At the beginning of Genesis, we read of a number of extraordinarily long lives at the beginning of human history. In Genesis 5, we read, “Adam lived 930 years … Seth lived 912 years … Enosh lived 905 years … Kenan lived 910 years … Mahalalel lived 895 years … Jared lived 962 years … Methuselah lived 969 years … Lamech lived 777 years … Noah lived 950 years.” These ages come in the record of the genealogy of Seth — Adam and Eve’s son, given by God to replace Abel. The ages of Seth’s descendants pose a number of challenges for the modern reader. Some modern interpreters have suggested that this genealogy belongs to a mythopoetic narrative written to compete with other ancient near-eastern mythopoetic origin stories, while the better part of the Christian church throughout history has taken this genealogy to be historically factual record of the primitive history of mankind. Before we seek a rationale for the length and the shortening of the lifespan of humanity, we need to be settled on the historicity of the narrative. Read the full article by Nicholas Batzig at Feeding on Christ.
2021-07-04