Biblical longevity

From RationalWiki

Some characters in the Bible simply live too long (in terms of hundreds of years^[1]) despite God's command after the flood which puts an upper bound on human life at 120 years. This divine decree is a problem for many literal interpretations of the Bible, not least because Jeanne Calment lived to be 122, but also because some Biblically characters subvert the decree, leading to a quite a hefty contradiction in scripture.

Contents 1 The scriptures says... 2 Examples 3 Possible explanations 4 See also 5 Footnotes

[edit] The scriptures says...

After God has seen how wicked humanity is, he decrees an upper limit to the age of humans after the flood.

Genesis 6:3
And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

If this statement is true, we should not expect anyone to have a life longer than 120 years after the flood. However, in later passages of the Bible there are people who blatantly defy this command and live far more than 120 years.

[edit] Examples

• Noah lived for 950^[2] years (That's longer than Adam!)
  • It's 350 years even if you don't count the years he lived before the flood.^[3]
  • Although the rule may have not been retroactively applied (he may have been grandfathered in).
• Shem lived for like 600^[4] years, so he pretty much got grandfathered in as well.
  • It's not clear why Japheth is not grandfathered in as well (Ham probably did not get grandfathered in due to the Curse of Ham)
• Pretty much every one of Shem's firstborn descendants^[5] as well (Extends all the way to Jacob!^[6])

[edit] Possible explanations

• Some suggested that free will enables an individual to defy God's commands, and the reduction of human lifespan is no exception.
• Allegedly, there is a conspiracy theory which explains the differentiation.
• Records on the naturalistic explanations for the difference in life expectancy was eaten by the goats, and the Bible is patched subsequently to accommodate that.

[edit] See also

• Guide to Genesis
• Rationalwiki:Annotated Bible/Genesis

[edit] Footnotes

1. ↑ That's before we count
   • 2 Peter 3:8
     But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
     
   and other time-dilation/expansion events/techniques.
2. ↑ Genesis 9:29
   
3. ↑ Genesis 9:28
   And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
   
4. ↑ Genesis 11:10-11
   These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
   And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
   
5. ↑ Genesis 11:12-32
   
6. ↑ After Terah they are:
   • Abraham: Genesis 25:7
   • Issac: Genesis 35:28
   • Jacob: Genesis 47:28