Long Life Characterized the People of Noah’s Day

Noah and his descendants left a very clear record of where they came to live and the nations that were produced by them. But before we examine each of those names, we need to notice one important characteristic of that age of the world. It does not apply to any other age, either before or since.

Before the flood men lived to be very old. If you will look at Genesis chapter five, you will discover that it was not at all uncommon for somebody to live to be almost a thousand years old. Adam lived to be nine hundred and thirty years old (vs. 5). Methuselah lived to be nine hundred and sixty-nine (vs. 27), and Noah lived to be nine hundred and fifty (ch. 9:29). This changed after the flood. For the next several generations they still lived to be old by our standards, but the life expectancy of each generation dropped rapidly. Genesis chapter eleven gives the ages of the first several generations after the flood. If those life spans which are listed are typical of those which are not listed, and we have no reason to believe they were any different, then, one strange fact becomes evident: for the next eight generations after the flood, the life expectancy of each generation was falling so rapidly, that it was the rule, rather than the exception, for the parents to outlive their children. And not only that, it was the rule for the grandparents to outlive their grandchildren, and for the great-grandparents to outlive their great-grandchildren, and so on. That went on for eight generations or more.

Genesis chapter eleven records that “Shem was a hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood” (vs- 10). He lived “after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years” (vs 11). So Shem died 502 years (2 years plus 500 years) after the flood. “Arphaxad lived thirty-five years and begat Salah” (vs. 12) 37 years (2 years plus 35 years) after the flood. Salah lived another 403 years (vs. 15). He died 440 years after the flood (2 years plus 35 years plus 403 years). So he died 62 years before his father. The eleventh chapter of Genesis has all the numbers. Here is a listing of the date of the death of each of the patriarchs up until the time of Abraham.

Shem died 502 years after the flood. Arphaxad died 440 years after the flood. Salah died 470 years after the flood. Eber died 531 years after the flood. Peleg died 340 years after the flood. Reu died 370 years after the flood. Serug died 393 years after the flood. Nahor died 241 years after the flood. Terah died 426 years after the flood. Abraham died 527 years after the flood. Except for Eber, Shem outlived all Ws descendants for the next eight generations. Abraham was the first to outlive Shem, outliving him by 25 years.

The conclusion is that those first several generations after the flood lived to be very old, and it was not uncommon for a man to outlive his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren. They outlived the next several generations, and the enormous difference in age between themselves and their surviving descendants set them apart. They were unique in all of history. They stood all alone at the heads of their family.