Literary:Indicators of Achronology/0

Indicators of Achronology

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

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.
• –

Headings

וַיְהִי בָּעֵת הַהִוא If one looks at all the various appearances of the phrase, it is difficult to find one usage that fits all.

Variations of the phrase "וַיְהִי בָּעֵת הַהִוא" (and it was at that time)‎⁵ 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?

• Immediately follows – Cassuto suggests that, at least at times, the phrase teaches that the story about to be told occurred immediately after the preceding one, "בעת ההיא עצמו". Netziv adds that it might further point to a "cause and effect" relationship between two stories. 
• Undefined – R. Avraham b. HaRambam and Ibn Kaspi, instead, suggest that "בָּעֵת הַהִוא" refers to an undefined time, and thus often indicates that the narrative which is about to be told does not directly follow the events which were just recounted, but might have occurred at some point before them.
• Overlapping – It is also possible that the phrase indicates that two consecutive stories overlapped in time, with the second story happening literally "at that time" - during the preceding events.  For example, see Ralbag, on Bereshit 38:1 that the story of Yehuda and Tamar overlaps with the story of the sale of Yosef.
• Resume previous narrative - At times, the phrase appears to function as an indicator that the text is about to resume a narrative that had been interrupted with a parenthetical or achronological statement.
• Tangents -

• Bereshit 21:22– The covenant with Avimelekh is recorded after the story of Yitzchak's banishment.
• R. Saadia Gaon, R"Y Kara, and Rashbam, however, claim that the episode took place beforehand, right after Yitzchak's birth. They suggest that it was the miraculous nature of the birth that prompted Avimelekh to make the covenant. According to them, the opening phrase "ויהי בעת ההוא" hints to the achronology.⁶
• R. Hirsch in contrast asserts that it was specifically the banishment of Yishmael that prompted Avimelekh to ally himself with Avraham and the phrase "" serves to connect the two adjacent stories both chronologically and thematically, highlighting how one event led to the next.
• Bereshit 38:1–  The story of Yehuda and Tamar follows that of the sale of Yosef.
• Ibn Ezra, Ralbag and Shadal, however, claim that the two stories overlap, with the beginning of Chapter 38 occurring before the sale. Here, too, then "' serves as an indicator of achronology.
• R"Y Kara, R"Y Bekhor Shor and Radak,⁷ following Chazal, assert that Yehuda's separating form his brothers occured right after, and as a result of, the sale, as noted by the opening "".⁸

• Devarim 1:9 - In Devarim 1:9, Moshe begins to recount the story of the appointment of judges. The preceding verses speak about Hashem's command to leave Mt. Sinai, during the second year in the wilderness.
• R"Y Bekhor Shor, Ramban and R. D"Z Hoffmann all assert that Moshe is backtracking to speak of the appointment of judges advised by Yitro as recounted in Shemot 18, which took place in the first year.  The phrase "" then refers back to a time before the preceding story.
• Others, however, claim that Moshe is speaking of the appointment of officers described in Bemidbar 11, which took place in the second year.  If so, "" refers to the time period mentioned right beforehand, and indicates that the two stories are consecutive events.
• Devarim 3:23 - Right after recounting how he had encouraged Yehoshua in his future conquests, Moshe shares that "at that time" he pleaded to enter the land.
• Rashi and Ramban⁹ assume that Moshe prayed before speaking to Yehoshua,¹⁰ and that the phrase "" refers back to the events mentioned earlier in the chapter - the conquests of Sichon and Og.¹¹ Rashi implies that Moshe hoped that if he participated in the initial conquests, this was a sign that he could participate in future ones as well.
• Devarim 5:5
• Devarim 10:1
• Devarim 10:8 - These verses speak of the selection of the Levites, which occurred in the second year, while the immediately preceding verses speak of events of the fortieth year.
• The Rambam, thus, points to this verse as evidence that the phrase "" need not refer to an event which directly follows the preceding narrative, and that in fact might imply the exact opposite.¹²
• The Netziv, disagrees, suggesting that here too the events are consecutive, and "' implies continuity. This leads him to suggest that the verse refers not to the initial selection of the tribe, but to their being chosen, in the fortieth year, to act as teachers of Torah.
• Yehoshua 5:
• Yehoshua 6:26-  In this verse we are told that "at that time" Yehoshua cursed all who will build Yericho.  This seems to follow directly from verse 24 which speaks of burning the city and sanctifying its booty to Hashem.  The intervening verse is a parenthetical aside, sharing how Rachav and her family became a part of Israel "until this day". As such, it is possible that the text employs the phrase "" to resume the original narrative and connect Yehoshua's curse with the city's destruction rather than Rachav's acculteration.
• Yehoshua 11:10 - After sharing how Yehohsua smote the Northern confederation, verse 10 states, "וַיָּשׇׁב יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בָּעֵת הַהִיא וַיִּלְכֹּד אֶת חָצוֹר וְאֶת מַלְכָּהּ הִכָּה בֶחָרֶב".  According to arlbag, here, too, "" connotes achronology and that the verse is saying that Yehoshua had already conquered Ch

אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה

Variations of the phrase "אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה"‎¹³ appear 13 times in Tanakh.¹⁴    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.¹⁵
• 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 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 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" appears.

⁶ R. Avraham b. HaRambam goes further to suggest that the opening might indicate that the story might have taken place even before the birth.

⁷ See also Cassuto.

⁸ See Netziv: "יבואר שהעת גרם לענין הבא" .

⁹ See also Ibn Ezra.

¹⁰ His encouragement to Yehoshua betrays that Moshe sees him as the leader, having already recognized that there was no hope for his decree to be overturned.

¹¹ Ramban also raises the possibility that it refers to an even earlier event, when the decree was first issued.

¹² The Netziv, disagrees, suggesting that here too the events are consecutive, and "' implies continuity. But to maintian, this position, he reinterpets

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ Six of these are in Torah, all in Sefer Bereshit, the rest are divided between Yehoshua, Kings, Esther, Ezra and Chronicles.

¹⁵ 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.