And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered his son Noah in the genealogy from Adam to Noah before the Flood. The patriarchs of that line lived nearly a thousand years, between nine hundred and a thousand years with nine generations averaging 912 years, and the record is literal and not another way of reckoning time. That great length of life shows the original vigor of humanity and the life-giving power of the tree of life passed down from Adam and Eve and still largely retained in Lamech's time. Their long lives gave strong bodies and minds and strong memories, and with seven generations living together for hundreds of years Adam could tell all God taught him directly to Methuselah, Methuselah to Shem, Shem to Abraham and Isaac, and they to Jacob without books or written records. Yet though those men had rare power to plan and execute and were given life to praise their Creator, they gave loose rein to iniquity, and the steady shortening of life afterward to 332 years for nine generations after the Flood and at last to seventy years and even to thirty-five proves the awful effect of violating God's laws of health and life.
Long Life Before Flood
Genesis 5:28 belongs to the pre-flood genealogy running from Adam to Noah, and it records that Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered his son Noah. The patriarchs from Adam to Noah, with few or one or two exceptions, lived nearly a thousand years, between nine hundred and a thousand years, and nine generations before the Flood averaged 912 years. That record is literal and is not a different method of computing time. That great age shows the original vigor of humanity. It came from the life-giving power of the tree of life transmitted from Adam and Eve, with much of its early vigor still retained in Lamech's time.
The record from Adam to Noah covers more than sixteen hundred years when vegetables, fruits, and grains were the diet of man. Lamech begetting a son at 182 years and living 777 years shows remarkably good health on that living. There was no sickness and death of children, no feebleness in youth or middle age, no fevers, dyspepsia, gout, consumption, or local diseases from breakdown of one organ while others remained strong. There was no long-drawn suffering or excruciating agonies in death, but only the measure of each life and its cessation when the springs of life grown weary stood still.
After Noah's time human lifespans steadily shortened as violations of the laws of life continued. Nine generations after the Flood averaged 332 years. They tapered afterward to between one and two hundred years by the time of the Egyptian bondage, to seventy or threescore years and ten in the time of Moses and David, about halfway from Adam to the present, and to about thirty-five years at present, to thirty years in Europe and America and twenty years in great cities now. The shortening shows humanity has woefully deteriorated physically and proves the awful effect of violating God's laws of health and life. The race was created with ten times more vital force than it now possesses. In the first 2000 years no death of children is recorded and it was uncommon for a son to die before his father, in contrast with the sickness and mortality common in the present generation.
The people of Lamech's time, when life was still measured by centuries, had rare powers to plan and execute. They included many giants of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom and skillful in devising cunning and wonderful works. They were given life to make their Creator's name a praise in the earth by devoting themselves to His service, but they failed to do this and gave loose rein to iniquity, with guilt in proportion to skill and mental ability.
Overlapping Lives Spread Truth
Genesis 5 provides the dates from which the overlapping of early lifetimes with later ones can be calculated. Adam was still alive when Methuselah was 243 years old, and Methuselah was still alive when Shem the son of Noah was 98 years old. Shem lived 150 years after Abraham was born and 50 years after Isaac was born, Abraham lived until Jacob and Esau were 15 years old, and Isaac lived until they were 120. In this way the record forms an unbroken chain by which all that God taught Adam was told directly by Adam to Methuselah, by Methuselah to Shem, by Shem to Abraham and Isaac, and by them to Jacob, the father of the tribes of Israel.
Adam lived for hundreds of years among his descendants, and for hundreds of years seven generations lived upon the earth at the same time. They had opportunity to consult together and each to profit by the knowledge and experience of all. Their long lives showed great physical and mental vigor and strong memories, so that without books or written records men could grasp and retain what was communicated and transmit it unimpaired to posterity. Adam, formed in God’s image and pronounced good, was instructed by God in all wisdom pertaining to the material world, learned the history of creation from God, witnessed the events of nine centuries, and imparted his knowledge to his descendants. The men of that olden time thus had far greater advantages even in merely human knowledge than modern men have through the attainments of their predecessors.
Lamech fathered Noah, who afterward warned the people of the coming flood and built the ark. Methuselah, his sons, and his grandsons were among those who received Noah’s instruction and helped with the work. Lamech stands in the line of righteous men — Seth, Enoch, Noah, Methuselah and others — who presented the truth and kept the knowledge of God continually before the world before the Flood by which God destroyed the long-lived race. The world around them despised the truth as people despise the truth today, the imaginations of their hearts was evil and only evil continually, and secret societies were formed to work in darkness to do violence.
Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered his son Noah in the genealogy from Adam to Noah before the Flood. The patriarchs of that line lived nearly a thousand years, between nine hundred and a thousand years with nine generations averaging 912 years, and the record is literal and not another way of reckoning time. That great length of life shows the original vigor of humanity and the life-giving power of the tree of life passed down from Adam and Eve and still largely retained in Lamech's time. Their long lives gave strong bodies and minds and strong memories, and with seven generations living together for hundreds of years Adam could tell all God taught him directly to Methuselah, Methuselah to Shem, Shem to Abraham and Isaac, and they to Jacob without books or written records. Yet though those men had rare power to plan and execute and were given life to praise their Creator, they gave loose rein to iniquity, and the steady shortening of life afterward to 332 years for nine generations after the Flood and at last to seventy years and even to thirty-five proves the awful effect of violating God's laws of health and life.
Long Life Before Flood
Genesis 5:28 belongs to the pre-flood genealogy running from Adam to Noah, and it records that Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered his son Noah. The patriarchs from Adam to Noah, with few or one or two exceptions, lived nearly a thousand years, between nine hundred and a thousand years, and nine generations before the Flood averaged 912 years. That record is literal and is not a different method of computing time. That great age shows the original vigor of humanity. It came from the life-giving power of the tree of life transmitted from Adam and Eve, with much of its early vigor still retained in Lamech's time.
The record from Adam to Noah covers more than sixteen hundred years when vegetables, fruits, and grains were the diet of man. Lamech begetting a son at 182 years and living 777 years shows remarkably good health on that living. There was no sickness and death of children, no feebleness in youth or middle age, no fevers, dyspepsia, gout, consumption, or local diseases from breakdown of one organ while others remained strong. There was no long-drawn suffering or excruciating agonies in death, but only the measure of each life and its cessation when the springs of life grown weary stood still.
After Noah's time human lifespans steadily shortened as violations of the laws of life continued. Nine generations after the Flood averaged 332 years. They tapered afterward to between one and two hundred years by the time of the Egyptian bondage, to seventy or threescore years and ten in the time of Moses and David, about halfway from Adam to the present, and to about thirty-five years at present, to thirty years in Europe and America and twenty years in great cities now. The shortening shows humanity has woefully deteriorated physically and proves the awful effect of violating God's laws of health and life. The race was created with ten times more vital force than it now possesses. In the first 2000 years no death of children is recorded and it was uncommon for a son to die before his father, in contrast with the sickness and mortality common in the present generation.
The people of Lamech's time, when life was still measured by centuries, had rare powers to plan and execute. They included many giants of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom and skillful in devising cunning and wonderful works. They were given life to make their Creator's name a praise in the earth by devoting themselves to His service, but they failed to do this and gave loose rein to iniquity, with guilt in proportion to skill and mental ability.
Overlapping Lives Spread Truth
Genesis 5 provides the dates from which the overlapping of early lifetimes with later ones can be calculated. Adam was still alive when Methuselah was 243 years old, and Methuselah was still alive when Shem the son of Noah was 98 years old. Shem lived 150 years after Abraham was born and 50 years after Isaac was born, Abraham lived until Jacob and Esau were 15 years old, and Isaac lived until they were 120. In this way the record forms an unbroken chain by which all that God taught Adam was told directly by Adam to Methuselah, by Methuselah to Shem, by Shem to Abraham and Isaac, and by them to Jacob, the father of the tribes of Israel.
Adam lived for hundreds of years among his descendants, and for hundreds of years seven generations lived upon the earth at the same time. They had opportunity to consult together and each to profit by the knowledge and experience of all. Their long lives showed great physical and mental vigor and strong memories, so that without books or written records men could grasp and retain what was communicated and transmit it unimpaired to posterity. Adam, formed in God’s image and pronounced good, was instructed by God in all wisdom pertaining to the material world, learned the history of creation from God, witnessed the events of nine centuries, and imparted his knowledge to his descendants. The men of that olden time thus had far greater advantages even in merely human knowledge than modern men have through the attainments of their predecessors.
Lamech fathered Noah, who afterward warned the people of the coming flood and built the ark. Methuselah, his sons, and his grandsons were among those who received Noah’s instruction and helped with the work. Lamech stands in the line of righteous men — Seth, Enoch, Noah, Methuselah and others — who presented the truth and kept the knowledge of God continually before the world before the Flood by which God destroyed the long-lived race. The world around them despised the truth as people despise the truth today, the imaginations of their hearts was evil and only evil continually, and secret societies were formed to work in darkness to do violence.