The Light of Judaism

Adam lived 930 years. (Genesis 5:5) 

Seth lived 912 years.(Genesis 5:8) 

Methuselah lived 969 years.(Genesis 5:27) 

And Noah lived 950 years. (Genesis 9:29) 

Many people wonder how, or if this is possible.

The answer is: NO it is not possible for the human physiology to live to such extended lengths. Many fundamentalists have attempted to explain these ages with pseudo-science, theological positions and bizarre theories which cannot be substantiated. These attempts are ignorant of ancient history and the calculation of time by ancient Hebrews and resultantly their misinterpreted theories bring ridicule to the subject of Biblical study. 

We know very little concerning the calculation of time by ancient man. The oldest calendars we possess from the archeological records come from bones which contain scratches upon them marking the passage of time corresponding to the lunar cycle. It is likely that the times recorded in the Torah are subject to the lunar cycle as the authors of the Bible were ancient Hebrew who were themselves utilizing a lunar calendar. 

The moon was the most convenient method of tracking the passage of time as a lunar month consist of roughly 29.5 days and is divided in four primary phases. Current time could always be determined by looking upwards at the current lunar phase. The moon was the earth's timepiece. We don't know how primitive man counted a year as it could have been from the cold season t the warmer seasons rather than a strict 12 month time period. However, the 12 month time period constituting a year was adopted early on to emulate the 12 constellations and this resulted in a consistent annual theme which was important for agricultural purposes.

In modern times the calendar used by many around the world is a solar calendar. Judaism today has adopted a calendar which fuses the lunar and solar cycles creating the lunar-solar calendrical system. Some modern societies continue to use a lunar calendar such as China and some Near-Eastern Arab countries.

Based on the ancient lunar reckoning of time we may take the ages of Biblical personalities as referring to the period of time that lasted from one lunar cycle to the next. If we take the age of Adam which is 930 years and divide the years by the 12 months the result is 77.5 years as we currently calculate years. Interestingly, this is about the average human lifespan of today. After the story of the deluge there is a change in the lifespan of humanity which indicates that at this time there was a change in the calculation of time. It is possible as I mentioned earlier that the formal reckoning of months constituting years was an evolving concept. We now that throughout history the Israelite calendar was altered and during the period of dual Kingdoms the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdome of Judah maintained separate calendars. 

A study of the Biblical narrative requires an adjustment of thinking which places the observer in the context of an environment that is foreign to their current experience. Reading into the Biblical text our current human experience, such as time keeping will destroy the integrity of the Biblical narrative.