Is it possible that the hundreds of years old people in the bible used to live to be ....?

Question

..... weren't years as we know them today?

I was thinking about how it doesn't make sense that people would have lived so long back then when ancient man, Homo Erectus, Australopithecus and even Neanderthal's average lifespan was not even half of what ours is. When you think of wild beasts eating them, venemous insects and reptiles biting them, infections with no antibiotics, no real knowledge of any medicines or the inside of the human body even, how could they have lived so long? I know God can do the impossible and cause them to live that long but what if a day wasn't a full 24 hr day and a year was shorter, too. That would explain why when they should've died younger they lived to extraodinarily old ages. What does everyone think of this? Maybe this is just silly.

Some of you didn't quite understand what I was saying. I'm not saying that the people didn't know what a year was or that it's a mistranslation, I'm saying that maybe the earth spun faster back then and a year was shorter. I'm not a creationist so I don't believe the earth is only 10,000 yrs old.

Answer 1

I think there may be some truth to what Kal and NJ Gold said, but I also think God shortened man's lifespan after the flood.
Gen. 6:3 says, "And the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."
(This refers either to the length of time before the flood, or to the shortened lifespan of man after the flood.)
If you read Gen. 11:10-26 where it tells us the genealogy of Shem's descendants, you'll see that their lifespans kept decreasing--starting out with Shem who lived 600 years, and by the time you get to Nahor, he only lived to be 148.

Answer 2

"Don't you know that isn't possible?" Based on what? Do you know what causes the aging process? What was different before the flood that changed after the flood? Note that those who died after the flood lived far less than those before. To this day, no one knows the cause of aging. Most say it is a defect in the DNA. However, those pre-flood were in a perfect environment and nearer to original creation. Sin cause entropy and a market change in the environment that continues to this day. We have only begun to explore and understand the DNA strand. It is way beyond what we have discovered so far. So who are we to say that such things are not possible? Actually, if you read the Biblical account carefully, you will find that the Bible, and everyone's response was quite "matter-of-fact". No one was surprised at the ages of the patriarchs. There was only one who was surprised (post flood) and that was Pharoah toward Jacob in Genesis 47:8

Answer 3

Think about it, no pollution, no preservatives in the food, winters weren't as harsh in the fertile crescent, and there was little competition for food or land. You would have aged far more slowly. I think it's possible.

*Edit*
Okay. now I see what you're saying. Well, If the earth spun faster it would pretty much be really bad. For one thing it would slowly change the shape of the earth and it would pull people off the surface from centripetal force (no, not centrifugal force, they're different.) I don't think it could have spun much faster (fast enough to support your theory) while supporting life and ending up looking like it does today. Then again, I could be wrong.

Answer 4

All I know is the longest living person was 125 years old and that was a Russian. Dead now of course. And there's a woman who was 117 who had a brother who was 115. Right now a lady is 109 years old. I believe that time WAS measured differently back then than it is now and that's why the ages were declared as 2 and 300 years old. The human body withers and rots with age so a 300 year old person would really not be a pretty sight!

Answer 5

I agree that it is possible.. but I have another idea.. many of the stories and accounts written in the old testament were recorded many years after they first occurred.. as they were borrowed from similar and more detailed accounts recorded in ancient Sumeria.. including the stories of Genesis and Noah's Flood.. and how the Earth changed in many ways after that .. I think somehow our DNA was altered which gave us our shorter life span.. I also believe that soon.. as we move into the next Age our DNA will be altered again.. and we will live longer as before.. consequently from that event.

Answer 6

Yes.

This was due to the lingering after effects of the perfectly created environment and nature of the earth at the time of Eden.

As mankind began to poplutate after the flood and sin increased with popluation, the effects of the paradise like condition began to deteriorate and lives were shorter until the point God declared:

Psalm 90:10 - The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

footnote: (outside of Genesis 1), the Hebrew word "yom" translated as the word "day" from the Hebrew language always refers to a 24 hour period, please check your Hebrew Lexicon.

Answer 7

It is possible that the flood radically changed our environment...and we were certainly having a much smaller impact on our environment then than we are now. How much of our decreasing lifespans was caused by environmental changes in the earth?...a trend we have started to reverse with medicine?

Personally, I think it could have something to do with what they call "replicative fading" on Star Trek...the idea that when you keep making copies of a copy, more and more flaws enter the picture. Kind of the same thing that happens when we selectively breed dogs or cats to encourage certain characteristics (e.g., color patterns). The earliest humans were virtually perfect copies of God's original creation, but as the generations passed, genetic flaws entered the picture (caused by environmental conditions, diet, choices such as what constitutes beauty, whatever)...at this point, every one of us carries at least one genetic flaw that ultimately shortens our life. Don't know, but sounds feasible to me!

Answer 8

If they based the cycle of the year on the moons monthly cycle then their ages can make more sense.
969/13 = about 74. If a 'YEAR' was what we call a lunar month. the ancient hebrews were Nomads and believed the seasons were decided upon by the moon. Of course they ended up learning better

Of course the events mentioned in Genesis are hardly worth any attention anywho

Answer 9

That is not a silly question. People ate better then than they do now. They exercised more. I think that their years are a little different than what we have. I think that because of sin that people live shorter days now than they use to.

Answer 10

A day is determined by the earth rotating one time (sun rise and sun set) and a year is determined by the earth rotating around the sun one time (4 seasons) so unless the solare system has dramatically changed (basically impossible) a day and a year is the same now as it always was. Plus even in the beginning it was called ---Genesis 1:13
And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.