Adam's grandad

[Catherineanne]

So, did Adam leave Grandad Methuselah out of the ark to drown, or was the old gentleman already dead?

The Bible is strangely silent on this one.

 

[ebia]

I presume you mean Noah's grandad! I don't think Adam had one.

 

[St_Worm2]

So, did Adam leave Grandad Methuselah out of the ark to drown, or was the old gentleman already dead?

The Bible is strangely silent on this one.

I think you meant Noah instead of Adam, yes? Adam didn't have a "granddad" ..

As for Methuselah, the Bible is not "silent", he lived until Noah was 600 years old (Gen 5:25-29; Gen. 7:6). The Flood occurred in Noah's 600th year. Methuselah had died or he would have been 'on board' as well ... see Genesis 7:1. Read Genesis 5-9 for 'the rest of the story'

Kindest Regards,
David

Noah was six hundred years old
when the floodwaters were on the earth.
Genesis 7:6​

 

[Catherineanne]

I think you meant Noah instead of Adam, yes? Adam didn't have a "granddad" ..

As for Methuselah, the Bible is not "silent", he lived until Noah was 600 years old (Gen 5:25-29; Gen. 7:6). The Flood occurred in Noah's 600th year. Methuselah had died or he would have been 'on board' as well ... see Genesis 7:1. Read Genesis 5-9 for 'the rest of the story'

Kindest Regards,
David

Noah was six hundred years old
when the floodwaters were on the earth.

Genesis 7:6​

Yes, I don't know what made me put Adam. Of course I meant Noah.

You assume Methusehah must have been dead before the flood, but what if he wasn't?

 

[St_Worm2]

Yes, I don't know what made me put Adam. Of course I meant Noah.

You assume Methusehah must have been dead before the flood, but what if he wasn't?

Hi Catherineanne, my reason for believing he was dead prior to the Flood is found in Gen. 7:1a "Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household". That, of course, does require the assumption that Noah's 969 year old grandpappy had finally given up living alone in Miami Beach by this point..

Kindest Regards,
David

 

[ebia]

Yes, I don't know what made me put Adam. Of course I meant Noah.

You assume Methusehah must have been dead before the flood, but what if he wasn't?

Then he got very wet.

 

[wayseer]

I suspect the butler did it. But then the Bible is also strangely silent about butlers.

 

[wildboar]

I believe if you work out the chronology he died the same year as the flood but did not die from the flood. Unfortunately I don't have the chronological info in front of me.

 

[ittarter]

I believe if you work out the chronology he died the same year as the flood but did not die from the flood. Unfortunately I don't have the chronological info in front of me.

Yep, I've calculated it before, and Methuselah definitely dies prior to the flood. There's no reason this should even be a discussion. It's 2nd grade mathematics.

 

[ebia]

Yep, I've calculated it before, and Methuselah definitely dies prior to the flood. There's no reason this should even be a discussion. It's 2nd grade mathematics.

Um, at first glance he appears to die the same year as the flood. How then did you decide that he died before the flood rather than as a result of it?

 

[ittarter]

Um, at first glance he appears to die the same year as the flood. How then did you decide that he died before the flood rather than as a result of it?

Huh! You're right. My apologies.

However, the reasoning persists:

Genesis 5 is a chronology of the "righteous progeny" of Seth, resulting in the "perfect" seventh son, Enoch, who walked with God. This contrasts with the "unrighteous progeny" of Cain, which produced the "perfect" seventh son, Lamech, who epitomizes the vengeful spirit of his forefather.

Thus it makes better sense to understand the text to be intentionally eliminating all righteous persons naturally by the time of the flood, rather than leaving such an obvious and unexplained loose thread as Methuselah's record lifespan.

Who knows, maybe Methuselah just wasn't a sailor at heart but if we take the text as a literary rather than historical artifact, this reading clearly makes more sense of what is there. No further interpolation required.