Where Did the Genealogies in Genesis Come From?

Where did the genealogies in Genesis come from? Dr. Craig responds!

QUESTIONER: Question about the genealogies. I understand what you're saying about no one has any idea where these numbers come from, and there doesn't seem to be any pattern, and they're all a little bit kind of all over the place and a bit weird. My question is: Where do you think these genealogies come from? Because, if I'm understanding right, we're sort of maybe thinking that this was penned – was actually written down – maybe sometime in the kingdom period. Where do you think this even comes from? All of these names like Methuselah? Is it oral tradition, or...?

DR. CRAIG: Well, yes, that's what I would say. I don't think they're made up; I don't think that the Pentateuchal author just wrote these things. The Pentateuchal author is heir to perhaps literary sources, but certainly oral tradition that he then combines into his primeval history. Theologically speaking, as I said, I think, yesterday, I think ultimately this literature is inspired by God and therefore under his superintendents. But the origins of it are lost in the gray mists of antiquity.

QUESTIONER: Yes. I wonder if that just adds to the tentativeness in which we try and ascribe meaning to the numbers, or how literal those genealogies are if they are being transmitted through oral tradition over long periods of time.

DR. CRAIG: Perhaps. It certainly means that we are way, way out of touch with what it meant to the people among whom they originated. This is a strange new world, and so it's hard for us to know. I don't know any commentator on Genesis who is confident about what in the world is meant by the longevity of these antediluvians.