As I read and study the bible, if I could not figure persons birth and death date, I would stop, why is that?

Question

I never talk to a person that has my interest in the bible people, first I really believe it and think the time is from new moon to new moon which makes it the same for them as it does for me, they based it on 360 days with a make-up system to get 365 days.
I know that this is no part of salvation requrements, but I do trust the Word to be the Word and to give me facts.
Noah and Shem was said to have come through the flood, Shem died 25 years before the death of Abraham. Isaac was age 50 when Shem died and age 75 when Abraham died, Ishmael was 89, Jacob and Esau was age 15.
If I did not learn this, I could not read this book.
Does any one else do this?

Answer 1

You like times and dates. That is good, because times and dates are very important, in order to have the "accurate knowledge". We too use times and dates, esp. by the Jewish calendar as to when the passover was and when Jesus's last supper really should be commended on - Nissan 14 after sundown. It's by learning the bible's chronology and people's ages and such that we are to decipher what and when something did/will happen. You're right about the new moon and such. It was by the Jewish calendar (360 days) that the book of Revelations goes by. If you would like further assistance with your bible reading do not hesitate for a free at-home bible study/disscussion, if you wish. Just go to the source below and someone would love to help you with your bible history to grow and improve. Very commendable of you!

In determining relationships, often the context or a comparison of parallel lists or of texts from different parts of the Bible is necessary. For example, “son” may actually mean a grandson or merely a descendant. (Mt 1:1) Again, a list of names may appear to be a register of brothers, the sons of one man. On closer observation and by comparison with other texts, however, it may prove to be the register of a genealogical line, naming some sons and also some grandsons or later descendants. Genesis 46:21 evidently lists both sons and grandsons of Benjamin as “sons,” as can be seen by a comparison with Numbers 26:38-40.

Answer 2

I think that kind of information makes the Bible stories live and come into perspective. I remember in college figuring out that Methuselah died in the year that the flood came, and going to my theological professor and wondering if Methuselah might have died in the flood. He told me that the meaning of his name gave some insight - "When he is dead, then it will come." Ever since then I have had an interest in that type of study.