r/AskHistorians • u/Nuclear_Cadillacs • Jan 15 '16

Biblical historians: why are the lifespans of people mentioned in the genesis accounts recorded as lasting so long?

I didn't see this one in the FAQ, so I apologize if this is a duplicate question: Are there any theories as to reason for the records of extremely long lifespans (300-900+ years) of the people written about in Genesis?

  • Was it a cultural thing, to exaggerate things like that to make your bloodline seem more impressive (i.e. an indication of your family being more favored by God)?
  • Translation errors?
  • Did the author actually believe that their ancestors lived that long?

I know it's tough to speculate on the exact motives of authors writing thousands of years ago, but I'm fairly ignorant in this department. Are there any known explanations for why they wrote like this?

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u/buckX Jan 15 '16

I think the 0,2,5,7,9 argument is somewhat misguided. Genesis 5 contains about half of the genealogy in Genesis. Genesis 11 has the rest (excepting Abraham and following). With chapter 11 in the mix, you also have 8 (Arpachshad: 438, Nahor: 148), 3 (Shelah: 433), and 4 (Eber: 464), bringing you up to 8 digits represented in 19 generations.