Said to have died at the age of 969, he lived the longest of all. The fact that he dies in the same year as the flood could even mean he was killed by it. Methuselah was a biblical patriarch and a figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He might have been devout like his father, or he might not. Strictly speaking, we don't know anything about Methuselah or his relationship with God. Clearly, most of his children were not followers of God-only his grandson Noah would be rescued by God. What's also intriguing about Methuselah are questions about his life, and his character. This makes the depth of sin during Noah's era all the more tragic. There were men and women walking the earth who had seen, personally, what had happened in the past, and who God was. Genesis 5:5 tells us that the first man, Adam. And yet, the history of mankind was not lost or obscure. Genesis 5 is the earliest chapter in the Bible that documents the ages of the earliest men of our civilization. Genesis chapter 6 describes humanity at the end of Methuselah's life as deeply depraved (Genesis 6:5). Right up the point of destruction, mankind still had access to (at worst) second-hand accounts of the origins of our entire race. This, combined with the fact that Methuselah was born prior to the death of Adam, is especially important. It can be taken to mean "man of the dart," or "his death brings judgment." As it turns out, according to the ages given in this chapter, Methuselah will die in the same year as the flood. Methuselah's name has a dual interpretation. Methuselah also outlives his son, Lamech, who will die five years before him. The oldest person to live in the Bible was Methuselah, who lived to be 969 years old,and when he died, his son Lamech became the oldest man alive. Among these, of course, are his long life, and the unusual fate of his father, Enoch (Genesis 5:24). However, there are some aspects of his life which are remarkable. Jareds age was given as 962 years old when he died (when Noah was 366), making him the second-oldest person mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint. His story ends with the common phrase, "and he died." He is said to have fathered many sons and daughters. In some respects, Methuselah's story is just like the others recorded in this genealogy. Even today, modern biology suggests that length of life is far more influenced by biology and environment than anything else: living things die because of corruption. So, given that both human biology and human environments were "brand new," it's not shocking to imagine people surviving to extraordinary old age. And, humanity had not yet suffered the effects of long-term genetic decay. Nearly perfectly-clean air, food, and water would have been the norm. The earth of this era would have been free from most diseases and pollution. The long lifespans of this chapter can be attributed to many possible effects. Modern people sometimes jokingly refer to a very old person as "Methuselah." At 969 years, Methuselah not only lived more than 200 years in parallel with Adam, he saw the world as it was just prior to the great flood. Methuselah's status as the oldest person recorded in the Bible is the reason his name is often a punchline.
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