The answer
We are told in Genesis that Adam lived till the age of 930, Methuselah lived till 969. This seemed to have been the norm in those days. The Bible then informs us that the age of man was reduced to 70 or 80 years.
“The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” (Psalm 90: 10)
This psalm was written by Moses (1400 B.C.) who lived till 120. Abraham also lived till 175. So we see that the reduced ages applied to the later generations in the Old Testament.
Some tried to explain this ‘discrepancy’ by claiming that the age of man in the old days was calculated in months and not years; thus 900 months would not exceed 80 years, but this does not agree with the language of the Old Testament. Besides, this notion would contradict what is mentioned before: “Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel” (Gen 5:12) or “Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared.” (Gen 5:15). For if we calculate this in accordance to months, it would mean that his age didn’t exceed six years, which would make his having children next to impossible.
Others claim that maybe those ages refer to a whole family before their extinction, which does not coincide with the language of the Old Testament, as we do not know that any families were totally extinct. However, it can be noted that the age of man was reduced significantly after the flood…
This may be due to environmental changes and weather conditions in addition to the fact that Man was then onwards allowed to eat meat.
- Noah lived for 950 years “So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.” (Gen 9:29)
- Ages were reduced to 600 years “This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.” (Gen 11:10 -11)
- Further reduction to 400 years “Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.” (Gen 11: 14 -15)
- Another reduction to 200 years “Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.” (Gen 11: 20 - 21)
History confirms that in the ancient civilizations many of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks lived for hundreds of years.
Fr. Daoud Lamei