Methuselah: The Bible’s Longest Living Figure Who Lived 969 Years

 Methuselah is a Biblical figure who was said to have lived for 969 years. He is also known as the “man of the javelin” or “death of sword,” Methuselah, an eighth biblical antediluvian patriarch and a figure in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. The man who has lived 969 years and has lived the longest of all the Bible figures.

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The statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live based on the year of birth, current age, and some demographic factors, including gender, is called life expectancy. 

Jeanne Louise Calment, a French supercentenarian from Arles, the oldest human who has a well-documented lifespan, claimed to have lived to age 122 years, 164 days, from February 21, 1875, August 4, 1997. Long enough to witness the grandeur of life and its trials as well. But in some documents, there is a Biblical character who was said to have lived for 969 years. His name, Methuselah. 

As documented, based on the Book of Genesis, he was the son of Enoch (a Biblical figure before Noah’s flood the son of Jared), father of Lamech (a patriarch in the genealogies of Adam), and the grandfather of Noah (the tenth and the last of the pre-flood patriarchs). He was also mentioned in genealogies in 1st Chronicles and the Gospel of Luke. 

Aside from Methuselah, some Biblical characters have lived long as well; they are Adam lived to be 930 years old, Adam’s son Seth lived 912 years, Seth’s son Enosh (or Enos) lived to be 905 years old, Methuselah’s grandfather Jered lived to be 962 years old, Methuselah’s grandson Noah lived to be 950 years old. 

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Where is Methuselah found in the Bible?

Methuselah can be found in Genesis 5:21-27; he was also mentioned in the Hebrew Bible outside of Genesis 1 Chronicle 1:3, which was cited in a genealogy of Saul (the first King of the United Kingdom of Israel which took place in the late 11th century BCE). Methuselah was also stated once in the New Testament when the Gospel of Luke traces Jesus Christ’s lineage back to Adam in Luke 3:23-38.

Based on the Bible, Methuselah allegedly died during the flood, but no record nor scriptures can identify the cause of his death; not even the Bible has mentioned.

Though from Tanakh chapters 6-9 from the Book of Genesis, the Genesis flood narrative was a flood myth. It was said that God have seen the earth was corrupted and filled with violence, and so He instructed Noah to build an arc wherein he, his sons, and their wives, along with male and female of all living creatures, would be saved from the waters.

According to geology and paleontology’s physical findings, the global flood mentioned in the Bible was inconsistent. Therefore it may or may not support the death of Methuselah.

As cited from the Catholic Encyclopedia, the name Methuselah has become a synonym for longevity; thus, the oldest tree in the White Mountains of eastern California, a bristlecone pine that is allegedly 4769 years old as of 2019, was named after Methuselah.

Some people would want to live long enough to do what they want to do and succeed in their lives. Enjoy the beauty of life and make a legacy that some may always remember. As the famous saying says, You Only Live Once (YOLO), so make it worth remembering by the people in the next generation and appreciate even the smallest thing that comes along.