Genesis 5:32-10:1 NIV - After Noah was 500 years old, he became - Bible Gateway Genesis 5:32-10:1New International Version (NIV) 32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth. Wickedness in the World 6 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with[ a ] humans forever, for they are mortal[ b ]; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. 5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah and the Flood 9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[ c ] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.

15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[ d ] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[ e ] high all around.[ f ] Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.” 22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

7 The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.” 5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in. 17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.

19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.[ g ][ h ] 21 Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. 24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. 8 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth.

At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible. 6 After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.

12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him. 13 By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry. 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.” 18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another. 20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.

21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though[ i ] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. 22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, will never cease.” God’s Covenant With Noah 9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. 4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.

6 “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind. 7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” 8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.

Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” 17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” The Sons of Noah 18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth. 20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded[ j ] to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.

24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan! will he be to his brothers.” 26 He also said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. 27 May God extend Japheth’s[ k ] territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.” 28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died. The Table of Nations 10 This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood. Footnotes: WWF: Noahs Longevity * Left the earth without dying (As did Elijah and Jesus) Notes * Gen 11:26, Terah was 70 when he fathered Abram, Nahor & Haran, but Abram was not have been the oldest.

According to Creation 25(2) March-May 2003, "Meeting the Ancestors" Table on p14, Abraham was born in 2008. See also #fig1 for the following explanations. * Gen 11:32 says Terah aged 205 at death (died 2083 A.M.) Acts 7:4 says when Terah died Abram left Haran. Stephen makes explicit what is implicit in Gen 11:27-12:5, that Abram had two calls. At first call Abram left Ur, but halted at Haran. Abram was 75 when he left Haran (Gen 12:4). Thus Abram was 75 when Terah dies at 205, therefore Terah was 130 when Abram was born, hence Abraham's birthdate is deduced at 2008. Birth of Joseph Joseph stood before Pharaoh age 30 (Gen 41:46). At end of 7 years plenty Joseph = 37 (Gen 41:29-30).

At end of 2 years famine, when Jacob came to Egypt Joseph was 39. (Gen 45:6). At end of 2 years famine when Jacob came to Egypt, Jacob was 130 (Gen 47:9) (i.e. in the year 2298 A.M.). Hence Jacob was 91 when Joseph born. Joseph is a younger 'brother' of Levi. Birth of Moses Moses and Aaron were sons of Amram (Ex 6:20). Moses birth has to be deduced: Call of Abram to Exodus (Ex 12:40-41) = 430 years (NB 430 years not the length of time in Egypt, which was 215 years - clearly so in view of the genealogy of Moses - for further details see Anstey, (1913) p113-125).

Call of Abram to Joseph (2083-2369) = 286 years hence Death of Joseph to Exodus = 144 years Less Age of Moses at Exodus = 80 years (Ex 7:7), leaves 64 years. Hence Moses born 2369+64 = 2433 A.M. A date for Babel There are several non-chronological portions of Genesis. The most famous is the Genesis 2 recap of chapter 1, focusing on Adam and Eve. Even the rather chronological Chapter 7 chops and changes with summarizing statements sprinkled throughout the text. The apparent contradiction of separate languages in Chapter 10 'prior' to the tower of Babel in Chapter 11 is another example of overlapping chronology. The genealogies of Chapter 10 extend beyond the tower of Babel. Some apparent contradictions turn out to be key verses - in this case they can be used to date the tower of Babel incident. In Japheth's line: Japheth > Javan > (Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim etc) > "the maritime peoples spread out into their territories...each with its own language".

This places the Babel dispersion in the third generation after Japheth (assuming no generations have been skipped, which is possible considering the line of Japheth is receiving secondary attention here.) In Ham's line the Babel event is not so obvious. We can trace a few generations; Ham > Cush > Raamah > ? > Nimrod, and we also know that other people groups were descendents of Ham's other sons Mizraim (Ludites, Anamites, Philistines etc) and Canaan (Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites etc). So the exact generation is not apparent here, except that the city establishing traits of Nimrod dictate a post-Babel era. In Shem's line (the Semitic peoples), we have Shem > Aram > Arphaxad > Eber > Peleg ("for in his days was the earth divided" Gen 10:25). Since the whole chapter is devoted to the formation of nations after the flood, this is a clear depiction of the scattering at Babel, placing the event in the fourth generation after Shem. Since Peleg was named "division", he must have been born just after it happened.

This restricts the Babel date to just before 1757, almost exactly 100 years after the flood. Was this enough time to build up the Babel workforce? These people (Noah's descendents) were extremely healthy and long-lived, and had just been told by God to go forth and multiply. No doubt the growing activity was reminiscent of the days of ark construction. The limited time might appear to limit the scale of the construction project at Babel, especially when compared to the soon-to-be-built ancient monuments like the pyramids in Egypt and others around the globe. Noah's cubit was almost certainly in use all this time. Wesley Bruce (Dec 18, 2004) writes; The problem you have is that the fecundity figures you have used are at the lower limit of the options. For modern women with a life span of 70 years and for only half of which they are fertile we can get an average of 10 children per generation. Population calculations based on the number of founders mentioned is normal but risky.

If we assume all the male children are listed in the first and second generation, then your figures are valid but if we assume that the genesis ten patriarchs are the surviving leaders and many either died in the strife of Babel's last days or simply aren't mentioned because they threw their lot in with the named 'tribes', then the population could be an order of magnitude larger. You have argued the wives had shorter life spans, interesting but not robust. It would have been mentioned. If they lived ~430 then the same number of children can't be true. Assuming some female fertility control [ breast feeding reduces the tendency of ovulation] but no birth control we can assume 2 to 3 years between children. This translates to 133 children per adult life span 400 years, its not the same dynamics as today because you have multiple overlapping fertile generations. However we can assume that the first generation of mothers had the most time to have children, the second generation half that and the third generation the least time to have children. We could halve 133 number safely and stick with 10 in the final generation.

Using the calculation format you give your argument it is more likely to be: Noah = 2 (Noah and his wife) Gen 1 = 6 (Shem, Ham Japheth) Gen 2 = Gen1 / 2 x 66 = 198 (Aram, Cush, Javan etc) Gen 3 = Gen2 / 2 x 33 = 3267 (Arphaxad, Raamah, Tarshish etc) Gen 4 = Gen3 / 2 x 10 = 16335 (Eber, maybe Nimrod etc), So the total available workforce, excluding the first two generations who may have refused to take part: = 198 + 3267 + 16335 = 19800 men and women, so perhaps around 17800 workers assuming everyone was behind it. It is a big crowd and perhaps the growing activity was reminiscent of the days of ark construction. Due to their longevity they may have been inclined to long term projects lasting 50 to 100 years. This would place Babel more than 101 years after the flood.

Most place Babel at the birth of Peleg ("for in his days was the earth divided" however please note that it says 'in his days' not 'at his birth' so we have another variable; the life span of Peleg, this can add 239 years. It is probable that we are seeing a name change as with Abram/Abraham or Saul/ Paul. Thus I could put Babel as late as 1876, halfway through Pelegs life. Just prier to Terah's birth. It would allow big loss rate between the fourth generation and the 5th. People don't scatter out of an urbanised area because they can't communicate. The Babel refugees are fleeing Nimrod's violence, "the hunter of men", and famine caused by the collapse of organized society and trade. They were forced from a wealthy bronze age civilization with farming and trade to a stone-age existence with only hunting and gathering in the lands beyond. This and the loss of longevity genes implies some, perhaps significant, loss of population after Babel. This would also have produced rapid racial diversity. Lastly the note that you give on longevity is very good but you might think about death by violence.

It is in the text and would further the contrast in life span between Noah's line and Cain's. Misconceptions "The numbers are months, not years". Since the longevity appears to be about 10 times the modern lifespan, a natural conclusion is to doubt their authenticity. Converting the pre-flood figures to months seems to bring the ages within comfortable limits - Methuselah's 969 years becomes 81. But there are some fatal flaws with this theory. - The fathering age is too low. Enoch was 65 when he fathered Methuselah, and 65 months makes him a father at the grand old age of 5. In fact most of the lineage would have been fathered by children who had yet to reach puberty! - When do the ages revert to years? The "years-are-months" theory has a problem with the flood. If the ages are to revert to years from after flood, then Shem is still a 'difficult' age of 600 years old. Continuing in months is impossible from Noah to Abraham since they nearly all fathered in their early thirties. (That converts to 2 years old!).

Abraham is a familiar figure whose wife bore a child in old age - but 90 months is not too old, its too young! Noah himself spans pre and post flood, so his age is just as much a 'problem' in the month theory as it was in the literal reading of years. - As for counting years using some intermediate period between a month and a year, there will always be a problem of ages too old of fathers too young. Besides, how dumb are you claiming Noah's timekeeping to be? "God limited our lives to 120 years" When Noah is first introduced in Genesis, God states his intention to limit man's years to 120. Some have interpreted this to mean 120 year lifespans. This is an untenable position considering that every patriarch from Noah to Abraham broke this 'rule'. ( Not to mention 180 year old Isaac 180 and Jacob's 147 ). There appears to be no way to force this interpretation into the text. A more logical meaning of the 120 years is that it forms a countdown to the flood. Twenty years before Noah's first child, God reveals his intentions to wipe out the world.

"A better climate extended the lives" If this is the case then we would expect Noah to live much shorter than Adam, but he outlived him by 20 years. Noah was the third oldest recorded man. (Although no records of women's ages are given prior to the flood, the first was Abraham's (175) wife and half-sister Sarah who died at 127. Gen23:1). A climate destroyed by the flood would likely be much more obvious in the immediate generations after Noah, but the decline is asymptotic. In fact, unless one believes in Lamarchian evolution, the lifespans should have dipped and then recovered somewhat as natural selection favored the new climate performers. Lastly, since hyperbaric atmospheric conditions are not a necessary part of a floodwater model, there is no plausible climactic mechanism for longevity. If there was, one would expect we'd have found it by now. If anything, the countries with the longest life expectancy are generally colder climates - the opposite to the belief in a warmer world before the flood. Before the flood... Maximum ages between Adam and Noah were effectively static in the line of Seth.

The length of Enoch's life is excluded since he did not die of old age. While there appears to be a faint downward trend, this is attributable to Noah's father Lamech who died at 777 years. (Without him, the ages actually have an upward trend.). Effectively then, it appears that the longevity of the descendents of Seth was virtually constant - with an average of 930 years - the same age as Adam himself. Premature aging does not appear to be linked to an accumulation of DNA copying errors (mutations) within the first 10 generations of Noah's ancestry. Discounting Lamech, whose life may have been cut short by accident/disease/conflict/poor management, the increasing lifespan would indicate Noah's genetic makeup was on par with the pristine Adam. It would be interesting to know how the other descendents fared - like the longevity in Cain's line for example. Little chance of recovering this information! Table 1: Lifespans from Adam to Noah in the Seth line. After the Flood... There is a distinct change in longevity after the flood. The figures drop sharply at first but level out after Abraham.

It seems there was a loss of a longevity trait; this trait being diluted in successive generations, pointing to a genetic rather than environmental factor dominating the age limits. The record of post-flood longevity shows a decay corresponding to an inverse power of generational count from Noah. Table2: Lifespans from Noah to Abraham. Inherited Short Life? Consider this possible scenario... Noah's family were the sole survivors of the flood due to the irreversible wickedness of the rest of the world. Since Methuselah died in the year of the flood it appears that God waited until his death (and the building of the ark) before sending the judgment. If Noah lost other sons and daughters in the flood then it is strange that this is not recorded. Furthermore, Noah's character as a father would be in question. An explanation would need to be devised for why his earlier family was a dead loss but his later three sons (including the very human Ham) were all preserved. The simplest Biblically justifiable case is that Noah, like Abraham, was childless for most of his life (no doubt to the delight of his fellow ante-diluvians). In the recorded ancestry of Noah the fathering age averages 120 years.

This is almost certainly 'old', since there is ample evidence that they didn't all wait that long. After Cain killed his brother Abel and was punished with the curse of a nomadic lifestyle, he complained to God that he would be at the mercy of anyone who finds him. Even if this statement was an exaggeration of the fallen character of man at this early stage, it demonstrates one thing - that there were plenty of people around. At this stage Adam would have been approaching 130 years old (since creation), assuming the next baby was to be called Seth - the replacement for Abel. In 130 years, with a breeding age starting at 25 years and with no old-age limits coming into play, and one child every 3 years per breeding couple, the number of people on the earth could be approx 386 000. So the line of Seth starts when the world population has already begun to boom. Coupled with the obvious empire establishing traits of his older brother Cain, the population of the Seth line would have appeared insignificant. It seems reasonable that Noah was the last surviving descendent of Seth, hence the pressure against his progeny (childless like the other promised father - Abraham).

It might be difficult to argue that all 3 wives were somehow righteous descendents of Seth even though no other male survived uncorrupted. More likely (from a statistical viewpoint) they were righteous non-Sethites. Against this fairly reasonable backdrop I will paint a possible scenario. The lifespan of the non-Sethite line was shortened by sin - because the wages of sin is death. After generations of furious short lives, the lifespans of people like Methuselah would have been a testimony against wickedness - no doubt infuriating the descendents of Cain for example. This dichotomy becoming more exaggerated until Noah's era, where the ark construction period outlived the average ante-diluvian, making it appear all the more comical to the next generation. The Bible indicates Noah was more ignored than resisted. No record of battles on the building site, not even any indication of resistance to his project. Jesus indicates they were just going about their lives "marrying and giving in marriage" (as per usual) right up to the time Noah entered the ark. The most reasonable picture would be this - despite the spectacle of a huge barn full of animals and built like a fortress, the novelty had faded long ago to the ante-diluvians.

After all, the structure had been there for decades - even generations. A short lived population would have a shorter memory, less able to see the big picture and more likely to ignore rather than resist Noah. Now,whether the mechanism was genetic or a spiritual heritage (or both), the non Sethite ante-diluvians had shorter lives. So too the wives of Noah's sons, and even Noah's own wife. (Another possible explanation for 500 barren years was that there was no Sethite women left - an apparent defeat of the Messianic line). If we assume Noah has a potential for 950 years and his wife and daughters-in-law say 200, then this is what happens; Noah lives around 950 years. He is married during the construction and has 3 sons, but his wife barely lives into the new world - too old to have more children. The 3 sons Shem, Ham and Japheth live approximately the average of their parents (550).

Since the daughters-in-law are expected to live around 200 years, the grandchildren might expect to live an average of 550 and 200 (around 375 years) and level off from there. Presuming the mechanism for shortened life expectancy was revived, then perhaps the lifestyles or behavior of successive generations contribute to the declining lifespans of around 70 years for King David and modern man. Another clue is the extended life (120 years) of the overworked but holy Moses. His good health at 120 years of age was not due to environmental factors by any stretch of the imagination! Forty years in a palace, forty as a shepherd and forty years running around the desert. With the passing of time, the mixing of corrupted DNA and inherited curses makes it impossible to correlate individual righteousness with longevity. Rather like the rich man in Jesus day was not necessarily the image of Abraham. So short lifespans were initiated by sin but principally inherited. Alternative Chronology based on other Texts Arguments for using other texts beside the Masoretic (Ref 3) stretches the timescale significantly (thousands actually).

The explanation given was that perhaps ciphers for 100's had been dropped, trimming 1300 years from Genesis 5 and 11 in the Masoretic Text (MT). According to the LXX chronology, the Flood occurred in 3537 BC, with Babel around 3300 BC, creation at 5793 BC ï¿½ 10 years. The Babel date seems odd, according to my calculations Peleg was born 2787AM and the flood at 2258 AM leaving 529 years leading up to Babel. This seems easier because Noah is not at the Babel scene, and Shem doesn't outlive nearly all his descendents including Abraham's father Terah, making Noah's son well and truly Abraham's contemporary. Alternative views are discussed by Pete Williams. (Ref 4) References 1. Creation 20(4) Sept-Nov 1998. "Living for 900 years" Carl Weiland. This article indicates genetic factors are likely to be the major reason for the loss of lifespan after the flood - due to elimination of longevity genes through population bottleneck.

(8 people - or actually only 3 breeding pairs since the Bible clearly states we are all descended from the three sons, Gen 9:19 ) 2. The Biblical Ages of the Patriarchs. - A record of events permanently damaging to human life expectancy. Richard H Johnston. Treats the age reducing factors as judgments at the fall, the flood, the division at Peleg and a general decline through to David. The suggested mechanism is genetic, such as radiation damage reducing the life expectancy of successive generations without shortening the parent's lifespan. (E.g. Shem outlives generations of his descendents due to an alleged event in the days of Peleg. #fig1 Comment. While the event based mechanism for life expectancy damage looks sensible, some of these ideas have been extended to include an array of catastrophic fossil producing events subsequent to Noah's flood. This is known as the Recolonisation Model. 3. Creation and Catastrophe Chronology. Barry Setterfield 4. Some Remarks Preliminary to a Biblical Chronology: Pete Williams. First published in Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal 12(1):98ï¿½106, 1998.

Genesis 8-10 NIV - But God remembered Noah and all the - Bible Gateway will never cease.” God’s Covenant With Noah 9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. 4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. 6 “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.

7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” 8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” 17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” The Sons of Noah 18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth. 20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded[ b ] to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.

24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan! will he be to his brothers.” 26 He also said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. 27 May God extend Japheth’s[ c ] territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.” 28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died. The Table of Nations 10 This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood. The Japhethites 2 The sons[ d ] of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.

4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites.[ e ] 5 (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.) The Hamites 6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush was the father[ f ] of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” 10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in[ g ] Shinar.[ h ] 11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir,[ i ] Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.

13 Egypt was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites. 15 Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn,[ j ] and of the Hittites, 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations. The Semites 21 Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was[ k ] Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.

23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek.[ l ] 24 Arphaxad was the father of[ m ] Shelah, and Shelah the father of Eber. 25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg,[ n ] because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan. 26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 30 The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country. 31 These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations. 32 These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

Footnotes: Liberty Gospel Tracts - Previous Questions and Answers - Why did people in the Old Testament live so much longer than we do today? Previous Questions and Answers Why did people in the Old Testament live so much longer than we do today? Why did people in the Old Testament live so many years? Why do we not live this many years today? Man lived the longest before the flood took place. Notice Genesis chapter 5.

Verse 5, "And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died." Verse 8, "And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died." Verse 11, "And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died." Verse 14, "And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died." Verse 17 "And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died." Verse 27, "And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died." Verse 31, "And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died." Noah went on to live to be 950 years old, Genesis 9:29 tells us. "And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died." The flood is described in Genesis chapters 6-9. Then notice after the flood takes place, how the ages drop off rapidly.

Genesis 11:32 tells us that Terah (Abrahams father) only lived to be 205 years old. "And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran." We then notice that Abraham and Sarah are considered to be "old" at close to 100 years of age. Genesis 17:17 says, "Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is AN HUNDRED YEARS OLD? and shall Sarah, that is NINETY YEARS OLD, bear?" Genesis 18:11-14 refers to them being "old." "NOW ABRAHAM AND SARAH WERE OLD and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the LORD?

At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." Abraham did go on to live to be 175 years old, and Sarah 127 (check out Genesis 25:7, and Genesis 23:1). Isaac died at 180 years old (Genesis 35:28); Jacob at 147 years old (Genesis 47:28); and Joseph to 110 years old (Genesis 50:22). In Davids day, it was diminished even further, Psalms 90:10 tells us it was down to 70 to 80 years old: "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." So we can see that the length of life diminishes rapidly after the flood comes upon the earth.

The question is, "Why does the life-span of people go down so quickly after the flood?" The Bible does not say why, but some creation scientists think that it happened because they believe the atmosphere had a canopy of water before the flood came. When the Bible says in Genesis 7:11-13, "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, AND THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark." They believe that "the windows of heaven" being opened allowed this water to come down upon the earth at the time of the flood. Those creation scientists say that that canopy would have blocked a great deal of the ultraviolet rays that bombard people today. Also, they believe that canopy would have been like a "greenhouse", keeping the climates of the world much more tropical-like.

And also, they say that the oxygen pressure would have been greater upon earth under such conditions, causing everything to grow much faster, and cuts and wounds to heal very quickly. If you want to do some exciting study on this subject, I would encourage you to order a set of videos from Dr. Kent Hovind on "Creation Science Evangelism." (you can find his Web Site at "" If you have any trouble finding his site, please write back, and I will give you a mailing address) It is a set of 7 tapes that will excite your heart to see the proofs right from science that the world was created by God, and that evolution is absolutely foolish and without any proof whatsoever. In those videos, Dr. Hovind deals with why man lived longer before the flood.

And of the course the most important question is, "Are you going to live forever with the Lord, or are you going to experience the second death?" Revelation 20:12-15 says, "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Jesus is the only way to everlasting life.

John 14:6 says, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 11:25 says, "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." Methuselah in the Bible - Oldest Man Who Ever Lived By Jack Zavada Methuselah has fascinated Bible readers for centuries as the oldest man who ever lived. According to Genesis 5:27, Methuselah was 969 years old when he died. Three possible meanings have been suggested for his name: "man of the spear (or dart)," "his death shall bring...," and "worshiper of Selah." The second meaning may imply that when Methuselah died, judgment would come, in the form of the Flood . Methuselah was a descendant of Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve . Methuselah's father was Enoch , his son was Lamech, and his grandson was Noah , who built the ark and rescued his family from the great Flood.

Before the Flood, people lived extremely long lives: Adam, 930; Seth, 912; Enosh, 905; Lamech, 777; and Noah, 950. Enoch, Methuselah's father, was "translated" to heaven at age 365. Bible scholars offer a number of theories as to why Methuselah lived so long. One is that the pre-Flood patriarchs were only a few generations removed from Adam and Eve, a genetically perfect couple. They would have had unusually strong immunity from disease and life-threatening conditions. Another theory suggests that early in humanity's history, people lived longer to populate the earth. As sin increased in the world, however, God planned to bring judgment through the Flood: Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” (Genesis 6:3, NIV ) Although several people lived to be over 400 years old after the Flood ( Genesis 11:10-24 ), gradually the maximum human lifespan went down to about 120 years.

The Fall of Man and the subsequent sin it introduced into the world corrupted every aspect of the planet. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV ) Paul was speaking about both physical and spiritual death. The Bible does not indicate that Methuselah's character had anything to do with his long life. Certainly he would have been influenced by the example of his righteous father Enoch, who pleased God so much he escaped death by being "taken up" to heaven. Methuselah died in the year of the Flood . Whether he perished before the Flood or was killed by it, we are not told. Accomplishments of Methuselah: He lived to be 969 years old. Methuselah was grandfather of Noah, a "righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God." (Genesis 6:9, NIV ) Hometown: Ancient Mesopotamia, exact location not given. References to Methuselah in the Bible: Genesis 5:21-27; 1 Chronicles 1:3; Luke 3:37.

Occupation: Children: Lamech and unnamed siblings. Grandson: Noah Descendant: Joseph , earthly father of Jesus Christ Key Verse: Genesis 5:25-27 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. And after he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died. ( NIV ) (Sources: Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Trent C. Butler, general editor; International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, James Orr, general editor; gotquestions.org ) New Testament People of the Bible (Index) Jack Zavada, a career writer and contributor for About.com, is host to a Christian website for singles. Never married, Jack feels that the hard-won lessons he has learned may help other Christian singles make sense of their lives. His articles and ebooks offer great hope and encouragement. To contact him or for more information, visit Jack's Bio Page . Does the Bible say that it took Noah 100 years to build the ark?

Q.ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ Does the Bible say that it took Noah 100 years to build the ark? A.ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ It is not uncommon to hear a statement like, "Noah built the ark for 100 years."ï¿½ However, there is no mention in the Bible of a 100 year time span during which Noah did anything.ï¿½ One reference in the New Testament (I Peter 3:20) refers to the time during which Noah was building the ark, but does not give a specific time frame, ". . .

when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water."ï¿½ A time span actually stated in the Bible which is often connected to Noah and his building the ark is the 120 years mentioned in Genesis 6:3, "Then the LORD said, 'My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.'" ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ A common inference made concerning those 120 years is that God intended to judge the world by causing the flood in 120 years.ï¿½ The reasoning then follows that Noah had those 120 years to construct the ark (thus, the source of the remark, "Noah built the ark for 100 years").ï¿½ However, is that really the intent of God's statement in Gen 6:3?ï¿½ Let's consider the circumstances of Noah's life when God speaks to Noah about building the ark

.ï¿½ What God says to Noah is recorded in Genesis 6:13-21, "Then God said to Noah, 'The end of all flesh has come before Me; .

. . Make for yourself an ark . . .

everything that is on the earth shall perish.ï¿½ But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark--you and your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with you."ï¿½ This appears to be when God first tells Noah to build the ark, and notice, at that point in Noah's life, he not only had his 3 sons, they were married.ï¿½ There are two other chronological details of Noah's life which then allow us to narrow the time frame during which God must have commanded Noah to build the ark.ï¿½ "Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth (Gen 7:6);" and "Noah was 500 years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Gen 5:32)."ï¿½ These two figures indicate that Noah's sons were approximately 100 years old when the flood came upon the earth.ï¿½ This is verified with respect to Shem in Genesis 11:10 which states that he was 98 years old when the flood came.ï¿½ Since it appears that God first spoke to Noah about building

 the ark when his sons were not only born, but married, it had to have been significantly less than 100 years, perhaps only 60-70 years, from the time God commanded Noah to build the ark to the time God caused the flood.

ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ It certainly is reasonable that Noah, his sons, and other hired hands (imagine how incredulous they were--until if began to rain!) could have built what was essentially a large 4 story building in 60 years.ï¿½ But, if indeed, there were just 60 or so years during which "the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark," what is the significance of the 120 years mentioned by God in Genesis 6:3?ï¿½ It could be that God simply "waited" 60 years before telling Noah to begin building the ark, thus, when another 60 years had passed, the ark was ready and the 120 years "were up" so to speak.ï¿½ However, I think God had a different intent when referring to those 120 years.ï¿½ In Genesis 6:3 when He says, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty

 years." the context of God's statement seems to be more in reference to the lifespan of mortal man.ï¿½ In the days of Noah, people lived on average over 900 years.ï¿½ That average was sustained from Adam (930) to Noah (950).ï¿½ But, immediately after the flood, the recorded life spans of men dropped, and the trend is a dramatic decrease from Shem, who lived only 500 years (!) after the flood for a total of 600 years, to Jacob's son, Joseph, who lived a mere 110 years.ï¿½ There is no recorded lifespan exceeding 120 years after the era of Moses (who died at 120), except Jehoiada, the righteous priest largely responsible for the reformation during the days of Joash king of Judah .ï¿½ "Now when Jehoiada reached a ripe old age he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old at his death.ï¿½ And they buried him in the city of David

Question: According to Genesis, howold was Noah when he died (within 10 years)?
Answer: 950