It is Methuselah, who lived 969 years, dying 7 days before the Great Flood.
God saved Methuselah's father Enoch from death early in life, but the end of Enoch's days as written was 365 years after being blessed by Adam at age 65.
Genesis 5:25-27 (RSV): "When Methuselah had lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, he became the father of Lamech. Methu'selah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Methu'selah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years."
Historians and anthropologists do not accept that Methuselah was the oldest man who ever lived, but he is the oldest man in The Bible. To understand this, it is useful to look at the biblical lifespan for Methuselah in terms of the numerology used in Genesis, where the number 17 was important for genealogies, from Adam all the way down to the legendary Patriarchs. Methuselah is portrayed as having his first child at the age of 187, which is 11 X 17, and dying at 969, which is 57 X 17. Apart from the improbable age to which he lived, the statistical chances of the oldest person in the Bible having his first child at an exact multiple of 17 and then of dying at an exact multiple of 17 are somewhat remote, confirming that this part of the story arose out of the spiritual meaning of the number 17, not history.
Methuselah was: 969 years.
The Bible says that Methuselah (965 years) was the oldest living man, followed by Jared (962), Noah (950), Adam (930), Seth (912), Cainan (910) and Enosh (905). These lifespans have led pious Christians to believe that God has shortened our lifespans or, alternatively, that the first people were perfect and that our subsequent imperfection is the cause of our shorter lifespans. However, when we examine the biblical lifespans carefully, we see that they demonstrate numerology and fit elegant patterns - all the way down from Adam to Joshua, with the first four belonging to this pattern:
Adam
930
(7x9 + 51x17)
Seth
912
(5x9 + 51x17)
Enosh
905
(8x9 + 49x17)
Cainan
910
(6x10 + 50x17)
Mahalalel
895
(5x9 + 50x17)
Methuselah is special because he was the Bible's oldest living human and because there is a very special pattern in his life: he became a father at 187 (11x17) and died at 969 (57x17).
Because of the pattern showed above, I believe that they were attributed for superstitious reasons, not because these people really lived such great ages.
The idea "bothers" us only because it seems impossible today. Seeming impossibility, however, is not disproof. Any disproof would have to come from physical evidence, not conjecture or mathematics.
Many ancient nations and historians have records of "unnaturally" long lifespans of the ancients:
Manetho, Berosus, Mochus, Hestiaeus, Hieronymus the Egyptian, Hesiod, Hecataeus, Hellanicus, Acusilaus, Ephorus and Nicolaus all state that the ancients lived around a thousand years.
Such records are found in the histories of ancient Sumeria, China, Greece, Persia, Vietnam and India. Such widespread agreement can only be because it (like the Creation) is a worldwide tradition based upon more than mere myth.
Metushelach lived 969 years (Genesis 5).
The idea "bothers" us only because it seems impossible today. Seeming impossibility, however, is not disproof.
Many ancient nations and historians have records of "unnaturally" long lifespans of the ancients:
Such records are found in the histories of ancient Sumeria, China, Greece, Persia, Vietnam and India. Such widespread agreement can only be because it (like the Creation) is a worldwide tradition based upon more than mere myth.See also the Related Links.
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.
Methuselah was the oldest person recorded in the bible.
His name was Methuselah and he lived 969 years.
Methusaleh (Genesis ch.5).
Methuselah
No, Enoch is the oldest person in the bible. He never died, It says that god took him.
950
Noah
Noah was the oldest person living. Noah is in bible times. b.c. he lived up to 950 years. Look in the bible
Methuselah was the oldest person to love in bible times. He lived to be 969 yrs. of age. His father was Enoch and he became father to Lamech. He was also the grandfather of Noah.
Mafusal lived 965 years. from the bible.
He is important, just the oldest person to ever live in the Bible, and desendant of Abel .
Methuselah was 969 years of age when he died he is the oldest recorded person in the Bible
If they were alive today, Methuselah from the Bible would be the oldest person ever recorded. He is said to have lived 969 years.
Methuselah was the oldest man in the Bible. He died at age 969.
Methuselah is the oldest person mentioned in the Bible, living to be 969 years old according to the book of Genesis.
Psalm 90 is said to be written by Moses and the oldest psalm of the Bible.