Growing up I always believed the oldest man who ever lived
was Methuselah, who lived 969 years. I
remember asking how Methuselah could be the oldest man who ever lived if he
died before his father died – see Genesis 5:21-24. But is it realistic to believe men lived that
long only a few thousand years ago?
The Literal Interpretation of Patriarch Ages
Table 3-1 gives us the ages of all the patriarchs if we
interpret the word “year” in Genesis 1-11 to literally mean an actual
year. With this interpretation, seven
patriarchs lived more than 900 years, and all of the first 14 patriarchs lived
365 years or more. But when Abram, whose
name was changed to Abraham, died at 175 years of age, Genesis says something
for the first time - “Abraham
lived a hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Then
Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of
years; and he was gathered to his people.” (Genesis 2:7-8)
Why would this be said about a patriarch who died at a
younger age than 18 of the 19 patriarchs who preceded him?
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Table 3-1 – PATRIARCHAL
GENEOLOGY BASED ON LITERAL YEARS
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PATRIARCH NAME
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YEAR OF BIRTH
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YEARS TO BIRTH OF CHILD
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YEARS LIVED AFTER BIRTH OF CHILD
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TOTAL YEARS LIVED
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YEAR OF DEATH
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CALENDAR YEAR OF BIRTH BC
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CALENDAR YEAR OF DEATH BC
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Adam
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0
|
130
|
800
|
930
|
930
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3,948
|
3,018
|
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Seth
|
130
|
105
|
807
|
912
|
1,042
|
3,818
|
2,906
|
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Enosh
|
235
|
90
|
815
|
905
|
1,140
|
3,713
|
2,808
|
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Kenan
|
325
|
70
|
840
|
910
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1,235
|
3,623
|
2,713
|
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Mahalalel
|
395
|
65
|
830
|
895
|
1,290
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3,553
|
2,658
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Jared
|
460
|
162
|
800
|
962
|
1,422
|
3,488
|
2,526
|
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Enoch
|
622
|
65
|
300
|
365
|
987
|
3,326
|
2,961
|
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Methuselah *
|
687
|
187
|
782
|
969
|
1,656
|
3,261
|
2,292
|
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Lamech
|
874
|
182
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595
|
777
|
1,651
|
3,074
|
2,297
|
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Noah
|
1,056
|
502
|
448
|
950
|
2,006
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2,892
|
1,942
|
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Flood
|
1,656
|
|
|
2,292
|
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Shem
|
1,558
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100
|
500
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600
|
2,158
|
2,390
|
1,790
|
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Arphaxad
|
1,658
|
35
|
403
|
438
|
2,096
|
2,290
|
1,852
|
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Shelah
|
1,693
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30
|
403
|
433
|
2,126
|
2,255
|
1,822
|
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Eber
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1,723
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34
|
430
|
464
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2,187
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2,225
|
1,761
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Peleg
|
1,757
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30
|
209
|
239
|
1,996
|
2,191
|
1,952
|
|
Reu
|
1,787
|
32
|
207
|
239
|
2,026
|
2,161
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1,922
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Serug
|
1,819
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30
|
200
|
230
|
2,049
|
2,129
|
1,899
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Nahor
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1,849
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29
|
119
|
148
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1,997
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2,099
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1,951
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Terah
|
1,878
|
70
|
135
|
205
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2,083
|
2,070
|
1,865
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Abram **
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1,948
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100+
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up to 75
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175
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2,123
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2,000
|
1,825
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*
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Note that Methuselah died the same year as the flood.
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**
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Abram’s birth is assumed to have occurred in 2000 BC.
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References to Abraham’s advanced age actually begin much
earlier in his life. God promises Abram
in Genesis 15:15 that “You,
however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. Given the lifespans of the previous 14 patriarchs,
whose average age at death was more than 600 years, this promise would probably
have created an expectation that Abram would live hundreds of years more than
175. Later at the age of 99, when God
promised him he would have a son from his wife Sarah, Abraham laughed and said,
“Will a son be born to a man a hundred
years old? Will Sarah bear a child at
the age of ninety?” (Genesis 17:17) This
seems a strange response from someone whose ancestors were having children even
at 500 years of age. Instead, the
response is typical of modern men who most often have children between 20 and 60
years of age, and for women who tend to lose the ability to bear children
between 40 and 50 years of age.
Genesis 18:11 tells us, “Abraham
and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the
age of childbearing.” When Isaac
was born, Genesis 21:2 says “Sarah became
pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age.” Again, this sounds like something we would say
about people today, not about people who lived to be nearly 1,000 years of age
and were having children when hundreds of years old.
When Abraham did die at 175 years of age, three older
patriarchs were still living – including Shem, who was born nine generations
earlier before the flood and was 565 years old at the time. Shelah was 430 years old at the time. Eber, Abraham’s great-great-great-great
grandfather was a youthful 400 years of age when Abraham died. So why describe Abraham as being at a good
old age and full of years when only one of the 19 patriarchs before him had
died at an earlier age?
Many Bible commentators say the book of Genesis was most
likely written by Moses, perhaps between 1400 and 1500 BC. If we accept this as well as the literal
interpretation of the timeline, then all of the patriarchs would have been dead
by the time the book of Genesis was written.
The Alternative Interpretation of Patriarch Ages
If we interpret the word “year” to mean “generation,” the
lifespans of the patriarchs in Genesis are seen much differently. With this interpretation we can assume the
patriarchs prior to Abraham had lifespans similar to people today. This would then make the comments about
Abraham’s and Sarah’s advanced ages consistent with the historical context in
Genesis.
Does this mean Abraham was the oldest patriarch? No.
Let’s look at the next two generations – Isaac, Abraham’s son, Jacob,
Abraham’s grandson, and Joseph, Abraham’s great-grandson.
Genesis 35:28-29 tell us, “Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years.
Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and
full of years.” Again 180 years is
considered old for a man, which would not be the case if the Patriarchs lived
to an average of 600 years of age.
Isaac’s son Jacob, renamed Israel, was the father who gave
his son Joseph a coat of many colors.
After being told Joseph had been killed, Jacob later learns Joseph is a
ruler in Egypt. When Jacob finally moves
to Egypt and meets Pharaoh, the first thin Pharaoh asks him is, “How old are
you?” (Genesis 47:8) This seems like a
strange question to ask unless he is obviously very old, or unless his son
Joseph is already very old. Jacob
answers in Genesis 47: 9, “The years of
my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty.
My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of
the pilgrimage of my fathers.” This
answer works in both the literal and generational interpretations. But Pharaoh’s question only makes sense in
the generational interpretation. Jacob
ultimately lives to be 147 years old (Genesis 47: 28).
Joseph lives to be 110 years old (Genesis 50:22). This is within what we would call today a
full life, but not beyond current expectations of longevity.
So who was the oldest patriarch? Isaac appears to have this distinction. With a lifespan of 180 years, he surpasses
his father Abraham by five years, and his son Jacob by 33 years.
Why would Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all live to such advanced
ages? Should we consider reaching 175-180
years of age to be possible today if we could overcome current diseases? Given recent advancements in medical
technology, it would seem we should be seeing some people living significantly
more than 120 years. Yet even today it
seems that a lifespan well beyond 120 years is not achievable. Wikipedia tells us only one person in
recorded history has lived more than 120 years, reaching 122 years 164 days,[i] although
reports of a few potentially older people can be found in a quick internet
search.
So how were these patriarchs able to live such long
lives? Perhaps God blessed them with
long lives for their obedience and as a sign of his covenant. Even though 180 years is hard to imagine
today, it is much easier to imagine than 969 years, or averaging more than 600
years of age across 19 generations.
Next issue – When did the Patriarchal clans end?
