Literary:Indicators of Achronology/0

Indicators of Achronology

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Explicit Markers

Dates

The most obvious indicator of achronology is when an event is dated and explicitly appears out of order. Examples follow:

• Shemot 16:35  – Shemot 16 is dated to the first year of the Wilderness period, yet mentions the eating of manna throughout the forty years of the nation's journey to Canaan.
• Bemidbar 1-9 – Bemidbar 1 is dated to the second month of the second year in the Wilderness, yet Bemidbar 7 and 9 explicitly backtrack to the first month.  Bemidbar 7 is dated to the "day that Moshe finished erecting the Mishkan", which Shemot 40:17 teaches took place on the first of the first month, while Bemidbar 9 similarly opens "בַּשָּׁנָה הַשֵּׁנִית לְצֵאתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן"
• Sefer Yirmeyahu – The prophecies and events of Sefer Yirmeyahu are also explicitly achronological, switching back and forth between the reigns of Yehoyakim and Tzidekyahu.¹

Ages

Sometimes, even though no calendar date is given in the text, the timing of an event can be determined through knowledge of people's relative ages as provided by genealogy lists, time markers,² or birth and death notices. Calculations might then point to achronological ordering. For example:

• Terach's death – Terach's death is mentioned at the end of Bereshit 11, before we read of Avraham's departure from Charan, even though one can calculate that he first passed away 60 years after Avraham's departure.³
• Avraham's death – Avraham's death is mentioned in Bereshit 25, before the text shares the story of Yaakov and Esav's birth, even though one can calculate that he only passed away 15 years afterwards.⁴
• Yitzchak's death – Yitzchak's death is recorded in Bereshit 35, before the stories of Yosef and his brothers are discussed.  However, given that Yitzchak was 60 when he bore Yaakov, that Yaakov was 108 during the sale of Yosef, and that Yitzchak died at the age of 180, one can determine that he first passed away 12 years after the sale.

Geographical Markers

At times, geographical data can point to achronology:

• Laws of sacrifices in Vayikra 7: R. D"Z Hoffmann notes that Vayikra 7 closes by stating that the laws just stated were given on Mt. Sinai, while Vayikra 1 opens by stating that its laws were relayed in the Ohel Moed.  As once the Tabernacle was constructed, laws were issued from there, the laws given on the mountain were presumably relayed beforehand, suggesting that the chapters are achronological.
• Vayikra 25-27 - These chapters, too, were said to have been commanded on Mount Sinai, suggesting that they were relayed before the Tabernacle was built, and thus before most of the Sefer.
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Headings

אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה

Variations of the phrase "אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה"‎⁵ appear 13 times in Tanakh.⁶    As the default ordering in Tanakh is to recount events chronologically, this phrase would appear redundant.  Are not most events recorded "after the matter" which preceded them?  This leads commentators to question whether the phrase might function in a different manner:

• Chronological connector – R. Huna in Bereshit Rabbah suggests that the phrase "אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה" tells the reader that the coming event happened immediately after whatever preceded it, while "אַחֲרֵי הַדְּבָרִים" הָאֵלֶּה" suggests that the upcoming event only occurred after a significant amount of time had elapsed. Elsewhere (when no heading is included) the recorded events follow each other, but neither immediately nor significantly later.⁷
• Content connector – Alternatively, one might suggest that the phrase is used to relate the content of two stories and show how they are a cause and effect or the ike. See for example, Rashbam on Bereshit 15:1, 22:1.

וַיְהִי בָּעֵת הַהִוא

Variations of the phrase "וַיְהִי בָּעֵת הַהִוא" (and it was at that time)‎⁸ appear 18 times in Torah (with 15 being part of Moshe's speeches in Sefer Devarim) and 49 times in the rest of Tanakh. To what time period does the phrase refer?

וַיְהִי בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם

וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן

Grammatical Markers

עבר מהופך

Literary Phenomena

Resumptive Repetition

Masoretic Markers

¹ Chapters 22, 25, 26, 35-36, and 45-46 take place during the reign of Yehoyakim while chapters 21, 24, 28-29, 32-34, 37-39 and 51 mention Tzidkeyahu.

² Tanakh will sometimes date an event to a certain year in an individual's life.  For example, Avraham's departure from Charan is dated to his 75th year.

³ This can be derived from the fact that Terach bore Avraham at the age of 70 (), that Avraham departed from Charan at 75 (), and that Terach died at the age of 205 (). [205 - 145 = 60.]

⁴ Given that Avraham bore Yitzchak at the age of 100, that Yitzchak bore Yaakov at the age of 60, and that Avraham died at the age of 175, one can determine that he first died 15 years after the births of his grandchildren.

⁵ The phrase "אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה" appears 4 times, in Bereshit 15:1, Esther 2:1, Esther 3:1 and Ezra 7:1.  The longer variation " וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה" appears 5 times, in Bereshit 22:1, 39:7, 40:1 and Kings I 17:17 and 21:1. The similar וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵי הַדְּבָרִים" הָאֵלֶּה" appears in Bereshit 22:20, 48:1 and Yehoshua 24:29.  Finally, the phrase " אַחֲרֵי הַדְּבָרִים וְהָאֱמֶת הָאֵלֶּה" appears just once, in Divrei HaYamim II 32:1.

⁶ Six of these are in Torah, all in Sefer Bereshit, the rest are divided between Yehoshua, Kings, Esther, Ezra and Chronicles.

⁷ R. Yuden makes the same distinction, but in the opposite direction, suggesting that "אַחֲרֵי הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה" signifies that the two events directly follow each other.

⁸ In most of the occurrences, the text states simply "בָּעֵת הַהִוא" but in four verses (Bereshit 21:22, Bereshit 38:1, Melakhim I 11:29 and Tzefanya 12:1), the fuller "וַיְהִי בָּעֵת הַהִוא".