About This Text
Composed: Talmudic Israel/Babylon, c.200 - c.500 CE
Seder Olam Rabbah (“The Great Order of the World”) is a 2nd-century chronicle 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, instead filling in gaps and addressing questions like the age of Isaac at the binding and the number of years that Joshua led the Israelites. It is referred to often, by direct quotation or allusion, in the Talmud, early midrashim, and early biblical commentaries like that of Rashi.