Initially, man was created to live eternally; there was no death in the world before Adam sinned.

Genesis 3:17 (KJV) And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Genesis 3:18 (KJV) Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

Genesis 3:19 (KJV) In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Romans 5:12 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

1st Reduction - On Adam's Sin

After Adam sinned, man lived to be about 900 years old. Adam lived to be 930 years and Methusaleh (the oldest person recorded in the Bible) lived to be 969 years old.

ADAM (930)

Genesis 5:5 (KJV) And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

METHUSELAH (969)

Genesis 5:27 (KJV) And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.

2nd Reduction - Before The Flood And Up To Joseph

Before Noah's flood God began the process of shortening man's lifespan to 120 years.

Genesis 6:3 (KJV) 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.

Before this statement man's average lifespan was around 900 years. After this statement we see the gradual decline of the age of mankind in the following verses.

SHEM (100 + 500 = 600)

Genesis 11:10 (KJV) These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:

Genesis 11:11 (KJV) And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

ARPHAXAD (35 + 403 = 438)

Genesis 11:12 (KJV) And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:

Genesis 11:13 (KJV) And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

SALAH (30 + 403 = 433)

Genesis 11:14 (KJV) And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:

Genesis 11:15 (KJV) And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

EBER (43 + 430 = 473)

Genesis 11:16 (KJV) And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:

Genesis 11:17 (KJV) And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

PELEG (30 + 209 = 239)

Genesis 11:18 (KJV) And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:

Genesis 11:19 (KJV) And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

REU (32 + 207 = 239)

Genesis 11:20 (KJV) And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:

Genesis 11:21 (KJV) And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

SERUG (30 + 200 = 230)

Genesis 11:22 (KJV) And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:

Genesis 11:23 (KJV) And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

NAHOR (29 + 119 = 148)

Genesis 11:24 (KJV) And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:

Genesis 11:25 (KJV) And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.

TERAH (205)

Genesis 11:26 (KJV) And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Genesis 11:32 (KJV) And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

ABRAHAM (175)

Genesis 25:7 (KJV) And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years.

ISAAC (180)

Genesis 35:28 (KJV) And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.

JACOB (147)

Genesis 47:28 (KJV) And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.

From Joseph Up To Moses (120 Years Average Lifespan)For at least 470 years the average lifespan of man was 120 years, from Joseph up until Moses death.

JOSEPH (110)

Genesis 50:26 (KJV) So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

LEVI (137)

Exodus 6:16 (KJV) And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years.

KOHATH (133)

Exodus 6:18 (KJV) And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.

AMRAM(137)

Exodus 6:20 (KJV) And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.

AARON (123)

Numbers 33:39 (KJV) And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor.

MOSES (120)

Deuteronomy 34:7 (KJV) And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

JOSHUA (110)

Joshua 24:29 (KJV) And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

So, we see the gradual reduction of man's age to about 120 years from the time right before the flood up until Joseph. The time period from Joseph up to Moses was about 470 years. For about 470 years, from Joseph up to Moses, it appears that the average lifespan was about 120 years.

Exodus 12:40 (KJV) Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

Exodus 12:41 (KJV) And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

After the children of Israel came out of Egypt they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. 430 + 40 = 470

Joshua was contemporary with Moses and lived about 120 years (110 to be exact). After Moses, man's lifespan began to be reduced to about 70 to 80 years.

3rd Reduction - After Moses (70 To 80 Years Average Lifespan)

Psalm 90 is a Psalm written by Moses. It discusses the shortness of life of humans and shows states that the average lifespan is 70 to 80 years.

Psalms 90:10 (KJV) 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.

An inspection of man's life after Moses shows that the lifespan had been reduced to about 70 to 80 years.

ELI (98)

1 Samuel 4:15 (KJV) Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.

1 Samuel 4:16 (KJV) And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?

1 Samuel 4:17 (KJV) And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.

1 Samuel 4:18 (KJV) And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

DAVID (70)

2 Samuel 5:4 (KJV) David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. (70 years)

The Dual Views Of Genesis 6:3Genesis 6:3 (KJV) 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.

This verse has two views for its meaning:

1. in 120 years the world would be destroyed by a flood

2. man's lifespan would be shortened to an average of 120 years

So, we look at the scriptures to see what can be determined for certain about each claim.

Genesis 5:32 (KJV) And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

We see that Noah was 500 years old when he began having 3 of his children, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 7:11 (KJV) 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.

Genesis 9:28 (KJV) And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

Genesis 9:29 (KJV) And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

We see that Noah lived 600 years before the flood and 350 years after the flood for a total of 950 years. He was 500 when he had the 1st of his 3 sons that got on the ark with him. His sons were around 100 years old (and younger) when they got on the ark. Shem was 98, see Genesis 11:10.

The 1st view (that there would be 120 years until the flood) is a common view point and may be correct. However, there are not any other supporting verses in the Bible that verify that view point. There is no reference with the age of Noah or any other contemporaries of Noah that refer to that statement. So, we can't know for certain that it means specifically "120 years and then the flood will come."

The 2nd view (that man's lifespan would be shortened) can be verified by inspecting the geneaology of Noah's descendants. This viewpoint is verified by the scriptures as listed above. This viewpoint is correct for certain because we can see, in the scriptures, the reduction of man's lifespan down to 120 years.

Consider this: If Genesis 6:3 did not exist in the Bible, it is still evident that man's lifespan was shortened from:

being infinite,
to about 900 years,
to about 120 years,
to about 70 to 80 years

based on the genealogical record found in the Bible.

More Comments:

Genesis 6:3 (KJV) 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.

*** I saw this answer and had to make a change here. The understanding of the Bible verse above is wrong as in it is part of the intro to Noah's story (the flood as titled in the NIV Bible) God did NOT set a lifespan here! God just said that man was given another 120 years before the flood happened! Therefore read the short passage again then it will be clear to you! Don't believe me? well Noah lived till 950 years old after that and that was hundreds of years after the flood! God clearly didnt set a limit there! - Max****

If we set aside the Bible, that gives a false version due to the fact that they were not interested into the real version but instead, of to tell the version using God Almighty Creator of Everything instead of people from the stars that enhanced humans (from Homo Erectus to Homo Sapiens, 300.000 years ago) to be served by them as miners and in the agriculture. Those who from heavens to earth come, tampered human body (and brain) to be of lesser capacity than themselves. Read Sitchin- who deciphered with 20th Century eyes the Sumerian clay tablets. Thus, some believe God Almighty is not the god of the israelites. Nor is a man. And certainly is not Jesus.== Helios.

The question is a Biblical question so you cannot set the Bible aside. You don't have believe what it says but you ought to be able to read it and see what it says. The first answer shows what the Bible says. The "answer" directly above does not answer the question that was asked but is a statement of disbelief of the Bible.

1 John 5:20 (KJV) And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

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