted an error? Tell us at [email protected].