The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

130 V.xxxvii.4–xxxix.6 Isidore of Seville
seven sets of seven years, that is, forty-nine years. On the
jubilee trumpets blared, and their old holdings reverted
to each person, debts would be forgiven, and liberties
confirmed. 4.Weourselves celebrate this number still in
the number of days of Pentecost after the resurrection of
the Lord, with sin forgiven and the written record of our
whole debt erased, as we are freed from every trammel,
receiving the grace of the Holy Spirit coming upon us.
xxxviii. Periods and ages (De saeculis et aetatibus)
1. Saecula consist of generations, and hence the term
saeculum,because they ‘follow’ (sequi)oneafter another,
for when some pass away, others take their place. Some
call a saeculum aperiodoffiftyyears, which the Hebrews
call a jubilee. 2. Itwas for this reason that the Hebrew
who – on account of his wife and children, and loving
his master – was kept in slavery with his ear pierced, was
commanded to serve for a saeculum, thatis,up to the
fiftieth year (see Exodus 21:5–6). 3. An‘age’ commonly
means either one year, as in the annals, or seven, as one
of the ages of a human, or a hundred – or any period.
Hence an age is also a time composed of many centuries.
And an age (aetas) issocalledasifitwereaevitas, that
is, something similar to an aeon (aevum). 4.Foranaeon
is a perpetual age, whose beginning or end is unknown.
The Greeks call this an , and they sometimes use
this word for ‘century,’ sometimes for ‘eternity’ – and
from Greek it was borrowed by Latin speakers. 5. The
term ‘age’ properly isusedintwoways:eitherasanage
ofahuman–asinfancy,youth,oldage–orasanageof
the world, whose first age is from Adam to Noah; second
from Noah to Abraham; third from Abraham to David;
fourth from David to the exile of Judah to Babylon; fifth
from then, [the Babylonian captivity], to the advent of
our Savior in the flesh; sixth, which is now under way,
to when the world itself comes to an end. The succession
of these ages through generations and reigns is thus
reviewed. 14
xxxix. A description of historical periods (De descriptione
temporum) 1.Thefirst age has the creation of the
world as its beginning, for onthefirst day God, with the
name of ‘light,’ created the angels; on the second, with
the name of the ‘firmament,’ the heavens; on the third,
with the name of ‘division,’ the appearance of waters
and the earth; on the fourth, the luminaries of the sky;
on the fifth, the living creatures from the waters; on the
sixth, the living creatures from the earth and the human
being, whom he called Adam.
The first age
2. 230 In the year 230 Adam begot Seth, from
whom descended the children of God.
435 In his 205 th year Seth begot Enosh, who
began to call upon the Name of the Lord.
625 In his 190 th year Enosh begot Kenan.
795 In his 170 th year Kenan begot Mahalalel.
3. 960 In his 165 th year Mahalalel begot Jared.
1122 In his 162 nd year Jared begot Enoch, who was
translated to heaven.
1287 In his 165 th year, Enoch begot Methuselah.
4. 1454 In his 167 th year, Methuselah begot Lamech.
1642 In his 188 th year, Lamech begot Noah. The
ark is built.
5. 2242 In the 600 th year of Noah occurred the
Flood. [Indeed,whenNoahwas500 years
old he begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and
Japheth. In the 600 th year of his life occurred
the Flood. From Adam to this cataclysm
there are 2252 years.]
The second age
2244 Two years after the Flood, [when he was 100
years old,] Shem begot Arphachshad, from
whom sprang the Chaldeans.
2379 In his 135 th year Arphachshad begot Shelah,
from whom sprang the Samaritans and the
Indians.
2509 In his 130 th year Shelah begot Eber, from
whom sprang the Hebrews.
6. 2643 In his 134 th year Eber begot Peleg. The tower
is built [andinthistimeoccurred the
division of languages, and the people were
dispersed through the whole earth because
of the building of the tower].
2773 In his 130 th year Peleg begot Reu. The gods
are first worshiped.
14 Some manuscripts add here mention of several historians who
described the ages of history in detail.