And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
Mahalaleel lived 830 years after Jared was born, fathering other sons and daughters through those centuries, with his whole life reaching 895 years and closing in death. He stands in the nine-generation line before the Flood whose lives averaged 912 years, against about 332 years for nine generations after the Flood, seventy years in Moses' and David's time, and about thirty-five years at present. Those centuries of vigor came from the perfect form and roughly tenfold vital force given at creation, still sustained by the life-giving power of the tree of life passed on from Adam and Eve before corrupt appetites and broken physical law had taken sensible effect. Since Noah life has tapered because men have violated the laws of life, so disease and mortality have grown from generation to generation until years are cut to brief spans marked by suffering. The long overlapping lives let truth pass by living lips through very few links from Adam to Methuselah to Shem to Abraham and Isaac to Jacob, while seven generations at once could learn directly from Adam's nine centuries of witness, a long life given to make the Creator's name a praise but largely turned instead to skillful iniquity.
Long Life Before Flood
Genesis 5:16 belongs to the nine-generation record before the Flood whose average age was 912 years, set against an average of 332 years across nine generations after the Flood, seventy years in Moses' time, and about thirty-five years at present, showing a steady decrease in longevity. It records that Mahalaleel lived 830 years after begetting Jared and begat sons and daughters, with his total life given as 895 years and ending in death. That 830-year span after Jared is one link in the long-lived line from Seth through Enoch to Noah that handed down truth by human lips from generation to generation.
Mahalaleel belonged to the patriarchs from Adam to Noah who, with few exceptions, lived nearly a thousand years. The literal record is that those patriarchs, with one or two exceptions, lived between nine hundred and a thousand years, afterward tapering down to between one and two hundred years by the time of Egyptian vassalage. The record gives the ages of men, while with one or two exceptions the ages of women at death are never mentioned.
Before the Flood human life was still measured by centuries and kept much of its early vigor, only a few generations after Adam lost access to the tree that prolonged life. Those lives ended without mention of the illnesses or prolonged suffering familiar in later times.
Why Lifespans Shortened
The nearly thousand-year lives before the Flood came from the perfect form and vital force given at creation, more than a thousand years before corrupt appetites and violations of physical law were sensibly felt upon the race. The race was created with about ten times more vital force than it now possesses, for otherwise its violations of the laws of health and life would long ago have extinguished it altogether. That vitality in the antediluvians was sustained by the life-giving power of the tree of life, transmitted to them from Adam and Eve.
Since the days of Noah the length of life has been tapering because people have repeatedly and continually violated the laws of life. Disease has steadily increased through successive generations and mortality has increased to a fearful extent, cutting the years of man to contemptible brevity. At the time of David, about halfway from Adam to the present day, the average of human life was only seventy years, and now in Europe and the United States it is but about thirty years, and in great cities but twenty years.
The present generation passes to the grave even before the age at which the generations of the first few thousand years after creation, who still lived hundreds of years after begetting children, came upon the stage of action. Mahalaleel living 830 years after Jared was born and having other sons and daughters illustrates the contrast between the people listed in the early generations and the shorter-lived generation in which suffering and mortality prevail. Those nearly thousand-year lives prove man as created was physically noble in size and strength and intellectually great and very good in the highest sense.
The shortening from those lives to the present brief period marked with disease, decrepitude, and imbecility came from the original curse with its accumulated weight of transgression and violation of natural law bowing down the race. It came also from flesh eating begun of necessity by Noah and his sons, from which point the race rapidly declined in length of days. Human history is thus downward degeneration from Edenic grandeur, beauty, symmetry, intellect, and face-to-face communion with God, not upward progression.
Overlapping Lives Spread Truth
The overlapping lifespans recorded from Adam to Noah allowed the knowledge of all that God had taught Adam to be communicated directly to his descendants through very few links. Adam imparted it to Methuselah, Methuselah to Shem, Shem to Abraham and Isaac, and Abraham and Isaac to Jacob the father of the tribes of Israel. The overlap made this possible because Adam was still alive when Methuselah was 243 years old, Methuselah was still alive when Shem the son of Noah was 98 years old, Shem lived 150 years after the birth of Abraham and 50 years after the birth of Isaac, Abraham lived till Jacob and Esau were 15 years old, and Isaac lived till they were 120.
The 830 years lived after begetting Jared belonged to a time when seven generations lived on the earth together for hundreds of years, so that Adam remained among his descendants to teach them directly. Adam had been taught by God all wisdom concerning the material world and the history of creation, and had himself witnessed nine centuries. With no books or written records, men of great physical and mental vigor possessed strong memories able to grasp and retain what was communicated to them and to transmit it unimpaired to posterity, while generations living contemporaneously had opportunity to consult together with each profiting by the knowledge and experience of all. As one link in the long-lived line from Seth through Enoch to Noah that handed down God's truth by human lips from one generation to another, this continuity reaches even to Daniel and his companions in Babylon still knowing the history of Abel, Seth, Enoch, and Noah and having the image of God engraved upon the heart.
Long life with rare powers to plan and execute was given to serve God, to make the Creator's name a praise in the earth and to answer the purpose for which life was given. The people failed to do this and gave loose rein to iniquity in proportion to their skill and mental ability. Among them were many giants of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom and skillful in devising cunning and wonderful works.
Mahalaleel lived 830 years after Jared was born, fathering other sons and daughters through those centuries, with his whole life reaching 895 years and closing in death. He stands in the nine-generation line before the Flood whose lives averaged 912 years, against about 332 years for nine generations after the Flood, seventy years in Moses' and David's time, and about thirty-five years at present. Those centuries of vigor came from the perfect form and roughly tenfold vital force given at creation, still sustained by the life-giving power of the tree of life passed on from Adam and Eve before corrupt appetites and broken physical law had taken sensible effect. Since Noah life has tapered because men have violated the laws of life, so disease and mortality have grown from generation to generation until years are cut to brief spans marked by suffering. The long overlapping lives let truth pass by living lips through very few links from Adam to Methuselah to Shem to Abraham and Isaac to Jacob, while seven generations at once could learn directly from Adam's nine centuries of witness, a long life given to make the Creator's name a praise but largely turned instead to skillful iniquity.
Long Life Before Flood
Genesis 5:16 belongs to the nine-generation record before the Flood whose average age was 912 years, set against an average of 332 years across nine generations after the Flood, seventy years in Moses' time, and about thirty-five years at present, showing a steady decrease in longevity. It records that Mahalaleel lived 830 years after begetting Jared and begat sons and daughters, with his total life given as 895 years and ending in death. That 830-year span after Jared is one link in the long-lived line from Seth through Enoch to Noah that handed down truth by human lips from generation to generation.
Mahalaleel belonged to the patriarchs from Adam to Noah who, with few exceptions, lived nearly a thousand years. The literal record is that those patriarchs, with one or two exceptions, lived between nine hundred and a thousand years, afterward tapering down to between one and two hundred years by the time of Egyptian vassalage. The record gives the ages of men, while with one or two exceptions the ages of women at death are never mentioned.
Before the Flood human life was still measured by centuries and kept much of its early vigor, only a few generations after Adam lost access to the tree that prolonged life. Those lives ended without mention of the illnesses or prolonged suffering familiar in later times.
Why Lifespans Shortened
The nearly thousand-year lives before the Flood came from the perfect form and vital force given at creation, more than a thousand years before corrupt appetites and violations of physical law were sensibly felt upon the race. The race was created with about ten times more vital force than it now possesses, for otherwise its violations of the laws of health and life would long ago have extinguished it altogether. That vitality in the antediluvians was sustained by the life-giving power of the tree of life, transmitted to them from Adam and Eve.
Since the days of Noah the length of life has been tapering because people have repeatedly and continually violated the laws of life. Disease has steadily increased through successive generations and mortality has increased to a fearful extent, cutting the years of man to contemptible brevity. At the time of David, about halfway from Adam to the present day, the average of human life was only seventy years, and now in Europe and the United States it is but about thirty years, and in great cities but twenty years.
The present generation passes to the grave even before the age at which the generations of the first few thousand years after creation, who still lived hundreds of years after begetting children, came upon the stage of action. Mahalaleel living 830 years after Jared was born and having other sons and daughters illustrates the contrast between the people listed in the early generations and the shorter-lived generation in which suffering and mortality prevail. Those nearly thousand-year lives prove man as created was physically noble in size and strength and intellectually great and very good in the highest sense.
The shortening from those lives to the present brief period marked with disease, decrepitude, and imbecility came from the original curse with its accumulated weight of transgression and violation of natural law bowing down the race. It came also from flesh eating begun of necessity by Noah and his sons, from which point the race rapidly declined in length of days. Human history is thus downward degeneration from Edenic grandeur, beauty, symmetry, intellect, and face-to-face communion with God, not upward progression.
Overlapping Lives Spread Truth
The overlapping lifespans recorded from Adam to Noah allowed the knowledge of all that God had taught Adam to be communicated directly to his descendants through very few links. Adam imparted it to Methuselah, Methuselah to Shem, Shem to Abraham and Isaac, and Abraham and Isaac to Jacob the father of the tribes of Israel. The overlap made this possible because Adam was still alive when Methuselah was 243 years old, Methuselah was still alive when Shem the son of Noah was 98 years old, Shem lived 150 years after the birth of Abraham and 50 years after the birth of Isaac, Abraham lived till Jacob and Esau were 15 years old, and Isaac lived till they were 120.
The 830 years lived after begetting Jared belonged to a time when seven generations lived on the earth together for hundreds of years, so that Adam remained among his descendants to teach them directly. Adam had been taught by God all wisdom concerning the material world and the history of creation, and had himself witnessed nine centuries. With no books or written records, men of great physical and mental vigor possessed strong memories able to grasp and retain what was communicated to them and to transmit it unimpaired to posterity, while generations living contemporaneously had opportunity to consult together with each profiting by the knowledge and experience of all. As one link in the long-lived line from Seth through Enoch to Noah that handed down God's truth by human lips from one generation to another, this continuity reaches even to Daniel and his companions in Babylon still knowing the history of Abel, Seth, Enoch, and Noah and having the image of God engraved upon the heart.
Long life with rare powers to plan and execute was given to serve God, to make the Creator's name a praise in the earth and to answer the purpose for which life was given. The people failed to do this and gave loose rein to iniquity in proportion to their skill and mental ability. Among them were many giants of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom and skillful in devising cunning and wonderful works.