Beside the common acceptation of this word, as signifying
descent, it is used for the history and genealogy of any individual, as
“The book of the generations of Adam,” Genesis v, 1, the history of
Adam’s creation, and of his posterity. “The generations of the heavens
and of the earth,” Genesis ii, 4, is a recital of the creation of heaven
and earth. “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of
David,” Matthew i, 1, is the genealogy of Jesus Christ, and the history
of his life. The ancients sometimes computed by generations: “In the
fourth generation thy descendants shall come hither again,” Genesis xv,
16. “Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation,” Genesis 1,
23. “A bastard shall not be admitted into the congregation, till the
tenth generation,” Deut. xxiii, 2. Among the ancients, when the duration
of generations was not exactly described by the age of four men
succeeding one another from father to son, it was fixed by some at a
hundred years, by others at a hundred and ten, by others at
thirty-three, thirty, twenty-five, and even at twenty years; being
neither uniform nor settled: only, it is remarked, that a generation is
longer as it is more ancient.
descent, it is used for the history and genealogy of any individual, as
“The book of the generations of Adam,” Genesis v, 1, the history of
Adam’s creation, and of his posterity. “The generations of the heavens
and of the earth,” Genesis ii, 4, is a recital of the creation of heaven
and earth. “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of
David,” Matthew i, 1, is the genealogy of Jesus Christ, and the history
of his life. The ancients sometimes computed by generations: “In the
fourth generation thy descendants shall come hither again,” Genesis xv,
16. “Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation,” Genesis 1,
23. “A bastard shall not be admitted into the congregation, till the
tenth generation,” Deut. xxiii, 2. Among the ancients, when the duration
of generations was not exactly described by the age of four men
succeeding one another from father to son, it was fixed by some at a
hundred years, by others at a hundred and ten, by others at
thirty-three, thirty, twenty-five, and even at twenty years; being
neither uniform nor settled: only, it is remarked, that a generation is
longer as it is more ancient.