mee said:
i find it interesting that the bible tells us that 100 years is the generation of man , i dont think i have seen it , please could i ask you to tell me where in the bible it says that , i am all for learning new things . i am not asking you to justifiy it , i am just interested to know where it says that. and yes i agree Jesus never mentioned the timeline of a generation , not sure what you mean by me ignoring parts of the bible? which parts?
OK. However, in confirming what I originally stated as being a generation of man, (as biblically defined), I also discovered other issues pertaining to the Biblical use of the word and time for "generation".
Apparently a generation can be literal (20, 40, 70, 80, 100, 120, 900) years, or can be an a situation of undetermined amount of time...
It all depends on when the author wrote his book, and what he was attempting to tell us.
Lat. Vulgate,
generatio).
This word, of very varied meaning, corresponds to the two Hebrew terms:
dôr, tôledôth. As a rendering of the later, the Vulgate plural form,
generationes, is treated in the article
GENEALOGY. As a rendering of the former, the word
generation is used in the following principal senses.
- It designates a definite period of time, with a special reference to the average length of man's life. It is in this sense, for example, that, during the long-lived patriarchal age, a "generation" is rated as a period of 100 years (Genesis 15:16, compared with Genesis 15:13, and Exodus 12:40), and that, at a later date, it is represented as of only 30 to 40 years.
- The word generation is used to mean an indefinite period of time: of time past, as in Deut., xxxii, 7, where we read: "Remember the days of old, think upon every generation", and in Isaias, lviii, 12, etc.; of time future, as in Ps. xliv (Heb. xlv), 18, etc.
- In a concrete sense, generation designates the men who lived in the same period of time, who were contemporaries, as for instance in Gen., vi, 9: "Noe was a just and perfect man in his generations"; see also: Num., xxxii, 13; Deut., i, 35; Matt., xxiv, 34; etc.
- Independently of the idea of time, generation is employed to mean a race or class of men as characterized by the same recurring condition or quality. In this sense, the Bible speaks of a "just generation", literally "generation of the just" [Ps. xiii (Heb., xiv), 6; etc.], a "perverse generation", equivalent to: "generation of the wicked" [Deut., xxxii, 5; Mark, ix, 18 (Gr., verse 19); etc.].
- Lastly, in Is., xxxviii, 12, the word generation is used to designate a dwelling place or habitation, probably from the circular for of the nomad tent. Whence it can be readily seen that, in its various principal acceptations, the word generation (usually in the Septuagint and in the Greek New Testament: genea) preserves something of the primitive meaning of "circuit", "period", conveyed by the Hebrew term dôr.
So, If taken literally in actual time, then a generation's time varies depending upon the life span of that particular generation. If taken as an issue, or a situation, then time doesn't matter; which means we are both right, depending on which way we're considering "generation" to be...
However, that still leaves the 1914 concept in questionable status. At the time Jesus spoke those words, the literal generation of man was three score and 10 years, up to four score years (for the heartier souls). Even if we use 80 years for today's generation (which is reasonable), then 1994, would have been the day this earth ended tribulations. If we use 100 years as a current generation then, 2014 is the last day of tribulations. If we use 1948 as the beginning of the generation, then 2018 to 2028 are the end dates, and subsequently if we use 100 years as the generation and 1948 as the beginning, then we are back to 2048 as the last day.
If Jesus was speaking a dual message (one to His contemporaries and one to us), 70-100 AD was the end and our generation's end is coming to a close within 2-32 years. Or else it has already passed.
If we are using a generation as a situtation of conditions and issues, then no one knows when it will end.
There you go. We still don't know when game is over.
v/r
Q