by John P. Pratt (1968 Version, not the current version)
©1968, 2001 by John P. Pratt. All rights Reserved.
_Adam_ _Japheth _Nahor_&_Lot_
| | _Serug__|
|_Noah__|_Shem____| | _Ishmael_
| |_Abraham__|
|_Ham___ |_Isaac_
| |_Jacob_
|_Seir_
[Modifications of the original 1968 edition required for the Internet edition are explained in brackets, as is this comment.]
These seven [twelve] charts contain the genealogy of all mankind for his first 1700 years, and of the "chosen line" down to the sons of the twelve sons of Israel, about 500 years later. The genealogy of the wives of these twelve is also included, as well as that of the wives of many of the patriarchs such as Noah, Lamech, and Shem. The actual intermarriages of our first ancestors at times became complicated, but the relationships should be clear from these charts if a few simple rules concerning notation are understood.
The first basic rule is that [if a vertical bar connects the right side of two individuals, it means they are the parents of the children to the right of them. If a vertical bar connects the left side, then it means are siblings.] All women have (f) for female following their names. Thus, Example 1 below means that Adam and Eve were the parents of Cain, Abel, and Seth. Sons are listed in the order of birth; daughters, when included, are generally added to the end of the list, not necessarily implying that they were all born after the sons.
When a man had more than one wife the children are connected to the vertical bars between the husband and the corresponding wife. Wives are listed in order of marriage unless otherwise specified by a number preceding the wife's name. Accordingly, Example 2 indicates that Reuben was Jacob's son by his first wife Leah, and Dan was his son by his third wife Bilhah.
Example 1 Example 2
__Adam____ __Cain___ __1._Leah_(f)___
| | |__Reuben__
|__|__Abel___ __3._Bilhah_(f)_|
| | |__Dan_____
__Eve_(f)_| |__Seth___ __Jacob_________|
Three of Adam and Reuben was the son of Jacob
Eve's children were and his first wife Leah; Dan
Cain, Abel and Seth was the the son of Jacob
and his third wife Bilhah.
The second basic rule is that when a wife is not specified, a man's offspring are connected to him by a [vertical] line in the case of one son, or by a branched set in the case of more than one. In order to maintain this notation consistently throughout, especially that of the order of birth, it is often necessary to cross the vertical marriage bars. This is accomplished by either breaking the bars or the line crossing, depending on what relationship is being stressed. The fact that the lines do not connect with the vertical bars is important because the line continuing through the bars is not a son, but a continuation of the same person. For example, Example 3 shows that Lamech married Cainan's daughter Adah, and their child was Jabal. Jared, however, was the son of Mahalaleel, Adah's brother. The only exception to this rule of parents and children being actually connected to the vertical bars is Lot (page 5), whose line does not touch the bars to emphasize that the line to the right of the marriage still refers to Lot and not to a son.
Example 3.
__Lamech______ __Jared__
| |
__Mahalaleel______|
__Cainan__|
| |______Jabal__
|__Adah_(f)____|
Jared was Mahalaleel's son,
but Jabal was the son of Lamech
and Mahalaleel's sister Adah(f).
The only other needed explanation is that one straight line, regardless of length, always refers to just one person. If he was known by more than one name, the other is listed in parentheses, either below or to the right of his other name. Bible spelling of all names is used whenever possible. Also, all birth and death dates are counted in years after the beginning of Adam's mortal life. Dotted lines indicate that the person is a direct descendant, but that the exact relationship is uncertain.
A complete list of references for all the information found in these charts is found [after the charts].
[In the references on each page,] "Jash." refers to the Book of Jasher, "Josephus" refers to Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, by Flavius Josephus, "Abr." and "Moses" refer to the books of Abraham and Moses found in the LDS Pearl of Great Price.
[Note to Internet edition: Much of the information in these charts comes from the Book of Jasher, which is not a scriptural source. Continued research over the last three decades, however, has vindicated the use of this book. It was taken from a very ancient source indeed, and is much more reliable than is Josephus. There is an article, "How Did Jasher Know" on this website discussing it's authenticity. I was unaware of the Book of Jubilees, which also has much genealogical information, when I produced these charts. Since that time I've looked at the Book of Jubilees in detail and have found it to be unreliable in chronological and genealogical information. Thus, most of the information in these charts still looks correct to me, so I feel it is worth republishing on the Internet. The entire Book of Jasher can be found on this website, formatted by chapter to allow easy checking of all the references given.]