Why did so many people in the Bible live for so long?

Question

i.e: Why did some people live to like 988 years of age or something? And this is a serious question (just thought I'd point that out)

Answer 1

It is not altogether apparent. One thing that is apparent is that everyone who was from the world prior to the great flood lived a very long time. Shem (Noah's son) was the last to live one of these amazingly long life spans. He was from the world that existed prior to the flood. He was on the Ark, and was one of the eight souls that were spared. He lived a long life just like his forefathers but in the new world, successive generations had fairly typical lifespans.

Answer 2

In many of the warm climate countries time was measured by days and moons. In cold climates there is a big difference between Summer and winter, so years are used.
When years were mentioned in the old writings, they meant moon years, twenty eight days. So someone living 988 moon years would be about 78. That's still quite old for those days.

Answer 3

In Genisis, the life spans are given as some 200 years before begetting sons and 988 years after . Either the first humans created lived very long lives or the concept of a year has been interpreted. I reemeber reading that the original scripture contained words that could have been translated as days, month, or years.

Answer 4

Those above who said years where much shorter than they are now, must think Jesus was 5 yrs old when had His ministry and Abraham and Sarah were really worried they'd never have children at their ripe old ages of 15 and 20?

On one hand, they could live longer because there was a great deal less that could kill you, like cancer and pollution, no holes in the ozone, no poisons in the air and water or food. On the other hand, people would have had to live a good long time to be able to populate the Earth. Once it was well populated, there was no more need for people to live so long.

Answer 5

The Bible itself doesn’t give any explanation as to the longevity of the ‘ancients’. Perhaps, it would be better to ask why longevity has decreased over our human history rather than why longevity was relatively long in ancient times.

The average age of people listed throughout the Old Testament steadily declined since the first man, Adam, lived 930 years (with the exception of Methuselah, 969 years). By the time of Abraham, (circa 1975 B.C.) longevity had declined to 175 years. Moses (circa 1450 B.C.) lived 120 years and Joshua, 110 years. Interestingly enough, Moses gives us a clue to the life expectancy of man in his prayer to God in Psalm 90:10:

“Seventy years are given to us!
Some may even reach eighty.
But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble;
soon they disappear, and we are gone.” --Psalm 90:10, NLT

Amazingly close to where life expectancy has leveled out to in modern times. The best conjecture for this decline in longevity is the introduction of sin into the human race. Obviously, since we still don't understand the mechanism of the aging process (except that it has something to do with DNA and specialized genes), a scientific explanation can't be proffered.

The Bible, however, does offer a possible 'spiritual' answer to the query. The proof text can be found in Isaiah 65 where the prophet, Isaiah, is prophesying of a time in the future (elsewhere referred to as the ‘Millennium’) where God creates a new heaven and earth. Notice verse 20 which says people won’t be considered old, even at 100 years old, “but only sinners will die that young!”, says the prophet. Thus, making the connection between sin and the longevity of the human race.


17 “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth—so wonderful that no one will even think about the old ones anymore. 18 Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness. Her people will be a source of joy. 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard no more.

20 “No longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at one hundred! Only sinners will die that young!

21 In those days, people will live in the houses they build and eat the fruit of their own vineyards. 22 It will not be like the past, when invaders took the houses and confiscated the vineyards. For my people will live as long as trees and will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains. 23 They will not work in vain, and their children will not be doomed to misfortune. For they are people blessed by the LORD, and their children, too, will be blessed. 24 I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking to me about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers! 25 The wolf and lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Poisonous snakes will strike no more. In those days, no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain. I, the LORD, have spoken!” Isaiah 65:17-25, NLT

Answer 6

NEW MOON TO NEW MOON WAS TIME IN THE BIBLE

God made Adam in his image. He was to life forever if he did not touch the tree in the middle of the garden. He did and became alienated from God, God's spirit is life of soul.
He almost lived his first day of 1000 years, even after sin or imperfection, in the life sustaining earth before the flood. Adam 930, Jared 962, Methusaleh 969 died in flood year, Noah was age 600 before flood Gen.7:6; Noah gave the exact time and was 375 man days in the flood. Now the life sustaining earth is lost in the flood.
Noah lived 350 years after the flood. Gen.9:28,29;
Shem lived 502 years after the flood Gen.11:10,11; He had 150 years when Abraham was born to live 175 years Gen.25:7,9; 527 years after the flood. Isaac died 632 and
Jacob age 130 Gen.47:9,11,28; 642 years after the flood, has his family in Egypt.
Here their ages are 147, 140, 137, 133, Joseph was age 110. Gen.50:26;
From Moses 120 to 110 was ages down to Eli and Samuel 98 and 100, then king David age 70 and Saul age 69. 1Ki.2:10,11; 11:42; Solomon was 1Ki.6:1 [ 480th year in Promised Land ];
Heaven and earth must be made new again 2Pet.3:13;
Rev.20:1-6,12,13; No Satan.
Adam's offsprings get their chance at 1000 years without the sin he caused.

Answer 7

The majority of theologians believe that the years may not be a whole 365-day cycle. How they counted a year could very well be the time between sow and harvest which is about six months. And it all depends how time was measured and the timely creation of a calendar. Time before the great cities popped up, there's no evidence of calendar use.

To answer your question (finally), I personally don't believe they lived that long. However, if you believe totally in the error-free Bible, then...good luck.

Answer 8

They lived to that age before the great flood. It had never rained before the flood. Water sprang up through the ground. There was a protective canopy of water surrounding the earth's atmosphere before the flood which made the oxygen much purer. And at that time, there were no genetic defects to cause disease.
For more information on this subject you can go to
http://www.answersingenesis.org

Answer 9

Well, if you read Genesis. God first created Adam: Man in his own image which meant infinite years. Than after Eve was tricked by the snake - the first sin started. So, God was very mad and decide to make man and woman suffer. Once we humans - according to the bible started to suffer, the lives got shorter and shorter toward the end. God reduced the years gradually: kind like a punishment and test to see how it all fits with the rest of the animals with limited years.

Answer 10

that is a great question....
after bible study this week i will ask my pastor...
it makes no sense that it took noah hundreds of years to make the ark.
The Bible doesn't say. .....The most obvious possible reason is faster population growth, starting from just two people - in order to have larger families, they would naturally have to live longer. Preservation of knowledge in a new world, before writing was invented, or in wide use, is another. In societies that had no written records, the death of an elder was regarded to them then much like the burning of a library would seem to us now.

Fact Finder: Who was the most long-lived human on record?
Genesis 5:27