How did certain people mentioned in the Old Testament live to be so old ...?

Question

when with all the scientific and medical technology today, the average life expectancy of a man or woman (living in the U.S.) is only to the mid- to late-seventies? (Not being biased, it's just that this is a statistic that I am most familiar with.)

I know that people like Abraham were exceptional in many ways - I am not denying that - so is living so long yet another exception? I mean, man, Abraham only lived to be 175 years old. (Or was he 205 years old?)

And then there's Methuselah, believed to be oldest person at 969 years of age (Gensis 5:27). And he fathered Lamech (father of Noah) when he was 187 years old. What did he do that God allowed him to live so long?

In the modern world, the oldest person died at 122 years of age (Jeanne Calment as noted in the Guiness Book of World Records). (And no, I'm not comparing the authority of these two books.)

Were the lengths of years marked differently?

What secret did these men have that allowed them to live so long?

Answer 1

There are many different ways to interpret these ages, but as a Catholic, these ages are meant to show that these men lived in good health throughout their life -- showing that God had blessed them, in a way. Their ages, according to my church's teachings, are exaggerated, and purposely, so as to convey just how special these people were. Long lives were highly valued, because that meant more children and status in the community, more wisdom, great health, and God's blessing upon you.

Answer 2

The current theory is that there was a canopy of water over the earth at the top of out atmosphere. This did two things. It shielded the earth from harmful UV rays and increased the atmospheric pressure. The oxygen content was about double. And God created man to live for ever. There was no disease, no sickness of any kind. There was nothing to make man age until after the fall. There was also the tree of life in the garden. No one knows just when the fall occured. It could have been a hundred years after creation. It did occur before Cain killed Abel.
A year after creation was the same as it is now.

Answer 3

I once listened to this creationist guy on our local religious show. He's a great public speaker and goes around the nation talking about creationism and tries to get outdated evolutionary proof out of textbooks.

His theory on long life before the flood is that there was essentially a wall of water in the atmosphere (that came down to cause the flood). This wall of water created a higher air pressure, which was like living in a hyperbaric chamber. The increased pressure leads to more oxygen into the body, quicker healing times, and longer life. He had some old testament verses to show this and he shows how it could be scientifically possible. He states this to be a theory, so he's not preaching it as fact. I find him interesting, even if some of his stuff sounds a little out there.

Answer 4

There wasn't have a written history until much later - all oral tradition, and the stories get a bit exaggerated in the telling and retelling over the ages. You ever notice how often 40 is used in the bible - well I've heard that most of the people of that time could really only count to about twice their fingers and toes (20) and therefore 40 is thrown in as a pretty common length of time when you are making a guess. Don't know how accurate that is, but something to toss about. Anyway they definitely didn't have the same way of measuring time we did.

Answer 5

Before the flood in Noah's day, there was an layer of (ice) water that was over our atmosphere (Genesis 1) which keep out harmful rays from the sun, the atmospheric pressure was twice as great as it is now and there was twice as much oxygen in the air as now (the last two we know from air samples traped in amber).

People now a days use sun screen to help block the harmful sun rays, and berimetric champers are use to help people heal better and faster.

Answer 6

More than likely, the life span of many people, in the Old Testament particularly, was exaggerated. Since many of these people were especially revered, people probably said that they were much older than they were because old age was considered a sign of greatness, and the older they were, the better they were.

Answer 7

They kept the Laws of Yahweh, breaking the Laws cause curses could that be the problem with mankind now, they ignore the Laws. The Savior can't save you from the curses, you have to keep the Laws which are your prevention form disease.

http://www.yahweh.com/NAME/theName2.html

Learn how to live.

Answer 8

Well, in my opinion, back then they obviously did not have pollution, fast food/junk food, steroids and growth hormones in meat. And also, before the flood they did not eat meat, just herbs, perhaps this helped? I can only imagine how beautiful and clean the earth was back then!

Answer 9

We don't know what their calendar years were. Maybe they only had 3 or 4 months in a year. That would explain a lot.

Answer 10

They didn't make a habit of eating poison back then and they lived healthier life styles. But now we won't live past 120 years because God ordained so.............something like that (no disrespect intended).