Genesis 5:25

_AND METHUSELAH LIVED AN HUNDRED EIGHTY AND SEVEN YEARS, AND BEGAT LAMECH:_ Methuselah - or Methusala (Luke 3:37), the man of the dart (Gesenius) - literally, man of sending, particularly with reference to water, and hence, the name Siloam (sent, John 9:7), given to a pool at Jerusalem. Hales interprets the name as signifying, 'He shall send his death;' and referring to the time when this patriarch was to die. His inspired father, who had announced the approaching judgment of God for the wickedness of his contemporaries (Jude 1:14-15), probably bestowed upon his son the name of Methuselah as prophetic of the threatened flood; and accordingly it is computed that Methuselah died that very year in which the deluge commenc

25-32 Methuselah signifies, 'he dies, there is a dart,' 'a sending forth,' namely, of the deluge, which came the year that Methuselah died. He lived 969 years, the longest that any man ever lived on earth; but the longest liver must die at last. Noah signifies rest; his parents gave him that name, with a prospect of his being a great blessing to his generation. Observe his father's complaint of the calamitous state of human life, by the entrance of sin, and the curse of sin. Our whole life is spent in labour, and our time filled up with continual toil. God having cursed the ground, it is as much as some can do, with the utmost care and pains, to get a hard livelihood out comfort us." It signifies not only that desire and expectation which parents generally have about their children, that they will be comforts to them and helpers, though they often prove otherwise; but it signifies also...

- Section V - The Line to Noah - The Line of Sheth 1. ספר _s__e__pher_ “writing, a writing, a book.” 9. קינן _qēynān_, Qenan, “possessor, or spearsman.” 12. מהללאל mahelal'ēl, Mahalalel, “praise of ‘El.” 15. ירד _yerĕd_, Jered, “going down.” 21. מתוּשׁלה _m__e__tûshālach_, Methushelach, “man of the missile.” 29. נה _noach_, Noach, “rest,” נחם _nācham_ “sigh; repent; pity; comfort onesel

§ 3. THE GENERATIONS OF ADAM (CH. 5:1-6:8) EXPOSITION The present section carries forward the inspired narrative another stage, in which the onward progress or development of the human race is traced, in the holy line of Seth, from the day of Adam's creation, through ten successive generations, till the point is reached when the first great experiment of attempting to save man by clemency rather than by punishment is brought to a termination, and Jehovah, whose mercy has been spurned and abused, determines to destroy the impenitent transgressors. First, in brief and somewhat monotonous outline, the lives of the ten patriarchs are sketched, scarcely more being recorded of them than simply that they were born, grew to manhood, married wives, begat children, and then died. In only two instances does the history diverge from this severely simple style of biographical narration, namely, in t...

AND METHUSELAH LIVED AN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY AND SEVEN YEARS, AND BEGET LAMECH. The Septuagint version is an hundred and sixty seven; the Samaritan only sixty seven; the same names were given to some of the posterity of Seth as were to those of Cain, as Lamech here, and Enoch before....

III. THE BOOK OF THE GENERATIONS OF ADAM CHAPTER 5 Adam and His Seed Through Seth _ 1. Adam (Genesis 5:1)_ 2. Seth (Genesis 5:6) 3. Enos (Genesis 5:9) 4. Cainan (Genesis 5:12) 5. Mahalaleel (Genesis 5:15) 6. Jared (Genesis 5:18) 7. Enoch (Genesis 5:21) 8. Methuselah ...

Sethite Genealogy of Antediluvians. With the exception of Genesis 5:29 this comes from P, as is clear from the style, each statement being cast in the same mould, and the whole forming a mere catalogue of names and dates. There is a striking divergence between the Heb., Sam., and LXX figures, the period from the Creation to the Flood being reckoned as 1656, 1307, and 2242 (a variant yields 2262) years respectively. THE question is very complex; here the editor's view must be stated without discussion. The LXX may be set aside; the Sam. is probably to be preferred to the Heb. since the latter shows signs of artificiality and because it can be more readily explained from the Sam. than _vice versa._ The Sam. represents Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech as dying in the year of the Flood, and since this occurs early in the year the suggestion is that they perished in it. The Heb. presumably is an

LAMECH (powerful)....

_Methuselah_ According to the Hebrew text and the Samaritan version, Methuselah lived the longest of all the patriarchs, and, according to their figures, his death at the age of 969 years occurred in the year of the Flood....

THE DESCENDANTS OF ADAM TO NOAH The purpose of the historian in giving the names and ages of the antediluvian Patriarchs was, no doubt, to show the glorious ancestry of the chosen race, and to account for the period between the Creation and the Flood. This, according to the Hebrews, was 1656 years. (See on Genesis 10:32.) Various attempts have been made to explain the great ages attributed to these Patriarchs, but they are purely conjectural, and the view now generally held is that the Hebrews, like all other ancient nations, had a tradition that the forefathers of the race were vastly longer lived than their descendants. The golden age of the Hebrew lay in the past; and he attributed in preeminent degree to his ancestors in these far-off days the blessing he valued most of all—length of days upon the earth. The similarity of the lists of names in...