Seder Olam Rabbah

Seder Olam Rabbah (Hebrew: סדר עולם רבה, "The Great Order of the World") is a 2nd-century CE Hebrew language chronology detailing the dates of biblical events from creation to Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia. It adds no stories beyond what is in the biblical text, and addresses such questions as the age of Isaac at his binding and the number of years that Joshua led the Israelites. Tradition considers it to have been written about 160 CE by Jose ben Halafta, but it was probably also supplemented and edited at a later period.

Name

In the Babylonian Talmud this chronicle is several times referred to simply as Seder Olam, 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.

Structure

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. 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.

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

Methodology

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 CE, is still followed. 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.