So (according to the Bible) Methuselah lived to be 969, Noah 950, Jared 962 and so on and so on. Did they simply count years DIFFERENTLY back then? What accounted for the long life spans in bible times?
Long life spans in the Genesis Account: So where are we with this?
by Black Man 13 Replies latest watchtower bible
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cofty
Mythology.
Same reason Superman can leap over tall buildings in a single bound.
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Black Man
Cofty: Yeah, then there's that fact as well!
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Seraphim23
It was probably a way to show the symbolism of the story.
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Monsieur
Black man,
have to agree with cofty.
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Shador
If you want an answer within the Biblical historo-mythical framwork, I note that the ages began declining rapidly after the flood. Perhaps something changed. Possibly the firmament of waters coming down exposed man to more solar and cosmic radiation, shortening thier lifespan drastically. Or, on a more mythical bent, perhaps YHWH accelerated the death curse he had placed on man in Eden?
If you want an answer in reality, well, cofty pretty much got it.
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Vidiot
...and amongst fundamentalist Christians, it's alluded to in reinforcing how "fallen" humanity is...
("Ooh, look how much closer to 'perfection' the ancient Genesis figures were because they lived so long due to being only a few *cough* non-overlapping *cough* generations removed from Adam.")
...'cause if humanity's "fallen", then we need a "redeemer" to fix it, i.e. Jesus Christ.
Which is, as far as they're concerned, Christianity's real purpose (as opposed to comforting the sick, feeding the poor, etc.)
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RayPublisher
I feel that a global flood is impossible, and had to be either local or allegorical. If that is indeed the case, then that water canopy theory goes out the window.
Perhaps they counted by months instead of years? That was a thread that was just floating around recently I believe...
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Shador
Perhaps they counted by months instead of years? That was a thread that was just floating around recently I believe...
Problem is, that would have some of the ages at which they "begat" children being impossibly young.
As I said, cofty pointed to the real answer (it's a myth). But fixing plot holes in fiction is a good exercise in creative imagination.
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kurtbethel
One 'tell' is the age of Enoch when he was taken, 365 years. That is a nod to the idea of being some kind of a sun god. These numbers have mythological significance in the original stories they were derived from, but which is lost to us now.