Pre-flood longevity
Prior to the flood, Genesis 5 records that people lived extraordinarily long lives: routinely over 900 years. Methuselah is known for living longer than any other human in history, dying at the age of 969.
Human lifespan
According to the Bible's book of Genesis, God restricted the human lifespan to 120 years during the time of the Flood:
| “ | And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. Genesis 6:3 | ” |
According to the book of Psalms, the average human lifespan (which at the time of the writing would have been 3,000 years ago, and we know must have been at least 2,500 years ago given the Dead Sea Scrolls) was 70 years:
| “ | 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. Psalms 90:10 | ” |
Pre-flood longevity
This longevity is believed by Creationists to be so extraordinarily long in part because environmental conditions were optimal before the Earth was destroyed during the global flood, per Canopy theory.
| Born | Ancestor | Son Born | Age | Died | Other Children | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Adam | 130 | 930 | 930 | Abel, Cain, s&d | Genesis 5 |
| 130 | Seth | 105 | 912 | 1042 | s&d | |
| 235 | Enos | 90 | 905 | 1140 | s&d | |
| 325 | Cainan | 70 | 910 | 1235 | s&d | |
| 395 | Mahalaleel | 65 | 895 | 1290 | s&d | |
| 460 | Jared | 162 | 962 | 1422 | s&d | |
| 622 | Enoch | 65 | 365 | 987 | s&d | |
| 687 | Methuselah | 187 | 969 | 1656 | s&d | |
| 874 | Lamech | 182 | 777 | 1651 | s&d | |
| 1656 | FLOOD | Genesis 7:6 | ||||
| 1056 | Noah | 502 | 950 | 2006 | s&d | Genesis 5:32 , Genesis 9:29 |
| 1558 | Shem | 100 | 600 | 2158 | Elam, Asshur, Lud, Aram, s&d | Genesis 11 |
| 1658 | Arphaxad | 35 | 438 | 2096 | s&d | |
| 1693 | Salah | 30 | 433 | 2126 | s&d | |
| 1723 | Eber | 34 | 464 | 2187 | Joktan, s&d | |
| 1757 | Peleg | 30 | 239 | 2026 | s&d | |
| 1787 | Reu | 32 | 239 | 2026 | s&d | |
| 1819 | Serug | 30 | 230 | 2049 | s&d | |
| 1849 | Nahor | 29 | 148 | 1997 | s&d | |
| 1878 | Terah | 100 | 205 | 2083 | Nahor, Haran | |
| 1978 | Abram | 100 | 175 | 2153 | Ishmael, Zimram, et. al. | Genesis 25 , Genesis 17:24 , Genesis 12:4 |
| 2078 | Isaac | 40 | 180 | 2258 | Esau | Genesis 21:5 , Genesis 25:20 , Genesis 35:28 |
| 2248 | EGYPT | |||||
| 2118 | Jacob | 91 | 147 | 2265 | Reuben, Simeon, et. al. | Genesis 30 , Genesis 35 |
| 2196 | Levi | 137 | Exodus 6:16 | |||
| Kohath | 133 | |||||
| Amram | 137 | Aaron, Miriam | ||||
| Moses | 120 | Deuteronomy 34:7 |
