Who are the oldest people in the bible

What does the expression as “Old as Methuselah” mean?

This idiom, rooted in the Bible, means someone or something is very old! The book of Genesis says that Methuselah lived for 969 years.

Who was Methuselah?

Methuselah is the oldest person mentioned in the Bible. He lived to be 969 years old (Genesis 5:27). In Genesis 5, Methuselah is listed as a descendent of Adam, who also lived nearly a millennium.  Methuselah and Adam are not the only persons mentioned in the Bible living over 900 years.

  • Adam lived to be 930 years old
  • Adam’s son Seth lived 912 years
  • Seth’s son Enosh (or Enos) lived to be 905 years old
  • Methuselah’s grandfather Jered lived to be 962 years old
  • Methuselah’s grandson Noah lived to be 950 years old

Though Methuselah lived 693 years after Adam, it is likely they knew each other since Adam lived for another 237 years after Methuselah was born. 

Methuselah was the son of Enoch. Enoch was 65 when Methuselah was born.  Enoch was commended for his faithfulness to God.  According to Genesis 5, “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” Methuselah’s son Lamech was the father of Noah.  Methuselah was 369 years old when Noah was born (Genesis 5:25-29).  Methuselah died in the year of the flood when Noah was 600 years old (Genesis 9:28-29).

Where is Methuselah found in the Bible?

References to Methuselah found are in:

Genesis 5:21-22 “When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.”

Genesis 5:25-27 “When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. After he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.”

1 Chronicles 1:1-4 “Adam, Seth, Enosh, 2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, 3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah. 4 The sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth.”

Luke 3:37 “the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Kenan.”

Interesting Facts about Methuselah

1. The meaning of Methuselah’s name is believed to be “Man of the Dart,” or “Man of the Javelin."

2. Methuselah was the oldest person on record in human history.

3. Methuselah died in the same year of the Flood – yes, that flood.

4. The oldest living tree is named after Methuselah.

Methuselah Tree

The Methuselah tree is in a hidden and protected location in the White Mountains of eastern California. The tree is a Bristlecone Pine and is 4,769 years old (as of 2019).

Sources

AnswersInGenesis.org, “When Did Methuselah Die?” Bodie Hodge 2010.

BibleStudyTools.com, Easton’s Bible Dictionary, Methuselah.

BibleStudyTools.com, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Methuselah.

National Parks Service, Bristlecone Pine, 2015.

Penny Noyes, M.Ed. is the author of Embracing Change - Learning to Trust God from the Women of the Bible and two books about Hezekiah. You can follow Penny on her blog and on Instagram @pennynoyes.

Photo Credit: Pixabay/werner22brigitte

     A: Following is list containing the name of every man in the Bible I could find who lived to be at least 200 years old. I will list them from oldest to youngest.

Man And His Age Verses
Methuselah (969 years old) (Gen 5:27)
Jared (962 years old) (Gen 5:20)
Noah (950 years old) (Gen 9:29)
Adam (930 years old) (Gen 5:5)
Seth (912 years old) (Gen 5:8)
Cainan (Kenan) (910 years old) (Gen 5:14)
Enos (905 years old) (Gen 5:11)
Mahalaleel (Mahalalel) (895 years old) (Gen 5:17)
Lamech (777 years old)
(Gen 5:31)
Shem (600 years old) (Gen 11:10-11)
Eber (464 years old) (Gen 11:16-17)
Arphaxad (438 years old) (Gen 11:12-13)
Salah (433 years old) (Gen 11:14-15)
** Enoch (365 years old) (Gen 5:21-24)
Peleg (239 years old) (Gen 11:18-19)
Reu (239 years old) (Gen 11:20-21)
Serug (230 years old) (Gen 11:22-23)
Terah (205 years old) (Gen 11:32)

** Enoch was taken off Earth by God while he was still alive.

*** There is evidence that Job may have lived to be 210. (See: Q: #177.)

     It should be noted that after the flood (Genesis Ch. 6-9), the life spans of people began to decrease significantly. (Notice the downward trend in Genesis Chapter 11.) However, well after the flood, and into the book of Exodus, most well-known men (i.e. Isaac, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Aaron, Moses, Joshua) still lived to between 100 – 200 years old.

     We do not know how old the women of Genesis and Exodus were when they died. The Bible tells us the age of only one woman when she died, and that is Sarah (Gen 23:1 / 127 years old). However, it seems obvious that the wives of the men listed on the chart above also lived to be quite old. For example, (Gen 5:32) says, “Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” It is safe to assume that Noah’s wife would have been around the same age when she gave birth to them.

     Based upon (Ps 90:10), written by Moses, it appears the average life span was around 70 – 80 years by the time of Moses. Later, Isaiah also points to the 70 year life span (Isa 23:15).

More Questions & Answers

Who is the oldest person according to Bible?

In the Bible According to the Bible, Methuselah died the year of the flood but the Bible does not record whether he died during or prior to the flood. He was also the oldest of all the figures mentioned in the Bible.

Who's the second oldest man in the Bible?

Jared's age was given as 962 years old when he died (when Noah was 366), making him the second-oldest person mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint.

Who was the second oldest person to live in the Bible?

Among the biblical people whose ages are noted, the three oldest are Methuselah, who lived 969 years; Jared, who lived 962 years; and Noah, who lived 950 years.