It is absolutely fascinating how the Lord has allowed this to transpire as it has. The Septuagint Rabbis' fudging of the numbers did not challenge the faith of the early Christians as they had no other evidence to the contrary. It is only after more truth has been discovered that we come to a better conclusion regarding the listed ages; that the Masoretic is probably the most accurate.
It is hard not to notice that God seems to be clarifying his Scripture as time goes on, the opposite as what you'd expect. At least this is how it appears to me.
One last note on this is that perhaps the Rabbis did not consider the numbers to be holy, precise or exact, leading them to justify the manipulation (though it was still wrong). Perhaps it was the view of the Rabbis that the listed ages were purely symbolic and changing them made no real difference to the faith. Interesting attitude.
This is less satisfying than numerology because it suggests that scriptures are subject to manipulation and human machinations, which lead one to doubt the whole canon. Curious what your take is!
It is absolutely fascinating how the Lord has allowed this to transpire as it has. The Septuagint Rabbis' fudging of the numbers did not challenge the faith of the early Christians as they had no other evidence to the contrary. It is only after more truth has been discovered that we come to a better conclusion regarding the listed ages; that the Masoretic is probably the most accurate.
It is hard not to notice that God seems to be clarifying his Scripture as time goes on, the opposite as what you'd expect. At least this is how it appears to me.
One last note on this is that perhaps the Rabbis did not consider the numbers to be holy, precise or exact, leading them to justify the manipulation (though it was still wrong). Perhaps it was the view of the Rabbis that the listed ages were purely symbolic and changing them made no real difference to the faith. Interesting attitude.
This is less satisfying than numerology because it suggests that scriptures are subject to manipulation and human machinations, which lead one to doubt the whole canon. Curious what your take is!