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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.

mds 5y ago
This statement after Methuselah had lived for 969 years, before (it is implied) drowning in a flood.
- mellavora 5y ago
  to expand-- the original poster shows that this is in Gen 6. But man was created a few chapters earlier. Thus, if one accepts the genesis creation myth as some standard of truth, God's original plan was that: we are created in his image In his image we are created. Man and woman we are created. i.e. the bible says god intends us to be as fully-formed and perfect ("immortal") as god. addendum: the form I gave above is a well-known poetic form where the rhyme is in the ideas. Thus the very strong implication that the image of god is "man and woman"; a full being has both. addendum II: Recall also that this says a full person should have both male and female aspects; Eve was split off from Adam (rib surgery). This says NOTHING about sexual orientation. Just as Jesus said NOTHING about it. Homophobic attacks go against the nature spirit and word of god as recorded in the bible.
  - joshuahughes 5y ago
    How is this in any way related to the OP's post about lifespan?
- timbit42 5y ago
  If you study the various versions, Masoretic, Samaritan and Septuagint, a number of the ages differ. At some point someone reduced Methuselah's age because it would have meant he survived the flood, which didn't fit their interpretation of the Noah story. That said, most of the ages in Genesis were incorrectly translated from Sumerian cuneiform due to them having different numbering systems for different things which reused some of the same symbols (why would anyone find that confusing???). Whoever copied those numbers into the Bible used the wrong numbering system. If you convert back and use the numbering system for dates and time, you get regular ages. For example, Methuselah didn't live 969 years, but instead, 85 years.
timbit42 5y ago
This doesn't mean man is limited to 120 years of life. It means the flood happened 120 years later.
- henry_bone 5y ago
  You may be correct, but I think not, for the reasons laid out in the following commentaries. From https://www.bibleref.com/Genesis/6/Genesis-6-3.html#commentary:- https://www.bibleref.com/Genesis/6/Genesis-6-3.html#commenta... This is another fascinating verse which has been interpreted through several different perspectives over the years. It falls in the middle of a paragraph describing how a group known as the "sons of God" took human wives who gave birth to a generation of famous "mighty men." Taken in direct context, this verse seems to declare that God will not let humans continue to lead such long lives. Perhaps the children of the "sons of God" and human women would otherwise have gone on living an extraordinarily long time. Or perhaps God is merely saying that even the normal lifespan of humans was too long, given the evil that is taking place on the earth. Considering how much evil man is capable of with a lifetime of less than a century, the capacity for evil over many centuries is immense. In either case, God says that He will not allow His Spirit to remain in man forever. God's Spirit, in this sense, seems to be His "breath of life." Humans cannot live without God's Spirit or life-force; we are dependent on God to continue to exist. Now God declares that He will place a natural limit of 120 years on that mortal existence. Looking at life spans for those born after the flood, this seems to be the case. While not a literal maximum, life spans after the flood rapidly decrease until few live longer than 100 years. Some have offered an alternate explanation for this verse: that God is declaring His judgment will come on the earth 120 years from the time of this pronouncement. That could be. It is also true, though, that eventually human lifespans decreased to a maximum of approximately 120 years. Joseph, for instance, lives to be 110. Moses lives to be exactly 120 years old, while his brother Aaron lives to be 123. -------------------- From https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/6-3.htm:- https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/6-3.htm:- My spirit shall not always strive with man.—The meaning of this much-contested clause is really settled by the main purpose and context of the verse, which is the Divine determination to shorten human life. Whether, then, God’s spirit be the animating breath spoken of in Genesis 2:7; Genesis 7:22, whereby human life is sustained, or the spiritual part of man, his conscience and moral sense—God’s best gift to him—in opposition to his flesh, the struggle henceforward is not to be indefinitely prolonged. In the first case, the struggle spoken of is that between the elements of life and death in the body; in the second, it refers to the moral probation to which man is subject. The versions generally take the former meaning, and translate “shall not dwell,” or “abide “; but there is much in favour of the rendering “shall strive,” though the verb more exactly means to rule, preside over, sit as judge. Literally, then, it signifies that the Divine gift of life shall not rule in man “for ever;” that is, for a period so protracted as was antediluvian life.

mds 5y ago

This statement after Methuselah had lived for 969 years, before (it is implied) drowning in a flood.

mellavora 5y ago
to expand-- the original poster shows that this is in Gen 6. But man was created a few chapters earlier. Thus, if one accepts the genesis creation myth as some standard of truth, God's original plan was that: we are created in his image In his image we are created. Man and woman we are created. i.e. the bible says god intends us to be as fully-formed and perfect ("immortal") as god. addendum: the form I gave above is a well-known poetic form where the rhyme is in the ideas. Thus the very strong implication that the image of god is "man and woman"; a full being has both. addendum II: Recall also that this says a full person should have both male and female aspects; Eve was split off from Adam (rib surgery). This says NOTHING about sexual orientation. Just as Jesus said NOTHING about it. Homophobic attacks go against the nature spirit and word of god as recorded in the bible.
- joshuahughes 5y ago
  How is this in any way related to the OP's post about lifespan?
timbit42 5y ago
If you study the various versions, Masoretic, Samaritan and Septuagint, a number of the ages differ. At some point someone reduced Methuselah's age because it would have meant he survived the flood, which didn't fit their interpretation of the Noah story. That said, most of the ages in Genesis were incorrectly translated from Sumerian cuneiform due to them having different numbering systems for different things which reused some of the same symbols (why would anyone find that confusing???). Whoever copied those numbers into the Bible used the wrong numbering system. If you convert back and use the numbering system for dates and time, you get regular ages. For example, Methuselah didn't live 969 years, but instead, 85 years.

timbit42 5y ago

This doesn't mean man is limited to 120 years of life. It means the flood happened 120 years later.

henry_bone 5y ago
You may be correct, but I think not, for the reasons laid out in the following commentaries. From https://www.bibleref.com/Genesis/6/Genesis-6-3.html#commentary:- https://www.bibleref.com/Genesis/6/Genesis-6-3.html#commenta... This is another fascinating verse which has been interpreted through several different perspectives over the years. It falls in the middle of a paragraph describing how a group known as the "sons of God" took human wives who gave birth to a generation of famous "mighty men." Taken in direct context, this verse seems to declare that God will not let humans continue to lead such long lives. Perhaps the children of the "sons of God" and human women would otherwise have gone on living an extraordinarily long time. Or perhaps God is merely saying that even the normal lifespan of humans was too long, given the evil that is taking place on the earth. Considering how much evil man is capable of with a lifetime of less than a century, the capacity for evil over many centuries is immense. In either case, God says that He will not allow His Spirit to remain in man forever. God's Spirit, in this sense, seems to be His "breath of life." Humans cannot live without God's Spirit or life-force; we are dependent on God to continue to exist. Now God declares that He will place a natural limit of 120 years on that mortal existence. Looking at life spans for those born after the flood, this seems to be the case. While not a literal maximum, life spans after the flood rapidly decrease until few live longer than 100 years. Some have offered an alternate explanation for this verse: that God is declaring His judgment will come on the earth 120 years from the time of this pronouncement. That could be. It is also true, though, that eventually human lifespans decreased to a maximum of approximately 120 years. Joseph, for instance, lives to be 110. Moses lives to be exactly 120 years old, while his brother Aaron lives to be 123. -------------------- From https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/6-3.htm:- https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/6-3.htm:- My spirit shall not always strive with man.—The meaning of this much-contested clause is really settled by the main purpose and context of the verse, which is the Divine determination to shorten human life. Whether, then, God’s spirit be the animating breath spoken of in Genesis 2:7; Genesis 7:22, whereby human life is sustained, or the spiritual part of man, his conscience and moral sense—God’s best gift to him—in opposition to his flesh, the struggle henceforward is not to be indefinitely prolonged. In the first case, the struggle spoken of is that between the elements of life and death in the body; in the second, it refers to the moral probation to which man is subject. The versions generally take the former meaning, and translate “shall not dwell,” or “abide “; but there is much in favour of the rendering “shall strive,” though the verb more exactly means to rule, preside over, sit as judge. Literally, then, it signifies that the Divine gift of life shall not rule in man “for ever;” that is, for a period so protracted as was antediluvian life.