How Long Ago Was the Curse?

The Curse would have been fairly soon after the creation of Adam and Eve on Day 6 because it didn’t take long for them to sin (see When Did Adam and Eve Rebel?). We can do a basic calculation to arrive at the date of creation and Adam’s creation. The Curse must have been close to the same time. So, let’s calculate the date of creation.

Adam was created on Day 6, so there were 5 days before him. If we add up the dates from Adam to Abraham, we get about 2,000 years, using the Masoretic Hebrew text (which is the standard Hebrew text that most English translations are based on) of Genesis 5 and 11. 1 Whether Christian or secular, most scholars would agree that Abraham lived about 2,000 B.C. (4,000 years ago).

So, a simple calculation is:

5 days
+ ~2000 years
+ ~4000 years
_____________
~6000 years

At this point, the first five days are negligible. Quite a few people have done this calculation using the Masoretic text and, with careful attention to the biblical details, arrived at the same time frame of about 6,000 years, or about 4,000 B.C. Two of the most popular, and perhaps the best, are a recent work by Dr. Floyd Jones and a much earlier book by Archbishop James Ussher (1581–1656):

Often there is a misconception that Ussher and Jones were the only ones to do a chronology and arrive at an age of about 6,000 years. However, this is not the case. Jones gives a listing of several chronologists who undertook the task of calculating the age of the earth based on the Bible, and their calculations range from 5501 to 3836 B.C. A few are listed in Table 2.

As you will likely note from Table 2, the dates are not all 4004 B.C. There are several reasons chronologists have different dates,5 but the two primary ones are

• Some used the Septuagint or another early translation instead of the Hebrew Masoretic text. The Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament done about 250 B.C. by about 70 Jewish scholars (which is why it is often called the LXX, the Roman numeral for 70). While good in most places, there are a number of inaccuracies. For example, one relates to the Genesis chronologies in which the LXX calculations would have Methuselah living beyond the Flood—without being on the Ark!
• Several points in the biblical time line are not straightforward to calculate. They require very careful study of more than one passage. These include exactly how much time the Israelites were in Egypt and what Terah’s age was when Abraham was born. (See Jones’s and Ussher’s books for a detailed discussion of these difficulties.)

The first four in Table 2 have much higher dates and are calculated from the Septuagint, which gives ages for the patriarchs’ firstborn much higher than the Masoretic text or the Samarian Pentateuch (another version from the Jews in Samaria just before Christ). Because of this, the LXX adds in extra time. Though the Samarian and Masoretic texts are much closer, they still have a couple of differences.

Using data from Table 2 (excluding the Septuagint calculations and including Jones and Ussher), the average date of the creation of the earth is: 4045 B.C. This yields an average of about 6,000 years for the time of the Curse.

The world has been enduring the results of the Curse for 6,000 years and there are still many remnants of beauty and wonder. Just imagine what it was like before sin and what believers can look forward to in the new heavens and new earth where there is no more Curse.