Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Matthew 24:35
17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Matthew 5:17-18
Jot or tittle - jot - meaning the Hebrew the letter yod ('): tittle comes from the Greek word keraia - meaning horn: and thus means one hook of a letter. Thus not even one tiny dot or the smallest part of a dash will pass away until all is fulfilled.
From these two things that Jesus said we see that not only is the Word of God eternal, but that even the smallest letter, or part of a letter is important and is eternal. With that in mind lets turn to our word study on the Hebrew phrase twdolewTo hL,ae aleh tol'doth, which means, these are the generations or, this it what happened in the time of this person (or thing) or this is what happened back then. This phrase occurs fourteen times in the Bible, eleven times in the book of Genesis, twice more in the Old Testament and the equivalent Greek phrase is used once in the New Testament.
Bullinger notes that the book of Genesis can be divided into twelve parts by this phrase in the Hebrew. To extend this idea further we could divide the bible up into fifteen section based upon the occurrence of the phrase. Each of these sections then has a logical theme. The first section would be the text before the first of the "tol'doth".
Section One
Genesis 1:1 Starts with "In the Beginning...". It is the introduction to Genesis, indeed the whole Bible and speaks of the perfection of Gods sovereign work. It ably shows the significance of the number one, being Gods sovereign power and majesty, unity, harmony. The theme for this section might well be "that it was good." This first section contains the 'days of creation'. The number of Hebrew words in this section is 392 = 7 x 7 x 8. The number of letters in this section is 1815 = 3 x 5 x 11 x 11. Thus both contain a squared term, representing spiritual perfection and revelation respectively. Surely these two themes are the basis of not only this section but of the entire bible itself. The other factors are also significant. Eight - representing new life, 3 - divine perfection and 5 - grace. However there is more, In Hebrew words are sometimes joined together with a hyphen like character, this has the effect of joining the words together for the purposes of pronunciation only. They are still two separate words, and their meanings are unchanged. English uses the hyphen in a similar manner, words such as tie-dyeing are pronounced as one word but in meaning and spelling are really two. It so happens that in this first section there are 77 such joiners forming 77 composite words. 77 = 7 x 11 here we have the two prominent factors we have already mentioned, in one number.
This is the only section which, due to it being the first, does not start with ...the generations of... showing that the world was not generated, but was made in an act of creation.
The First Toldoth - Section Two
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
Genesis 2:4
These are the generations, these are the things that that time brought forth, this is what happened then when God made the heavens and the earth. The text before this first use of the phrase, describes the creation. God's work of creation, which he saw was good. Then we have this phrase which says, "and this is what happened..." Following this we have, the Garden of Eden, the forming of Adam, Eve, the fall, Cain and Abel, the genealogy of Cain's descendants (six generations). This time we have the plene or full spelling of the word Tol'doth with six letters. The numeric value of the phrase is:
twdolewTo hL,ae = 846 + 36 = 882 (= 7 x 7 x 18).
Thus we have spiritual perfection, upon spiritual perfection, for God created and it was good. However we also have 18 = 6 + 6 + 6, the behavior and sin of man as demonstrated by Adam and Eve's disobedience and the murder of Abel by Cain.
The second division finishes with:
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
Genesis 4:26
Thus the second 'Tol'doth' division tells the story of the fall of Adam and Eve and their banishment from the Garden of Eden. Then continues with the tale of Cain who slew his brother Abel out of jealousy. And finishes with the birth of Seth and then his son Enos. The name Enos comes from a Hebrew word (vWna;) Õanash {aw-nash'} meaning to be weak sick or frail. It is used figuratively to mean mankind, in the sense of being subject to these things. Thus the best translation of the meaning of the name Enos would probably be - mortal. However this same word is often translated as incurable, desperate, desperately wicked, woeful, and sick.
The Hebrew word translated as "was it begun" is (ll'j) châlal {khaw-lal'}; which properly means to bore or to start a bore, i.e. by implication to wound, to dissolve; figuratively to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (ones word), to begin (as if by an opening wedge)... The Jewish Talmud puts the origin of idolatry in the days of Enos. Thus The second 'Tol'doth' division ends with the beginning of idolatry and profaning the name of the Lord. In fact Seth seems to have named his son for the times in which they lived. Other patriarchs were also named for the times in which they lived, in particular see Peleg.
Further in the second 'Tol'doth' division we see for the first time "enmity".
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Genesis 3:15
However we see the grace of God in that at the very moment were enmity is first mentioned God is giving us the first promise of a savior. It is also interesting that this section contains 72 verses. 72 = 2 x 6 x 6 = 2 x 62. Thus we have the number of fallible, frail man, emphasized, and the number of division, adequately summing up the action in this section.
The Second Toldoth - Section Three
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
Genesis 5:1
The descendants of Adam (10 Generations) to Noah, God sees the wickedness of man upon the earth. Being the children of Adam was not sufficient to save them. The first use of the "defective" spelling of the word Tol'doth. This spelling is missing the fifth letter and thus shortens the word to five letters. The numeric value of the phrase this time is:
tdolewTo rps = 840 + 340 = 1180 (= 20 x 59).
We are now talking about the descendants of Adam. It would appear that the "defective" spelling of the phrase is to indicate man's spiritual imperfection. The numeric value of the phrase in this case is a multiple of 20, the number of expectation. It would appear that God was waiting for the wickedness of those generations to ripen, until he should judge it fully. The cumulative total of the numeric values of the tol'doth so far is 2062 = 2 x 1031. Its only significant factor is 2, the number of division, difference, enmity and discord.
This section covers the descendants of Adam to Noah (10 Generations), God sees the wickedness of man upon the earth and decides to deal with it. Being the children of Adam was not sufficient to save them. God allowed men to continue until their sin was complete, before punishing them. A similar situation was when God promised Abram (Abraham) his descendants would possess the land of Cannan.
15And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
Genesis 15:15-16
Here in the third toldoth we see that mankind's sin only took ten generation to become complete, ie. to get to the point where God stopped warning them and punished them. Also we meet Enoch. Elsewhere we are told that Enoch was a preacher, in fact his very name means a teacher, or to teach.
14And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Jude 14-15
Thus it would appear that for three generations before Noah and the flood, God was warning the people to repent. Thus, by the time of Noah, not only had their sin come to completion, but so had their willing ignorance of the Word of God.
It is worth noting that this third division contains a total of 40 verses. It would appear that God was allowing the people to be tested to see what they would do. Just like the children of Israel, who, when left to their own devices for forty days while Moses was on the mountain, did not do well.
The Third Toldoth - Section Four
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 10And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
Genesis 6:9-12
Noah perfect, contrasted with the evil of the world, the ark, the flood, after the flood, the three sons of Noah. Unlike Adam, Noah obeyed the voice of the Lord, compared with the wickedness of those around him. The numeric value of the phrase this time is:
tdlwt hla = 840 + 36 = 876 (= 2 x 6 x 73)
At the beginning of this section we see that God looked upon the earth and saw how mankind had corrupted themselves. This division contains: Noah contrasted against the evil of the world, the ark, the flood, after the flood, the three sons of Noah. Unlike Adam, Noah obeyed the voice of the Lord.
5And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him. 6And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
Genesis 7:5-6
The Hebrew word translated as world, means literally, the earth or the ground. There is considerable debate in Christian circles about whether the flood covered the whole globe or just the local area - the Hebrew word itself does not specify either case. If God is the ultimate engineer, as the creator of the universe must be, then science will not conflict with His Word. So... what we know from science tells us that the flood probably did not cover the entire globe, only the "local" area. Whatever the case it was certainly a judgment against the earth. With this in mind it is interesting to note that this division starts in verse nine (the number of judgment) of chapter six, and it finishes at the end of chapter nine.
The Fourth Toldoth - Section Five
Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
Genesis 10:1
The descendants of Noah's three sons, the tower of Babel. Noah's descendants by their nations. The numeric value of the phrase this time is:
tdlwt hlaw = 840 + 42 = 882 (= 7 x 7 x 18)
The fifth division relates to us the descendants of Noah's three sons. It mentions where they dwelled and in some cases a little of what they did. Then we are given the tale of the tower of Babel. Thus in this division we have those that received the grace of the Lord in surviving the flood multiplied and spread until they once again did wickedly in the sight of the Lord. Interestingly the total number of verses in this division is 41, a number that is often seen in connection with multitudes of people.
The Fifth Toldoth
These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
Genesis 11:10
The descendants of Shem (the Shemitic peoples) to Abram, 10 generations. The numeric value of the phrase this time is:
tdlwt hla = 840 + 36 = 876 (= 2 x 6 x 73)
The Sixth Toldoth
Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
Genesis 11:27
Abram's story, the war of nine kings, Lot captured, Abram rescues him, the birth of Ishmael, names changed to Abraham and Sarah, the covenant of circumcision (Ishmael circumcised at 13 years old). The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abimelech the king of Gerar, the birth of Isaac, Abimelech seeks a covenant with Abraham for he can see that God blesse Abraham. Isaac to be sacrificed, Sarah dies, a servant get Rebekah to be Isaac's wife, Abraham takes a wife in his old age, she bear him six more children. Abraham dies. The numeric value this time is:
tdlwt hlaw = 840 + 42 = 882 (= 7 x 7 x 18)
The Seventh Toldoth
Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham:
Genesis 25:12
The 12 sons of Ishmael (to become the Arabs), Ishmael dies (8 verses). This is the most "defective" of all the spellings of the word Tol'doth with only four letters. The numeric value this time is:
tdlt hlaw = 834 + 42 = 876 (= 2 x 6 x 73)
The Eighth Toldoth
And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begat Isaac:
Genesis 25:19
Rebekah bears twins, Esau and Jacob. Esau sells his birthright to Jacob, Isaac blessed departs from Gerar, Isaac is tricked into blessing Jacob with the major blessing. Jacob leaves, works for laban 20 years for his two daughters and for his wages. Jacob has 12 sons and a daughter. Returns home, his sons make trouble, Jacobs name changed to Israel. The numeric value this time is:
tdlwt hlaw = 840 + 42 = 882 (= 7 x 7 x 18)
The Ninth Toldoth
Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
Genesis 36:1
Esau's three wives and five sons (8 verses) he moves to mount Seir. The first use of the variant of the "defective" spelling of the word Tol'doth. It is missing the second letter rather than the fifth but still shortens the word to five letters. The numeric value this time is:
twdlt hlaw = 840 + 42 = 882 (= 7 x 7 x 18)
The Tenth Toldoth
And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:
Genesis 36:9
The descndants of Esau's sons, the scripture goes to quite a bit of trouble to spell these out. Showing they intermarried with the locals and the woman were rulers as well a men, but the women were priestesses of their various gods. Also it says they were kings that ruled over Edom before there was any king over Israel. Thus it appears that when Israel wanted a king because "other nations around them had kings" they were probably talking about the descendants of Edom. The numeric value this time is:
twdlt hlaw = 840 + 42 = 882 (= 7 x 7 x 18)
The Eleventh Toldoth
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
Genesis 37:2
Joseph, sold into slavery, becomes Pharo's right hand man, they all move down to Egypt. The exodus, the law…
These last three occurrences are missing the second letter, 2 the number of division, difference or contrast. Esau who despised his birthright is contrasted with Jacob. The numeric value this time is:
twdlt hla = 840 + 36 = 876 (= 2 x 6 x 73)
The Twelveth Toldoth
These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the LORD spake with Moses in mount Sinai.
Numbers 3:1
The children of Aaron, the two that died, more rules, the construction of the tabernacle, laws for living in the camp… Joshua rules after Moses then on to the time of the judges. The numeric value this time is:
tdlwt hlaw = 840 + 42 = 882 (= 7 x 7 x 18)
The Thirteenth Toldoth
18Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, 19And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, 20And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, 21And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, 22And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
Ruth 4:18-21
Ten generations. The numeric value of the phrase this time is:
twdlwt hlaw = 846 + 42 = 888 (= 3 x 8 x 37)
The Fourteenth Toldoth
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Matthew 1:1
The numeric value for this phrase is:
biblo" genesew" = 314 + 1268 = 1582 (= 14 x 113). However if the stigma is applied to numeric value then the numeric value becomes = 120 + 1074 =1194 (= 6 x 199). Thus we can clearly see that the world which applies a stigma to Jesus can only see him as a man (6) while His church sees Him as God in the flesh (14).
Numerics
The total numeric value of all the occurrences of this phrase is = 13328 = 7 x 8 x 14 x 17. Or alternatively if the stigma is applied to the one occurrence in the new Testament then the total numeric value becomes = 12940 = 20 x 647
The word tol'doth is used in other places in addition to within the phrase aleh tol'doth. In total it is used 39 times in the Old Testament (Hebrew Strongs 8435). The equivalent Greek word (Greek Strongs 1078) is used three times in the New Testament. Thus, together they are used a total of 42 times. 42 = 6 x 7 = 3 x 14.
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
Fourteen generations.
 1 |
The whole plan of God right from the creation was to send Jesus to die for us, so he could give us the spirit of adoption, so that we could be the sons and daughters of God. |
| 2 |
That every single letter of the Word of God conveys meaning. Thus truly one jot or tittle will not pass away until all is fulfilled. |
| 3 |
God is the master of language, when He uses a particular word, there is a good reason for it. |
| 4 |
It is sometimes said that the first time something happens in the Bible sets the pattern for it. The aleh tol'doth appears 11 times in Genesis, setting the pattern for the nations and so on. Then only three more times in all of scripture. So it is with the day of Pentecost, which describes receiving the Spirit in great detail but then after that not much (or no) detail is given when someone receives the Spirit. |
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