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Genesis says that Eber fathered Peleg at 34 and lived 430 more years. The Samaritan version of Genesis changes his fathering age to 134 and shortens his remaining years, giving Eber a briefer total life than the Masoretic version does.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 11:16
Hebrew Bible
15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. 16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters. 18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.
Samaritan Genesis 11:16
Samaritan Penteteuch
Samaritan
15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber three hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And they were all days of Salah three and thirty years and four hundred years, and he is dying. 16 And Eber lived four and thirty and hundred years, and begat Peleg: 17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg two hundred and seventy years, and begat sons and daughters. And they were all days of Eber four years and four hundred years, and he is dying. 18 And Peleg lived thirty years and hundred years, and begat Reu:
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Notes and References
... As rabbinic and many later interpreters have noted, the chronology in the Masoretic text for Genesis 11:10-26 has all of the postdiluvian patriarchs living into the time of Abraham; three of them (Shem, Shelah, and Eber) living after the time of Abraham's death, and Shem even remaining alive into the time of Jacob. In contrast, the Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint both reflect an apparent altered chronology that solves this problem through adding one hundred years to the age of most postdiluvian patriarchs at the age that they begin fathering (fifty years for Nahor) and then reducing their remaining years of life by a corresponding amount. The precisely common agreement between the Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch at this point suggests a common Vorlage behind their chronology for Genesis 11:10-26, a Vorlage that also likely included a slight adaptation (seen in the Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch) of each section on postflood patriarchs in Genesis 11:10-26 with a report that "he died" so that these sections better matched the sections on preflood patriarchs in Genesis 5*. ...
Carr, David M.
The Formation of Genesis 1-11: Biblical and Other Precursors
(pp. 98-99) Oxford University Press, 2020
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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