Seder Olam Rabbah

In the Babylonian Talmud this chronicle is several times referred to simply as "Seder Olam",[3] and it is quoted as such by the more ancient Biblical commentators, including Rashi. But starting in the 12th century, it began to be designated as "Seder Olam Rabbah" to distinguish it from a later, smaller chronicle, Seder Olam Zuṭa; it was first so designated by Abraham ben Nathan Ha-Yarhi.[4]

In its present form, Seder Olam Rabbah consists of 30 chapters, each 10 chapters forming a section or "gate."

The work is a chronological record, extending from Adam to the revolt of Bar Kokba in the reign of Hadrian, the Persian period being compressed into 52 years.[2] The chronicle is complete only up to the time of Alexander the Great; the period from Alexander to Hadrian occupies a very small portion of the work—the end of the 30th chapter.

It has been concluded, therefore, that originally Seder Olam was more extensive and consisted of two parts, the second of which, dealing with the post-Alexandrian period, has been lost, with the exception of a small fragment that was added by the copyists to the first part.

Many passages quoted in the Talmud are missing in the edition of Seder Olam which has survived.

The author probably designed the work for calendrical purposes, to determine the era of the creation; his system, adopted as early as the 3rd century, is still followed.[5] Adhering closely to the Pharisaic interpretations of Bible texts, he endeavored not only to elucidate many passages, but also to determine certain dates which are not indicated in the Bible, but which may be inferred by calculation.

In many cases, however, he gave the dates according to tradition, and inserted, besides, the sayings and halakhot of preceding rabbis and of his contemporaries. In discussing Biblical chronology he followed three principles:[5]

1. To assume that the intention of the Biblical author was, wherever possible, to give exact dates
2. To assign to each of a series of events the shortest possible duration of time, where necessary, in order to secure agreement with the Biblical text
3. To adopt the lesser of two possible numbers.

The application of these principles would obviously have had the effect of compressing the Biblical chronology. The following examples will illustrate the manner in which these principles are applied.

Assuming that this "Seder Olam" is the same as the "Seder Olam" mentioned in the Talmud, Jewish authorities generally ascribe its authorship to the well-known Talmudist Jose b. Halafta, on the strength of R. Johanan's statement, "The tanna of Seder Olam was R. Jose".[1] Johanan's comment is supported by the fact that Jose was known as one who occupied himself with Jewish chronology; further, many sayings of R. Jose's quoted in the Talmud are paralleled in Seder Olam.[5]

However, Ratner[20] objected that Seder Olam often conflicts with opinions of Jose's expressed in the Talmud, that Jose is referred to in it in the third person ("R. Jose said"), and finally that mention is made in it of Talmudists that lived later than Jose. For these reasons, he concluded that Jose was not its author; he thinks that Jose was only the principal authority of Seder Olam, and that Johanan's statement, mentioned above, is similar to another statement made by him—"Any anonymous opinion in the Mishnah belongs to Rabbi Meir",[21] although the redactor of the Mishnah was Judah I. Ratner further supposes that R. Johanan himself compiled the work, following generally the opinion of R. Jose. He endeavors to prove this view by showing that many utterances of R. Johanan are taken from Seder Olam.[5]

Ratner's objections, however, are answered by other scholars, who think that in Seder Olam Jose preserved the generally accepted opinions, even when they were contrary to his own, as is clearly indicated in Niddah 46b. Besides, this work, like all the works of the ancient Talmudists, underwent many alternations at the hands of the copyists. Very often, too, finding that the utterance of a later rabbi agreed with Seder Olam, the copyists inserted the name of that rabbi. A careful examination shows that certain additions are later than the latest midrashim, and it may be that Abraham ibn Yarḥi,[22] Isaac Lattes,[23] and Menahem Meïri,[24] who seem to place the redaction of Seder Olam at the time when the Massektot (tractates) Derek Ereẓ Rabbah, the Derek Ereẓ Zuṭa, the Soferim, and other later treatises were composed, may have referred to the work in its present form.[5]

Besides directly quoting Seder Olam, the Talmud often alludes to it. A passage in Seder Olam (chapter 30) describing the 420 years of four hegemonic powers (Persian, Grecian, Hasmonean and Herodian) appears almost verbatim in the Babylonian Talmud.[25] Often, the phrases "tanya" (= "we learned"), "tana" (= "he learned"), "tanu rabbanan" (= "our teachers learned"), and "amar mar" (= "the teacher said") introduce sentences also found in Seder Olam. In addition, many of its passages have been taken into the Mishnah without any allusion to their source. Seder Olam is not mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud, although several passages in the latter are based on it. Finally, many of the sayings of Seder Olam have been taken into the Mekhilta, the Sifra, and the Sifre.[5]

• Seder Olam Rabbah first appeared at Mantua, in 1514, together with the Seder Olam Zuta, the Megillat Ta'anit, and Abraham ibn David's Sefer ha-Ḳabbalah. It has been reedited several times since then.
• In 1577 Seder Olam Rabbah and Seder Olam Zuṭa were published in Paris, with a Latin translation by Gilbert Genebrard. The former was edited, with a Latin language translation, notes, and introduction, by John Meyer (Amsterdam, 1699).
• Commentaries on the work were written by Jacob Emden,[26] by Elijah Wilna,[27] and by Enoch Zundel b. Joseph.[28]
• The three latest editions prior to 1906 are those of Ratner,[29] A. Marx (who published the first ten chapters, basing the text upon different manuscripts and supplying it with a German language translation and an introduction; Berlin, 1903), and Jeroham Meïr Leiner (containing the commentaries of Jacob Emden and Elijah Wilna, and the editor's annotations under the title Me'r 'Ayin, Warsaw, 1904).

The Jewish calendar's reference point is traditionally considered to be about one year before the creation of the world.

The current Hebrew calendar year numbering system, which counts years from the creation, has been in use for more than 1000 years.[30] The year numbering system was adopted sometime before 3925 Anno Mundi (165 CE), and based on the calculation of Rabbi Yose ben Halafta during about 160 CE in the book Seder Olam Rabbah.[31]

The year numbers are based on the computations of dates and periods found in the Hebrew Bible. In Jewish tradition, "Year 1" is considered to have begun on the 25 of Elul, 6 days before the beginning of "Year 2" on the first of Tishrei, when Adam was created. The new moon of its first month (Tishrei) is designated molad tohu (meaning new moon of chaos or nothing). By Halafta's calculation Adam was created during the year 3761 BCE.[32] However, Seder Olam Rabbah treats the creation of Adam as the beginning of "Year Zero". This results in a two-year discrepancy between the years given in Seder Olam Rabbah and the Jewish year used now. For example, Seder Olam Rabbah gives the year of the Exodus from Egypt as 2448 AM; but, according to the current system, the year would be 2450 AM.

Despite the computations by Yose ben Halafta, confusion persisted for a long time as to how the calculations should be applied.[33] During 1000, for example, the Muslim chronologist al-Biruni noted that three different epochs were used by various Jewish communities being one, two, or three years later than the modern epoch.[34] The epoch seems to have been settled by 1178, when Maimonides, in his work Mishneh Torah, described all of the modern rules of the Hebrew calendar, including the modern epochal year. His work has been accepted by Jews as definitive, though it does not correspond to the scientific calculations. For example, the Jewish year for the destruction of the First Temple has traditionally been given as 3338 AM or 421/2 BCE. This differs from the modern scientific year, which is usually expressed using the Proleptic Julian calendar as 587 BCE. The scientific date takes into account evidence from the ancient Babylonian calendar and its astronomical observations. So, too, according to Jewish computation, the destruction of the Second Temple occurred in the lunar month of Av in anno 68 CE, rather than in 70 CE. In this and related cases, a difference between the traditional Jewish year and a scientific date in a Gregorian year or in a proleptic Julian calendar date results from a disagreement about when the event happened—and not simply a difference between the Jewish and Gregorian calendars (See the "Missing Years" in the Jewish Calendar and below, Excursus: Jewish Chronology in the Scroll of Antiochus).

In Jewish thought the counting is usually considered to be to the creation of the world, as has been emphasized in many ancient texts dealing with creation chronology that the six days of creation till man are literal days—including the days before the creation of the sun and earth.[35][36] However, some understand these days metaphorically.[37]

The modern epoch year is set at 3761 BCE, taking into account that there is no year zero in the Julian year count.

However Rav Saadiah Gaon (10th Century CE) and Rav Hai Gaon (11th Century CE) note that the years dated to creation cited in the Talmud and in Seder Olam are 1 year off from the modern Hebrew calendar. While the modern Hebrew calendar's Year 1 is from the 25th of Elul in the Year of Chaos (Tohu), the Talmud and Seder Olam's Year 1 is from the 1 Tishrei - the creation of Adam. Thus Year 1 in the Talmud and Seder Olam is actually Year 2 in today's Hebrew Calendar.[38]

Therefore, when calculating to the year of creation from Seder Olam, Taking into account the 1 year mentioned above; as well as the fact that there is no year "0", as the year before 1 CE is 1 BCE, not 0, we arrive at the number 3760 BCE as the Year 1 of the modern Hebrew calendar.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Seder 'Olam Rabbah". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
• The Jewish Encyclopaedia cites the following works:
  • Fürst, in Orient, Lit. vii. 547 et seq.;
  • idem, Bibl. Jud. ii. 107–108;
  • Grätz, Gesch. 3d ed., iv. 184, and note 14;
  • A. Marx, introduction to his edition of the Seder Olam;
  • B. Ratner, Mabo leha-Seder Olam Rabbah;
  • Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. cols. 1433–1434;
  • Weiss, Dor, ii. 257 et seq.;
  • Winter and Wünsche, Die Jüdische Litteratur, iii. 299 et seq.;
  • Zunz, G. V. p. 85.
• Strack, H.L. (1991), Stemberger, Günter; Bockmuehl, Markus (eds.), Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash (Google eBook) (1996 ed.), Fortress Press, p. 326, ISBN 978-1451409147 (Note: page 326 in this edition was p. 354 in 1991).

• English translation of the Seder Olam (INCOMPLETE)
• Jewish Encyclopedia article for Seder Olam Rabbah