JohnDB
Member
A "generation" is actually a rather aproximate amount of time...and the variations were rather wide.
According to Hebrew custom a Generation was the father's age from birth to his age at the time his first son was born.
So in Abraham's era it would be approximately 100 years. And we see God's prediction as to when the Israelites were to leave Egypt right on the money at roughly 490 years...still inside the fourth generation according to Isaac's birth.
For others an approximation of the average male having a male offspring it would be after 40 years of age...men usually couldn't afford the high bride price for a wife until they had worked for several decades. Which is why there were so many widows in the Gospel narratives. It wasn't always this way but was a peculiarity of economics during Jesus' ministry period. Also the tradition caught some merit from the Story of Ruth being a great romantic love story that is equivalent to most little girls notion of princesses and knights in shining armor is today.
So... either way you want to slice it the Temple was destroyed almost 40 years after Jesus'ministry... satisfying the near term to mid term (depending upon how you classify his prediction) prophesy He made.
According to Hebrew custom a Generation was the father's age from birth to his age at the time his first son was born.
So in Abraham's era it would be approximately 100 years. And we see God's prediction as to when the Israelites were to leave Egypt right on the money at roughly 490 years...still inside the fourth generation according to Isaac's birth.
For others an approximation of the average male having a male offspring it would be after 40 years of age...men usually couldn't afford the high bride price for a wife until they had worked for several decades. Which is why there were so many widows in the Gospel narratives. It wasn't always this way but was a peculiarity of economics during Jesus' ministry period. Also the tradition caught some merit from the Story of Ruth being a great romantic love story that is equivalent to most little girls notion of princesses and knights in shining armor is today.
So... either way you want to slice it the Temple was destroyed almost 40 years after Jesus'ministry... satisfying the near term to mid term (depending upon how you classify his prediction) prophesy He made.