I think it is easy to read Genesis and overlook the curiously long lifespans of many of the characters, particularly Adam. It is strange that "all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years" (Gen 5:5), and that no explanation is given as to why. Maybe the measurement of a year was different compared to the way that we measure a year today. Or maybe as the first man he was given an incredibly long life?
Similarly, I found it interesting that as more of Adam's descendants lived and died, their lifespans got shorter and shorter. La'mech lived only 777 years (Gen 5:31), Sarah lived only 127 years (Gen 23:1), and by the time Joseph (Israel) died, he only lived 110 years (Gen 50:22). I thought that maybe as the generations wore on, people became disassociated from God and lost the years that they could have had (like Adam). But this could be wrong because God favored Noah, Joseph, Jacob and others, yet they all lead shorter lives than Adam. I'm curious what other people think.
-Catherine Foley
I believe the shorter life span is due to the fall of man (Genesis 3)
ReplyDeleteI think both of you, Catherine and Jessica, make good points. What really is the cause of the consistent shorting life spans? We talked a lot about righteous in today's discussion. I think maybe as God saw people becoming less devoted to him and begin to fall into sin more often he began to shorten their life on earth. Sounds cruel, but we did mention that God is one who delivers his messages in sometimes violent ways to His people.
DeleteThis is weird point so correct me if I'm wrong, but could it be cause of the difference of authors? Like Genesis has many different authors so maybe each one of them had different views about humanity and about people's devotion?
DeleteIn Genesis (3:17), God says to Adam "Because [he] hast hearkened unto the voice of [his] wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which [god] commanded thee, saying, [he] shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for [his] sake; in sorrow shalt [he] eat of it all the days of [his] life." A big argument for the degradation of human life span spans from the infestation of sin, but apart from that, pay a closer attention to the ground mentioned in the quote - God had cursed the ground, and we know that from dust rises all man. Therefore, following the relation between earth and man, the more desecrated the ground becomes, the shorter the life man have. The Garden of Eden was crafted to be a "garden of god", it is meant to be perfect. However, as the generations after Adam and Eve begin wondering, their lives begin to shorten. More coincidentally, after the Great Flood, the life span of Earth's inhabitants becomes strictly 120 years or less. Personally, I think it could be the manifestation of sin onto man that is shortening the lives of the biblical characters. Scientifically, however, the infected grounds may also be a reasonable answer.
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