What was going on when I was born?

President Reagan was said today to have encountered disagreement among his senior foreign policy advisers over who should succeed William P. Clark as the White House national security adviser. After having lunch with Secretary of State George P. Shultz and discussing the Middle East and other matters with his top foreign policy aides, Mr. Reagan left late this afternoon for a weekend at Camp David, Md., without announcing a successor to Mr. Clark. The problem was said to be that at least two Cabinet members had objected to the selection of Mr. Clark's deputy, Robert C. McFarlane, while conservatives were pressing for the appointment of Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, now the chief United States delegate to the United Nations. 'Lifetime History of Interest' Mr. Reagan, stunning officials throughout his Administration, said Thursday evening that he would nominate Mr. Clark as Secretary of the Interior, replacing James G. Watt. Mr. Watt resigned Sunday amid growing support in the Senate for a resolution urging his ouster. Larry Speakes, the White House spokesman, took pains to defend Mr. Reagan's choice of Mr. Clark for the Interior job, amid charges by some environmental groups that he lacked experience. Mr. Speakes said, for example, that Mr. Clark had ''a lifetime history of interest in environmental issues.'' (Page 9.)

Jenna, a cousin of a foreign worker in Saudi Arabia, says she does not know how old she is, or exactly how long ago she came to this country from Pakistan. She does know that she has borne nine children, all of whom died. This year - ''Thanks be to God,'' she said - she had a son, whom she proudly displayed. Jenna, 15 other adults in her extended family and their 27 children live in the heart of Jidda in a makeshift concrete shelter with a sand floor and a tin and cardboard roof.

The Exxon Corporation, which has been dumping polluted sea water into the Hudson River and taking fresh water from the river to a refinery in Aruba, was accused yesterday of not getting two permits necessary for the operation. When the matter came to light last week, the state said it was uncertain whether any laws had been broken, and Exxon continued to maintain yesterday that it had complied with all regulations. But John Moore, a spokesman for the state's Department of Environmental Conservation, said the company needed both a state pollution-discharge elimination system permit for the discharges and a water supply permit for its takings.

The nation's industrial production surged 1.5 percent last month, strong evidence that economic expansion has remained vigorous despite high interest rates. The Federal Reserve Board, reporting the September advance today, also made hefty upward revisions in its production figures for July and August. Strong increases were also reported for inventories today and for retail sales on Wednesday. Officials said that, in light of all these figures, they expected an increase in next week's estimate of third-quarter growth in the gross national product. The early projection, of 7 percent on an annual basis, was issued a month ago.

News Analysis WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 - By naming William P. Clark as Secretary of the Interior, President Reagan has seemed to underscore that Mr. Clark was dispensable as the White House's national security adviser, but is indispensable to him as a political troubleshooter. Twenty-four hours after the surprise announcement that Mr. Clark was being named to replace James G. Watt, the prevailing opinion in Washington appeared to be that the President had made this decision for reasons having little to do with foreign policy and much to do with Mr. Clark. The former national security adviser was reported to have wanted to be relieved of duty in the White House Situation Room, where his grasp of the intricacies of foreign policy was weak. And his personal chemistry with Mr. Reagan made it attractive for the President to choose him as Mr. Watt's replacement.

President Ferdinand E. Marcos announced today that a new commission would investigate the killing of the opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr. The panel will replace the five-member presidential commission that resigned on Monday, citing widespread doubts that its inquiry would be impartial. The presidential palace announced that two of the new panel's members would be appointed by Parliament and that three to five others would be named from among people recommended by ''various sectors of society, such as legal associations, civic and service organizations and the business, education, student and labor sectors.'' The President's action was immediately criticized by the opposition leader Jose Diokno, who said that as long as Mr. Marcos was President there could be no impartial inquiry. Parliament, which would appoint two members of the panel under the decree, is overwhelmingly controlled by the President's supporters.

A new translation of Bible readings designed to eliminate references to God as solely male was released yesterday by the National Council of Churches. The Bible readings are for voluntary, experimental use in services by some of the country's leading Protestant churches. The changes include references to God as both the mother and father of humankind, and one of the best- known verses of the New Testament reads: ''For God so loved the world that God gave God's only Child, that whoever believes in that Child should not perish, but have eternal life.'' The changes are likely to set off a sharp debate between different religious groups. The Lutheran Church in America, for instance, announced yesterday that it would not recommend the new translations for use in its 6,000 congregations because they are inaccurate and stylistically inadequate. And the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in this country said they did not reflect sufficient reverence and tradition.

Venice is no longer sinking, said Deputy Mayor Paolo Cacciari, but it is still subject to the capricious buffeting by nature that has left it ''exposed to catastrophe.'' In November 1966 torrential rainstorms lashed Italy from the Alps to Sicily, causing disastrous flooding in Florence and Venice and other towns. The flood in Florence was described at the time as the worst in that city's history and the water in Venice rose to more than six feet, the highest in 200 years, before the measuring instruments broke. Sir Ashley Clarke, who was the British Ambassador to Italy until 1962, said about Venice that ''if in 1966 there had also been a spring tide, the city might have disappeared.''

President Chun Doo Hwan, moving swiftly to demonstrate the continuity of his Government, reorganized the top levels of his Cabinet tonight to replace officials who died in a bombing last Sunday in Rangoon, Burma. The entire Cabinet resigned only a day after funeral services for the 17 South Koreans killed as a result of the explosion. The Cabinet's action was seen as a formality to allow Mr. Chun a free hand in shifting as many people as he wished. When the changes were announced hours later, it was clear that no sudden, dramatic departures in policy were under way.

Thousands of demonstrators, protesting the scheduled deployment of American medium-range nuclear missiles in West Germany, conducted sitdown protests today at the gates of several United States military bases. But the numbers in the largely peaceful demonstrations fell far below what organizers had expected. West German officials have voiced concern that the demonstrations, planned to continue for 10 days, could turn violent or directly involve United States service personnel.

President Francois Mitterrand is calling on the countries of Western Europe to reject what he calls pacifist notions and remain firm in their decision to deploy new nuclear missiles if negotiations in Geneva fail. Mr. Mitterrand made his remarks in an unusual series of speeches and statements on a three-day state visit to Belgium that ended today. His comments came as groups opposed to the stationing of Pershing 2 and cruise missiles by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization started their most intense campaign of demonstrations yet. Mr. Mitterrand's most striking phrase came at a state dinner in Brussels. ''I'm against the Euromissiles,'' the President said. ''But I notice two terribly simple things about the current debate: Pacifism is in the West and the Euromissiles are in the East. I consider that an unequal relationship.''

Twelve writers were arrested Thursday night after the police raided the homes of the editorial staff of Ikkevold, a leftist magazine accused of publishing military secrets that included the location of a United States submarine listening post in Norway, the authorities said today. The police said they confiscated printed material relevant to the case.