Living 900 Years Old…Really?

Living 900 Years Old…Really?

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, August 22, 2025 (Donate)

I looked at this subject a number of times in the past and I’m going to pool together some of that information here under one article.

When we look at the ages of the patriarchs, like Adam who lived 930 years or Noah who lived 950 years, we tend to look with our “eyebrow raised”. Did people really live this long? Today, hitting 80 is an accomplishment—and that is above the average!

Exhibit of an aged Methuselah in the Creation Museum; Photo by Bodie Hodge

So, was this even feasible? In our secularized culture, they teach that we evolved from animals whose lifespans were quite short. In light of this, it is assumed in our distant past, man also had short life spans. So, when non-Christians see the biblical data that reaches to 900+ years old, many think these ages were quite fanciful and false. But was it?

God said they lived this long. That should settle the issue. Nevertheless, let’s dive into this subject in more detail.

Ages Dropping Off

Let’s start by considering something else right up front—a God of life created man in a perfect world where they should never have died if they hadn’t sinned! I sometimes think we are asking the wrong question—it should be why did they live such short lives of only 900 years or so, and why do our lives tread even shorter?

Man was designed to live forever, but sin destroyed that perfection and death now reigned as of the third chapter in the Bible. From Adam to Noah, people lived around 900 years old—with the exception of Enoch who was taken to heaven without death (translated) at 325.

	Patriarch	Age	Bible reference
1	Adam	930	Genesis 5:4
2	Seth	912	Genesis 5:8
3	Enosh	905	Genesis 5:11
4	Cainan	910	Genesis 5:14
5	Mahalalel	895	Genesis 5:17
6	Jared	962	Genesis 5:20
7	Enoch	365 (translated)	Genesis 5:23
8	Methuselah	969	Genesis 5:27
9	Lamech	777	Genesis 5:31
10	Noah	950	Genesis 9:29
11	Shem	600	Genesis 11:10–11
12	Arphaxad	438	Genesis 11:12–13
13	Shelah	433	Genesis 11:14–15
14	Eber	464	Genesis 11:16–17
15	Peleg	239	Genesis 11:18–19
16	Reu	239	Genesis 11:20–21
17	Serug	230	Genesis 11:22–23
18	Nahor	148	Genesis 11:24–25
19	Terah	205	Genesis 11:32
20	Abram (Abraham)	175	Genesis 25:7
21	Isaac	180	Genesis 35:28–29
22	Jacob (Israel)	147	Genesis 47:28
23	Joseph	110	Genesis 50:22, 26

Table 1. Ages of the Patriarchs from Adam to Joseph

Noah’s father Lamech died at 777—he was a young pup compared to the other patriarchs. In fact, Lamech’s father was almost 200 years older than him when he died. After Noah, the ages dipped down through Shem’s line. Since all are descendants Noah’s three sons, and none live to 900 today, then all three lines dropped off in great ages.

Although we are given Shem’s line, it is possible that Ham’s and Japheth’s line could have been slower or faster in their decline. For instance, Japheth or Ham could still have lived 800-900 years old and then the ages drop off. We simply don’t know. We just know that Shem lived to a mere 600 years old, though he surely expected to live about the ages of his father, grandfather and great grandfather.

The ages did drop off over the next millennium or more. Over the years, several people have proposed ideas as to why this happened. 

 

Diet

For example, some thought it had something to do with diet. People were first permitted to eat meat after the Flood (Genesis 9:3) so some thought the original vegetarian diet (Genesis 1:29) would help them live to such great ages. Some have further pointed toward Daniel and his request of a temporary vegetarian diet (Daniel 1:8-16) so that he didn’t have to eat the king’s food that was sacrificed to false gods.

However, vegetarian diets never allowed people to live to such ages as 900 years even today. In fact, vegetarians do not attain a life span much different than those who retain meat in the diet.

Increased Oxygen

Some proposed that increased oxygen prior to the Flood (and changed significantly due to the Flood) would allow the body to better heal, and eliminate disease and thus, reach such ages. And although there are some benefits to temporary increased oxygen in some cases (e.g. hyperbaric medicine), in other cases it is detrimental to your health (e.g., birth defects such as blindness in children due to supplemental oxygen, oxygen toxicity, swelling of lenses in the eye causing blurred vision, etc.). 

Increased oxygen can cause a host of other problems because oxygen is extremely reactive causing oxidation where your body doesn’t want it. People often eat foods that are high in antioxidants to reduce these extra “free radicals” of oxygen. Regardless, the simple fact is that such experiments have not permitted people to live to ages remotely close to 900 years.

Environmental Changes

It is true that the world changed significantly due to the Flood. Vegetation, as well as land and sea life, were drastically reduced and made to virtually “start all over again”. But did this cause aging to significantly drop off?

Noah, who was already 600 years old, stepped off the Ark into this new world as well. If the environment was the cause massive reduced aging, why did Noah live 350 more years?  The new environment didn’t seem to touch him!

Model of Noah in the Creation Museum; Photo by Bodie Hodge

Noah was the third longest living person recoded in the Bible (after Methuselah and Jared)! If the environmental effects were the cause, then this does not make sense, unless these environmental effects were more gradual. Though, this is not to say environmental changes did not do something, but its effects were not the primary cause of ages dropping about 9 times.

Some have suggested that carbon 14 was greater in the post-Flood world and that might have a detrimental effect on aging.[1] Again, Noah was subject to this, yet lived 950 years old, 350 of those years post-Flood.

Genetics

Genetics were likely the prime culprit. Dr. David Menton and Dr. Georgia Purdom look specifically at genetics and resulting functions of anatomical features with regards to aging.[2]

We need to keep in mind that there were two major genetic bottlenecks:

1.         At the Flood

2.         At the Tower of Babel

Flood Bottleneck

Genetic bottlenecks cause a significant loss of access to other people’s versions of genes (called alleles) that are essentially lost. The obvious loss of pre-Flood people reduced the alleles in the gene pool in humanity to only 8 people, but really only 6.

Scripture reveals that Noah and his wife had no more sons after the Flood (Genesis 10). Thus, this leaves Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives, and, of course, these three men each inherited their genes from the same two parents.

So, early generations after the Flood, like early generations after the Garden of Eden, saw marriages between people who were close relatives. Of course, such close intermarriage was not forbidden until the time of Moses. Regardless, this bottleneck saw the loss of a great many alleles from the gene pool of those who died in the Flood.

Tower Bottleneck

If you look at the ages of people born after the Flood, the ages do a sudden drop but are stabilized at about 445 years or so:

1          Arphaxad        438      Genesis 11:12–13

2          Shelah             433      Genesis 11:14–15

3          Eber                464      Genesis 11:16–17

The ages seem to drop in half, where Shem, who was born prior to Flood, lived to 600. After the Tower, ages suddenly drop from about 450 to about 235 or so for three generations:

1          Peleg   239      Genesis 11:18–19

2          Reu      239      Genesis 11:20–21

3          Serug   230      Genesis 11:22–23

Even 2 generations after this Terah lived to 205.  But these ages trickle down from here.

The Flood and the Tower bottlenecks did something significant to cause ages to suddenly drop. In both cases, there is a loss or splitting up of the gene pool. Consider also how mutations can affect age with an extreme example: One tiny flaw, and 50 years lost!

With these bottlenecks, a host of alleles will be filtered out and lost. Consequently, immune systems may not be as good, or a host of other functions, resulting in more infectious disease and so on.

Shem An Intriguing Clue

Another interesting clue comes from Shem. The bottleneck at the Flood would not have affected Noah as his genetics were not bound by that event. And he lived 350 years after the Flood and died at 950 years.

Again, Ham and Japheth’s ages are not recorded in Scripture. But Shem was 600 years. Either bottleneck, the Flood or the Tower would not have affected Shem’s genetic longevity, in the same way it didn’t affect Noah, which was prior to the Flood as well.

And yet, his age was significantly dropped off too, by 300 to 350 years. The Bible does not record the cause of death, so it is possible that something caused a premature death. However, it likely just the age of Shem in his old age. And this is a clue that there may have been a genetic problem that passed through Noah to Shem (and perhaps Ham and Japheth too) to trigger a drop in ages.

Consider Lamech again. Noah’s father, only lived to 777. In the reality of his day, he was young when he died!  Methuselah, Lamech’s father, lived nearly 200 years longer than Lamech! So, is it possible that there was a genetic mistake hidden within Lamech that occurred between Methuselah and his son Lamech?

If this defective gene was passed to Noah from Lamech, and yet masked by a good gene from Noah’s mother, it may not affect him and hence, he still lives to a ripe old age of 950 years. But Noah could still pass this defective along to his sons, such as Shem, who lived to 600 years. But why couldn’t this have been masked by a good gene from Noah’s mother…unless she too had a defective gene?

The Bible reveals that Noah was the only one righteous among his generations (Genesis 6:8-9). Yet he failed to have been fruitful and multiply until he was 500 years old (Genesis 1:28; Genesis 5:32); which may signify that Noah had to wait for a long time to find a godly wife (as opposed to intentionally ignoring God’s command).

Perhaps like Isaac, he went back to common relation to find a wife who was godly as opposed to finding a wife among the ungodly (Genesis 24:37-38). Methuselah and Lamech (Noah grandfather and Lamech’s father), who were trained by Enoch, who walked with God as well and was translated without death to heaven (Genesis 5:24), seems to be strongest candidates whose families could offer a godly wife. But with this, the same defective gene could be in her genes as well if it also passed to Lamech.

After the Flood in Genesis 9 [prior to the assembly at Babel while Noah and his descendants were still living in tents west from Shinar], righteous Noah became rather drunk, so drunk in fact, that he lay naked in his tent and failed to recognize that his son Ham had gazed into the tent and observed him and then proceed to spread the raunchy words about his father (Genesis 9:21-22).

It was Shem and Japheth’s responsibility to walk in backwards, not looking at their father’s nakedness, and lay a covering over him (Genesis 9:23). Did you ever stop and ask, why was it their responsibility to cover Noah? Where was Noah’s wife? And why would Noah get so drunk in the first place?

Could it have simply been that she had already died…perhaps even recently to warrant Noah’s act of getting drunk? According to Archbishop Ussher, the events at Babel occurred about 106 years after the Flood (according to the Bible about 3-4 generations had been born, so this is in the ballpark but may be off a little.) This means that this event occurred in less than this time, which is enough for Canaan to be born (Ham’s youngest) and cursed by Noah when he awoke.

If this were the case, then Noah and Mrs. Noah could have had defective genes that were passed to their sons and this could explain why Shem only lived to 600 years, Noah’s wife is missing in Genesis 9, and why ages began dropping.

Further, this explains one aspect of how this could have coupled in subsequent generations to drop the ages even further.

Common Denominator Of All People Today

All people today go back to Noah and his wife (Mrs. Noah). So, something with reduced aging has to come through them. Consider the name of Noah and the prophecy associated with it:

And he called his name Noah, saying, "This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed." (Genesis 5:29)

Noah’s name literally means “rest”. This is obviously looking back to Genesis 3:17-19, where the “ground was cursed” due to sin, “by the sweat of your brow” and “through painful toil will you work” the ground.

How can we have rest or comfort in this? It is by either better ways to doing the work…or not doing it as long. Commentators have long stated many ideas on this such as Noah comforting us in being a type of Christ with the Ark. Others have pointed out that this relates to the post-Flood statement by God that He would no longer curse the ground with new curses due to man’s sake, among other comments too.

Some have said that this was the advent of farming, however, Adam worked the ground (Genesis 3:23) and so did Cain (Genesis 4:2-3). So, this may not be the best interpretation. Consider:

Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them." (Revelation 14:13)

This verse gives support to the idea that rest or comfort from work and labor, means that you have died and now rest in the Lord. Let’s face it, the people after Noah did not work for 900 years, but far less than that by the sheer fact that they did not live that long.

Could Genesis 5:29 mean that through Noah people would not live as long and therefore have rest concerning their work and toil? It is possible. I’m sure an entire book could be written on the subject.

Conclusion

There are goo logical reasons, starting with God’s Word, that the ages of the patriarchs are indeed really old. But the real question remains—why do they die so early? Instead of living 5,000 years old, why so young at 900?

We are in a sin-cursed and broken world where death reigns due to man’s sin. God forbid man from reaching out and taking form the Tree of Life and living forever in a sin-broken world. He even put Cherubim with flaming swords to block that path.

Man would eventually die (surely die) just as God said due to our sin. But the fact remains, that God solved the sin-death problem with His Son, Christ Jesus.

When Jesus died on the cross, God’s wrath was satisfied to punish Him instead of us. Christ, being God Himself, could endure that punishment and walk out of the grave, since He is the God of life.

In heaven, 900 years is but a blink of the eye. For in heaven, those who repent and trust in Jesus Christ, and His death, burial and resurrection, will live forever in perfection again with God and all His eternal blessings. We will, never die but have eternal life.

□

Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist since 1998 helping out in various churches and running an apologetics website. He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight Council. 

Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children.

Portions originally at Answers in Genesis; Edited; Republished by permission.

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[1] Raul Lopez, Jr., Radiocarbon and the Longevity of Prediluvian Patriarchs, CRSQ, Vol. 62, Number 1, Summer 2025, p. 32-52.

[2] David Menton and Georgia Purdom, The New Answers Book Volume 2, Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, gen. eds., Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2009.

Methuselah The Great

 Methuselah The Great

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, May 14, 2025 (Donate)

Prior to the Flood, people lived to great ages. In fact, one still hasn’t died—Enoch. Enoch was taken to heaven without dying (Genesis 5:24, Hebrews 11:5). Elijah was also taken to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11).

Conversely, there have been a few people who had a horrible “opportunity” to die twice.  Lazarus, whom Jesus resurrected (John 11:39-44), the dead son that Elijah resurrected through the Lord (1 Kings 17:19-24), Elisha, through God, raising the son of a Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:32-37) and Eutychus though God by the embrace of Paul (Acts 20:9-12) had to once again undergo dying. Though in Christ, death has no sting for those who have received Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:55)—what a blessing!

An aged Methuselah as shown in Creation Museum; Photo by Bodie Hodge

Age

Of those who died, Methuselah is the longest-lived patriarch at 969 years. He even outlived Adam, who died at 930, and his grandson Noah, who died at 950. See the chart below:

	Patriarch	Age	Bible Reference
1	Adam	930	Genesis 5:4
2	Seth	912	Genesis 5:8
3	Enosh	905	Genesis 5:11
4	Cainan	910	Genesis 5:14
5	Mahalalel	895	Genesis 5:17
6	Jared	962	Genesis 5:20
7	Enoch	365 (translated)	Genesis 5:23
8	Methuselah	969	Genesis 5:27
9	Lamech	777	Genesis 5:31
10	Noah	950	Genesis 9:29

Name

It’s somewhat ironic that Methuselah, whose name partially resembles the Hebrew word for “death,” would be the one who lived the longest. The name is often interpreted to mean “man of the dart” or “man of the sword.”

Hebrew names in the Bible often carry significance, either inherently or retroactively. For example, Peleg means “division,” and he lived when the earth was divided linguistically at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 10:25). Abraham means “father of a multitude,” reflecting God’s promise (Genesis 15:5). Noah means “rest,” and through him, humanity found relief from the curse of the ground by the reduced the years they had work it (our ages declined significantly after Noah). 

Hebrew names can be deeply meaningful, though not all names in Scripture are given explicit definitions. The Bible doesn’t specify the meaning of Methuselah’s name like it does for Noah. Interpretations must therefore be made cautiously. 

Some derive meaning by examining the root words. For instance, muwth means “die/death” in Hebrew. Some suggest Methuselah’s name, derived from meth/muth and selah, hints at the coming Flood.

A leading Hebrew scholar of the 1700s, Dr. John Gill, affirmed this interpretation:

“...Enoch being a prophet gave him this name under a spirit of prophecy, foretelling by it when the flood should be; for his name, according to Bochart, signifies, 'when he dies there shall be an emission,' or sending forth of waters upon the earth, to destroy it.”
(Notes by Gill: Eupolemus apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 17. p. 419; Bochart, Thaleg. l. 2. c. 13. col. 88; Ainsworth.)[1]

Gill echoed earlier scholars such as Eusebius, Bochart, and Ainsworth. Commentators Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown agreed:

“This name signifies, ‘He dieth, and the sending forth,’ so that Enoch gave it as prophetical of the flood. It is computed that Methuselah died in the year of that catastrophe.”[2]

This interpretation is also based on the Greek form of Methuselah’s name as found in Luke 3:37: Μαθουσαλά (Mathousala), which the New Testament Greek Lexicon defines as:

“When he dies, there shall be an emission.”[3]

Thus, some scholars argue that Methuselah’s name prophetically signals the arrival of the Flood—"when he dies, it shall come."

However, not all scholars agree. Dr. Ben Shaw, a Hebrew scholar formerly of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, offers a linguistic rebuttal:

“…it is extremely unlikely that the name Methuselah has the significance that Gill and others give to it. It is unlikely for the following reasons. The name is made up of two parts: Methu and shelah.

The methu part does not come from the word for death, because that would require a long u vowel between the m and the t. As it is, if this part of the name has any significance, it may come from a rare noun meaning "man." The second part of the name cannot mean ‘it is sent’ or ‘there is an emission.’ Even supposing that the root meaning of the word is send (which is doubtful), it would have to be in a passive form, producing something like ‘shahluh.’ In order to produce the meaning, ‘when he dies, it is sent,’ the Hebrew would have to be something like ‘bematoshahluh.’ Again, if the name means anything in Hebrew (which is at best doubtful), it is probably something like ‘man of a spear.’”[4]

So, while it’s tempting to assign prophetic meaning to Methuselah’s name, it may be unwise to be definitive. Regardless, the Flood occurred the same year Methuselah died.

Enoch’s Prophecy

Methuselah’s father, Enoch—not Cain’s son but Noah’s great-grandfather—was said to be a prophet (Jude 1:14). There exists a so-called Book of Enoch, which is not inspired Scripture. It is a post-Flood work—or at least had been seriously edited after the Flood, as it references geography that didn’t exist until after the Flood. So, it has been edited or rewritten significantly to arrive at what we have today.

While Jude 14–15 does quote a phrase also found in the Book of Enoch (1:9), it simply means that the quote used by Jude was inspired by God; the rest of the Book of Enoch was not.

So, is the version of Enoch we have today really from the pre-Flood prophet? No—except for possible snippets. It’s not part of the biblical canon and refers to Mt. Sinai, which didn’t exist in Enoch’s time (it is mountain made as a result of the Flood).

What we do know is that Enoch was responsible for the naming of his son (no doubt with his wife!). Thus, it is possible that Enoch prophetically named Methuselah, as some believe.

The Death Of Methuselah

If you match the ages of the patriarchs, Methuselah died in the same year as the Flood.

Illustration by Bodie Hodge

Though some mistakenly think he died in the Flood, this is unlikely. Methuselah was raised by Enoch, a godly man whom God took without death. It's unlikely Enoch would have raised an unrighteous son. In fact, Methuselah may have actually helped Noah in the construction phase of the Ark. But his death would have preceded the Flood.

7-Day Mourning Period

Some have suggested that Methuselah died immediately before the Flood. Whether this is true or not, we cannot be certain. God instructed Noah and His family to board the Ark seven days in advance was for several reasons (Genesis 7:1,4,10). Obviously, one reason was to complete the final phase of loading the animals (Genesis 7:2-9). Also, this was a final test of faith for Noah and his family with the final boarding being on the seventh day (Genesis 7:11-16). 

But keep in mind that it was common for prominent people to have designated times of mourning after they passed (Genesis 27:41, Genesis 50:4, Deuteronomy 34:8, 2 Samuel 11:27, etc.), though, there were surely many who had mourning periods that are simply not mentioned in the Bible. In light of this, some have suggested that these seven days were also a grieving period for Methuselah. While speculative, it would be a fitting tribute.

Less Than Ten

With the passing of Methuselah and the recent passing of Lamech (just a few years before), we pause to realize that there were only 8 righteous people left on earth. In other words, less than ten people were saved on the Ark. 

Do you remember Abraham and his discussion with the Lord over Sodom (where Lot was living when judgment was decreed per Genesis 18:26-32)—Abraham’s pleading from 50 down to 10 righteous. Abraham did not proceed to go less than ten righteous people when pleading for Sodom. Why? I suggest Abraham knew that judgment would come if there were less than ten which is a reflection of his knowledge of the Flood.

Methuselah and Lamech had recently died, and this left eight in the shadow of Noah’s righteousness. So, judgment was coming, but the Lord also prepared a means of salvation for Noah and his family on the Ark, as He did by sending the angels to bring out Lot and his family from Sodom.

Conclusion

Even someone mentioned only seven times in Scripture—mostly in genealogies—can yield valuable truths when studied. It can also leave wondering about the intricacies of his name too!

My hope is that you will be inspired to get into the Bible and discover more about hosts of others, whose names we may not be able to pronounce very well, but gain gleanings that most gloss over.

Many names appear in Scripture, even strange ones like Methuselah, but keep in mind these names are still part of the Holy Bible and profitable for understanding doctrines (2 Timothy 3:16). And consider this final thought: we are all descendants of Noah—which means we are all descendants of our great, great, great…grandfather Methuselah—I hope you enjoyed reading this cousin!  

Originally here: https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/genealogy/when-did-methuselah-die/; Updated and expanded; Republished by permission. 

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[1] John Gill commentary notes on Genesis 5:21.

[2] Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary notes on Genesis 5:21.

[3] New Testament Greek Lexicon as listed under Methuselah, 3103, http://www.biblestudytools.com/search/?q=methuselah&s=References&rc=LEX&rc2=LEX+GRK.  

[4] Personal Correspondence by the author with Dr. Ben Shaw over the name Methuselah, 7-8-2010.

Ancient Patriarchs in Genesis

Ancient Patriarchs in Genesis

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, April 3, 2025 (Donate)

Imagine the possible headlines of long ago:

“Methuselah and Adam have long talk”
“Noah outlives great, great, great grandson Peleg”
“Shem and Abraham go fishing”

Many people are unfamiliar with the historical figures in Genesis. It is sometimes difficult to believe that people lived such long lives, too—although they did. There is much to learn from these patriarchs (an early father of the human race).

In heaven our lives will overlap for eternity! Even in the original creation, God designed man to live forever, but due to sin and the Fall in Genesis 3, man was sentenced to death—to return to dust. It is appointed for man to live once and then die and face judgment. It is for this reason that we need a Savior in Jesus Christ to save us from death.

Even Moses was a young pup compared to these ancient patriarchs in Genesis; 

Picture by Bodie Hodge

What we live today though, is miniscule compared to the great ages of the ancient patriarchs in Genesis.

The Great Ages

Many of the ancient people listed in the Bible’s genealogies lived very long lives. Methuselah holds the title of oldest-known man who died at 969 years old (interestingly his father Enoch outlived him and has still not tasted death!). After Methuselah died, the Flood came.

After the Flood, we see the ages of these men declining. For example, Noah lived to be 950 years old, Shem to 600, Shelah to 433, and Abraham to 175.

	Patriarch	Age	Bible reference
1	Adam	930	Genesis 5:4
2	Seth	912	Genesis 5:8
3	Enosh	905	Genesis 5:11
4	Cainan	910	Genesis 5:14
5	Mahalalel	895	Genesis 5:17
6	Jared	962	Genesis 5:20
7	Enoch	365 (translated)	Genesis 5:23
8	Methuselah	969	Genesis 5:27
9	Lamech	777	Genesis 5:31
10	Noah	950	Genesis 9:29
11	Shem	600	Genesis 11:10–11
12	Arphaxad	438	Genesis 11:12–13
13	Shelah	433	Genesis 11:14–15
14	Eber	464	Genesis 11:16–17
15	Peleg	239	Genesis 11:18–19
16	Reu	239	Genesis 11:20–21
17	Serug	230	Genesis 11:22–23
18	Nahor	148	Genesis 11:24–25
19	Terah	205	Genesis 11:32
20	Abram (Abraham)	175	Genesis 25:7
21	Isaac	180	Genesis 35:28–29
22	Jacob (Israel)	147	Genesis 47:28
23	Joseph	110	Genesis 50:22, 26

Table 1. Ages of the Patriarchs from Adam to Joseph

Until the Flood (Noah’s day), living to about 900 years old was the norm . . . unless you were Enoch or Lamech. Like Elijah, Enoch was translated without dying (Genesis 5:23; Hebrews 11:5). Noah’s father Lamech, it seems, was a bit unusual by being about a quarter of a century away from making 800.

Lamech and Shem were the only two listed as being born before the Flood that didn’t reach 800. We simply do not know how old Japheth or Ham lived—it could have been about the same as Shem or they could have still lived upwards of 900! We simply do not know.

The Overlaps

Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine that Abraham could have spoken to Shem (Noah’s son), who surely talked to his great-grandfather Methuselah, who in turn could have spoken to Adam, the first man, directly. Although the Bible never records that Adam and Methuselah or Abraham and Shem met, that possibility is likely. Consider the other patriarchs that could have talked to one another:

Table 2. Patriarchs from Adam to Israel (Jacob)

Everyone today shares the same lineage from Adam to Noah, since only Noah’s family survived the Flood. After the Flood, Noah’s three sons and wives populated the earth. Noah had three sons: Japheth, Shem, and Ham (Genesis 9:24, 10:21).

The list of men in the table above record Shem’s line to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who is also called Israel. Israel had twelve sons, and through his son Judah, the Bible traces the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Luke 3:23–38). The book of Genesis ends with the death of Joseph at 110 years old, one of Israel’s others sons.

Extra-biblical Support

Other ancient cultures have legendary periods or ancient kings lists that support the vast ages of the patriarchs. For example, the Sumerian kings list has eight kings whose lives span a great period of time. Then, accordingly, the Flood came. Removing Enoch, who was translated, and Noah, who survived the Flood, these eight could easily “match up” with remaining pre-Flood patriarchs.[1]

Greek myths point to the patriarchs as well, equating Zeus and Hera as deified corruptions of Adam and Eve.[2] The Chinese also have a legendary period with various rulers. Some researchers have said:

“Could it be that the Legendary Period recalls a time when the ancestors of China’s first dynasties were indeed kin to Noah’s descendants before the great dispersion of mankind over the earth? 

Since all peoples of earth are descended from Noah or his sons, the early Chinese ancestors were likely contemporaries of Noah, who lived 350 years after the flood (Genesis 9:28). Therefore, information could have been passed to them by word-of-mouth, even Noah himself. He in turn, obtained historical data from his father Lamech, who was 56 years old when Adam died. 

Thus, all the details of creation and life before the flood could have been passed to the Chinese from Adam with only two intermediaries, Lamech and Noah.”[3]

Such recollections support the idea that information passed from Noah to his descendants who then spread across the globe. (though other accounts were prone to corruption).

Are There Gaps?

The genealogies are very specific in giving the age of the father when the son is born.[4] However, in some translations of the Bible in Luke 3:36, there seems to be an extra Cainan. Because of this, some have proposed that there may be gaps in the genealogies. However, one needs to understand this specific instance better. Expositor Dr. John Gill points out:

“This Cainan is not mentioned by Moses in #Ge 11:12 nor has he ever appeared in any Hebrew copy of the Old Testament, nor in the Samaritan version, nor in the Targum; nor is he mentioned by Josephus, nor in #1Ch 1:24 where the genealogy is repeated; nor is it in Beza’s most ancient Greek copy of Luke: it indeed stands in the present copies of the Septuagint, but was not originally there; and therefore could not be taken by Luke from thence, but seems to be owing to some early negligent transcriber of Luke’s Gospel, and since put into the Septuagint to give it authority: I say “early,” because it is in many Greek copies, and in the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, even in the Syriac, the oldest of them; but ought not to stand neither in the text, nor in any version: for certain it is, there never was such a Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, for Salah was his son; and with him the next words should be connected. . . .”[5]

This appears to have been one of a few copyist mistakes that have crept into the manuscripts after Luke wrote the original, inspired manuscript.[6] Others have pointed out how this error could have occurred rather easily.[7] There is no legitimate reason to introduce gaps into the genealogies—other than the desire to extend the dates based on extra-biblical ideas.

Conclusion

The book of Genesis spans nearly one-third of world history, but sadly in today’s church, much of it is overlooked. Perhaps if we realized the heritage that each of us have from these ancient patriarchs, we would gain a better understanding of where we came from and where we are going. Romans 4:3, NKJV, says:

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Surely, there is much to learn from our ancestors.

Updated from: https://answersingenesis.org/bible-characters/ancient-patriarchs-in-genesis/; Reprinted with Permission

Footnotes

1. Raúl Erlando López, “The Antediluvian Patriarchs and the Sumerian King List,” TJ 12 no. 3 (1998):347–357.
2. Robert Bowie Johnson, Jr., “Athena and Eve,” TJ 17 no. 3 (2003):85–92.
3. Ethel Nelson, Richard Broadberry, and Ginger Chock, God’s Promise to the Chinese (Dunlap, Tennessee: Read Books Publisher, 1997), p. 118.
4. See also Ken Ham, gen. ed., The New Answers Book 2 (Green Forest, Arkansas: Master Books, 2008), pp. 173–182.
5. Dr. John Gill, Commentary notes on Genesis 3:36, adapted from the Online Bible.
6. Copyist mistakes do not affect inspiration or inerrancy. It is the original manuscripts that were inerrant, and as fallible copyists made mistakes these things can be traced via textual criticism to preserve the text. Please see the following article for a more complete explanation by Dr. Ron Rhodes: “Manuscript Support for the Bible’s Reliability.”
7. Ken Ham, gen. ed., The New Answers Book 2 (Green Forest, Arkansas: Master Books, 2008), pp. 296–297.

 

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[1] Raúl Erlando López, “The Antediluvian Patriarchs and the Sumerian King List,” TJ 12 no. 3 (1998):347–357.

[2] Robert Bowie Johnson, Jr., “Athena and Eve,” TJ 17 no. 3 (2003):85–92.

[3] Ethel Nelson, Richard Broadberry, and Ginger Chock, God’s Promise to the Chinese (Dunlap, Tennessee: Read Books Publisher, 1997), p. 118.

[4] See also Ken Ham, gen. ed., The New Answers Book 2 (Green Forest, Arkansas: Master Books, 2008), pp. 173–182.

[5] Dr. John Gill, Commentary notes on Genesis 3:36, adapted from the Online Bible.

[6] Copyist mistakes do not affect inspiration or inerrancy. It is the original manuscripts that were inerrant, and as fallible copyists made mistakes these things can be traced via textual criticism to preserve the text. Please see the following article for a more complete explanation by Dr. Ron Rhodes: “Manuscript Support for the Bible’s Reliability.”

[7] Ken Ham, gen. ed., The New Answers Book 2 (Green Forest, Arkansas: Master Books, 2008), pp. 296–297.