"Thinking Eternally, Acting Locally." - Neal August
We are all familiar with the name Methuselah. His name is synonymous with old-age. He is known as the longest living man recorded in Scripture, coming in at a whopping 969 years (Genesis 5:27).
Now I am not going to go into the subject of the possibility of someone actually living that long. I am not going into the subject of the Ancient Near Eastern cultures’ understanding of antiquity. That, in antiquity, the Ancient Near Eastern culture’s recorded great men of their antiquity as living hundreds and thousands of year is of no concern here. This article is not about the subject of inerrancy.
Rather, I am concerned with the subject as to how Methuselah died. Most people assume that he died of old-age. I mean, if someone today dies at the age of 96, we assume he died of old age. Now if a person died at the age of 969, then old age is a sure bet. … But is it?
Follow my math here:
Methuselah was 187 when he begat his son Lamech (5:26)
Lamech was 182 when he begat his son Noah (5:28-29).
At the time Lamech was 182 and begetting Noah, Methuselah was 369.
Now Noah was 500 when he begat his sons Ham, Shem, and Japheth (5:32), who we must assume were triplets.
At the time that Noah was 500 and begetting Ham, Shem, and Japheth, Noah’s father, Lamech, was 682 years old. Noah’s grandfather, Methuselah was 869 years old.
Now at the time of the flood, Noah was 600 years old (7:6) and his three sons were each 100.
In verse 5:30, Lamech is said to have lived 595 after the birth of Noah. If he was 182 at the birth of Noah, and lived 595 more years, then Lamech would have died at the age of 777 (5:31), five years before the flood.
Now Methuselah was 869 years of age at the birth of Noah’s three sons when Noah was 500. If the flood came when Noah was 600 and his three sons were 100, the flood would have come when Methuselah was 969. And, as Genesis 5:27 says, Methuselah died at the age of 969.
Therefore, Methuselah outlived his son, Lamech, by five years, and died the same year as the great flood that destroyed all life.
So my question is: HOW DID METHUSELAH DIE? Did he die of natural causes just before the flood or did he die as a result of the flood? The Bible is silent about this.
The Bible does not make any assertions about the faith of Methuselah, either positive or negative or righteous or unrighteous.
The answer to how Methuselah died must remain a mystery for some time.
3 comments:
I didn't know you were a mathematician, but that is pretty good stuff...I did not check your math, but I assume you are correct. You have convinced me that it is highly probable that Methuselah died of drowning...in the great deluge. In that case, I guess we should call people who drown, "Methuselahs" or the act of drowning, "Methuselahed." Let's start a crusade to bring back the more probable original meaning of "Methuselah"
Yes, and everyone who does not hold to our belief about the fatal baptism of Methuselah are liberals and errantists and don't believe what the Bible says.
[Editor's Note: This is all said in jest. The author does not want to start a second SBC Conservative Resurgence to cleanse our seminaries from "non-drowning Methuselites".]
Methuselah's name in Hebrew means, "when he dies, it shall come." He may have been killed, considering the earth was filled with violence, or he died of old age. I don't believe he was killed by the flood.
Jeremy
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