How could the oldest man in the Bible be 969?

Answer 1

In the Old Testament days men are recorded to live well over 950 years. But that was well before the time sin came well in the world. the last man to live 900 odd years is Noah. Then as the people lived in sin , god punished them with the flood of 40 days. And from then according to The Bible in psalms 90 , mans lifespan is 70 years only.

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An interesting characteristic of the lifespans of the ages of the legendary heroes of the Hebrew Bible is that they can be represented by series that always involve the number 17. For example, if we look at the first men in the biblical genealogies, we see:

Name

Lifespan

Pattern

Adam

930

7x9 + 51x17

Seth

912

5x9 + 51x17

Methuselah is depicted as special because he was the oldest man in the Bible. He became a father at a multiple of 17 years (187 = 11x17 years) and died at a multiple of 17 years (969 = 57x17 years). Even ignoring the consistent pattern in the lifespans of the biblical heroes all the way down to Joshua, there is only 1 chance in 289 that the oldest living man would become a father at a multiple of 17 and then die at a multiple of 17 years. These ages were assigned by numerologists in an age of superstition, not by nature.