Patriarchal Age
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The Patriarchal Age is the era of the times described in the Book of Genesis (Gen. 11:27-12:4). This part of the Torah contains narratives about personal stories and family history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and his twelve sons. The era began with the receding of the global flood and ended when the Children of Israel entered Ancient Egypt.
During this time, God made three promises to Abraham and his descendants:
- Land promise: God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants, if they will worship him
- Nation promise: Abraham will become father of nations, his descendants will be too numerous to count.
- Seed promise: through one of Abraham's descendants all nations of the earth would be blessed through the Children of Israel. It has later been argued that this refers to Jesus.
"...that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice" (Gen. 22:10-18).
Calculations suggest that the Patriarchal Age took place between 2091 and 1876 BC. However, this dating is controversial and debated.
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