Genesis 5 Part 2: Longevity
The Genealogy of Genesis 5
Adam 930 years
Seth 912 years
Enosh 905 years
Kenan 910 years
Mahalalel 895 years
Jared 962 years
Enoch 365 years
Methuselah 969 years
Lamech 777 years
Noah 950 years
The ages of these patriarchs range from 365 years to almost 1,000 years. This seems incredible. How could anyone live this long?
This post will look at a few ideas on how this was able to happen.
Less Sin Around
As there was less time for the full implications of sin to take hold of people, humanity lived longer. At the beginning, sin was not as potent in harming people. But over time, sin multiplied and had a greater impact on the life span of humanity.
DNA degradation
As Adam was God’s first human, he would be physically perfect. His DNA would have been very stable.
DNA is one of the building blocks of life. Damaged DNA can cause health problem. Sin must of had some form of effect on the DNA which resulted in reducing life spans.
Effect of the Sun’s Rays
There is another theory that during the global Flood, the water from above the sky, which was mentioned in Genesis, fell to Earth causing the Flood.
This water vapour canopy was shielding the people from damaging ‘UV radiation’. After the water canopy collapsed, then this reduced their life spans.
Here were a few theories which support the idea of why humanity lived longer in the pre-Flood world.
There are other theories, which we will look at in this series before we look at my own take on it.
The next post will look at another reason for these long lives. They were not just people, but also clans.
The armchair editor in me has come forward, please forgive. This also me reasoning all this out.
Depending on your intended audience, additional reference and discussion may help. Granted this series, along with the Gen11 and Hebrew Astronomy series is presented as something of a first draft. However, I think White Paper format would want to include solid references especially when making potentially controversial claims. I'd venture that this is already in consideration, but it is important to note.
For example, maybe include that the ages listed are drawn from the Masoretic text, and link to something explaining why this was chosen vs the Samaritan or Septuagint.
Less Sin Around is an interesting hypothesis and sounds plausible, but where was this idea drawn from? An academic source? If it is original it may be worth another post delving into further reasoning.
DNA degradation resulting from sin moves into the scientific realm and begs for references, considering the quantity of hard evidence regarding DNA. Same with the Effect of the Sun's Rays. The Water Vapor Canopy hypothesis I have read up on and the science seems tenuous at first glance. However, there are other possible explanations of the source of the rains originating from the "windows of the heavens."
I believe Scripture ultimately supersedes human-discovered facts, but the empirical must be reckoned with.
Proverbs 23:23 "Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding" and Daniel 12:4 "many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.”