And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:
Seth was one hundred and five literal years old when his son Enos was born, belonging to the generations before the Flood whose lives lasted nearly a thousand years. Those centuries of life reflected the original vigor of mankind soon after Eden, sustained by the life-giving power of the tree of life and a simple diet, with remarkably good health free from the fevers, wasting diseases, and early feebleness known today. Human life has steadily shortened since through transgression, the accumulated curse, and the later use of flesh as food, falling from an average of nine hundred and twelve years before the Flood to seventy years by the time of Moses and to about thirty-five years at present. The overlapping long lives gave seven generations living together for hundreds of years, so that knowledge learned directly from the Creator could be passed unimpaired from Adam through Methuselah and Shem to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Seth stood in the faithful line with Abel, Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah who kept the knowledge of God before the world, yet the long-lived race as a whole failed to use its rare powers to serve God and was at last destroyed by the Flood.
Longevity Before the Flood
Seth was one hundred and five years old when Enos was born, standing in the generations from Adam to Noah before the Flood whose lives lasted nearly a thousand years, with few exceptions. That genealogy belongs to the period of exceptional longevity before Noah, in contrast with the shortened spans of later generations.
The ages are literal years, not reckoned by some different ancient method of computing time, with Seth and the others living between nine hundred and one thousand years. The nine generations before the Flood averaged nine hundred and twelve years.
Those centuries-long lives reflected original vigor soon after access to the tree that prolongs life, for only a few generations had passed since Adam had access to it. Long life was prolonged by the life-giving power of the tree of life, which had power to perpetuate life so that as long as Adam and Eve ate of it they could not die, a power transmitted to their descendants. For more than sixteen hundred years from the expulsion from Eden to the Flood the diet was green herb, vegetables, fruits and grains, flesh being permitted only from necessity after the Flood. There was remarkably good health with no mention of sickness and death of children, feebleness in youth or middle age, or fevers, dyspepsia, gout, consumption or local disease breaking down one organ while others remained strong, and life ended only when the weary springs of life stood still, without long-drawn suffering or excruciating agony.
Human life has steadily shortened through continued violation of the laws of life and health. The race was created with ten times more vital force than it now possesses, or its violations would have extinguished it altogether. The original curse with its accumulated weight of transgression and violation of natural law bowed the race down, and after the Flood eating flesh as food for a time caused rapid decline. The average fell to three hundred and thirty-two years for nine generations after the Flood, to between one and two hundred years by the time of the Egyptian bondage, to seventy years in the time of Moses and David about halfway from Adam to the present, and to about thirty-five years at present, averaging thirty years in Europe and the United States and twenty years in great cities.
The long life displays man as formed in the image of God and pronounced very good, with noble size, physical strength, perfect symmetry and intellect. As life shortened the race has fallen downward in size, strength and length of days to the present brief existence marked with disease, decrepitude and imbecility.
Knowledge and Faithful Witness
Genesis 5:6 belongs to a record in which seven generations were living on the earth at the same time for hundreds of years and could consult together so that each profited from the knowledge and experience of all. Adam, the man formed in God's image whom God pronounced good, remained among them for hundreds of years after learning the history of creation from the Creator himself, being instructed in all wisdom pertaining to the material world and witnessing the events of nine centuries. He imparted his knowledge to his descendants, and though they had no books or written records they had great physical and mental vigor and strong memories able to grasp and retain what was communicated and transmit it unimpaired to posterity. In merely human knowledge this gave them far greater advantages than modern men have through the writings left by master minds.
The long overlapping lives in this genealogy made direct transmission possible of all that God taught Adam, from Adam to the father of the tribes of Israel. Adam imparted it to Methuselah, for Adam lived till Methuselah was 243 years old, and Methuselah imparted it to Shem, for Methuselah lived till Shem son of Noah was 98. Shem imparted it to Abraham and Isaac, for Shem lived 150 years after the birth of Abraham and 50 years after the birth of Isaac. Abraham and Isaac imparted it to Jacob, for Abraham lived till Jacob and Esau were 15, and Isaac lived till they were 120.
Genesis 5:6 places Seth in the faithful line with Abel, Enoch, Methuselah and Noah among the righteous men before the Flood who presented the truth and kept the knowledge of God continually before the world. Their history was preserved and cherished and taught to later generations, the truth about them being handed down by human lips from one generation to another, engraving the image of God on the heart and strengthening faithfulness to God against intemperance and idolatry. Life was given to serve God and make the Creator's name a praise in the earth, and those long-lived people had rare powers to plan and execute, including many giants of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom and skillful in devising the most cunning and wonderful works. They failed to do this, giving loose rein to iniquity with guilt in proportion to skill and mental ability, despising truth as truth is despised today, their hearts imagining evil and only evil continually, with secret societies working in darkness to do violence, until God destroyed that long-lived race by a flood.
Seth was one hundred and five literal years old when his son Enos was born, belonging to the generations before the Flood whose lives lasted nearly a thousand years. Those centuries of life reflected the original vigor of mankind soon after Eden, sustained by the life-giving power of the tree of life and a simple diet, with remarkably good health free from the fevers, wasting diseases, and early feebleness known today. Human life has steadily shortened since through transgression, the accumulated curse, and the later use of flesh as food, falling from an average of nine hundred and twelve years before the Flood to seventy years by the time of Moses and to about thirty-five years at present. The overlapping long lives gave seven generations living together for hundreds of years, so that knowledge learned directly from the Creator could be passed unimpaired from Adam through Methuselah and Shem to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Seth stood in the faithful line with Abel, Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah who kept the knowledge of God before the world, yet the long-lived race as a whole failed to use its rare powers to serve God and was at last destroyed by the Flood.
Longevity Before the Flood
Seth was one hundred and five years old when Enos was born, standing in the generations from Adam to Noah before the Flood whose lives lasted nearly a thousand years, with few exceptions. That genealogy belongs to the period of exceptional longevity before Noah, in contrast with the shortened spans of later generations.
The ages are literal years, not reckoned by some different ancient method of computing time, with Seth and the others living between nine hundred and one thousand years. The nine generations before the Flood averaged nine hundred and twelve years.
Those centuries-long lives reflected original vigor soon after access to the tree that prolongs life, for only a few generations had passed since Adam had access to it. Long life was prolonged by the life-giving power of the tree of life, which had power to perpetuate life so that as long as Adam and Eve ate of it they could not die, a power transmitted to their descendants. For more than sixteen hundred years from the expulsion from Eden to the Flood the diet was green herb, vegetables, fruits and grains, flesh being permitted only from necessity after the Flood. There was remarkably good health with no mention of sickness and death of children, feebleness in youth or middle age, or fevers, dyspepsia, gout, consumption or local disease breaking down one organ while others remained strong, and life ended only when the weary springs of life stood still, without long-drawn suffering or excruciating agony.
Human life has steadily shortened through continued violation of the laws of life and health. The race was created with ten times more vital force than it now possesses, or its violations would have extinguished it altogether. The original curse with its accumulated weight of transgression and violation of natural law bowed the race down, and after the Flood eating flesh as food for a time caused rapid decline. The average fell to three hundred and thirty-two years for nine generations after the Flood, to between one and two hundred years by the time of the Egyptian bondage, to seventy years in the time of Moses and David about halfway from Adam to the present, and to about thirty-five years at present, averaging thirty years in Europe and the United States and twenty years in great cities.
The long life displays man as formed in the image of God and pronounced very good, with noble size, physical strength, perfect symmetry and intellect. As life shortened the race has fallen downward in size, strength and length of days to the present brief existence marked with disease, decrepitude and imbecility.
Knowledge and Faithful Witness
Genesis 5:6 belongs to a record in which seven generations were living on the earth at the same time for hundreds of years and could consult together so that each profited from the knowledge and experience of all. Adam, the man formed in God's image whom God pronounced good, remained among them for hundreds of years after learning the history of creation from the Creator himself, being instructed in all wisdom pertaining to the material world and witnessing the events of nine centuries. He imparted his knowledge to his descendants, and though they had no books or written records they had great physical and mental vigor and strong memories able to grasp and retain what was communicated and transmit it unimpaired to posterity. In merely human knowledge this gave them far greater advantages than modern men have through the writings left by master minds.
The long overlapping lives in this genealogy made direct transmission possible of all that God taught Adam, from Adam to the father of the tribes of Israel. Adam imparted it to Methuselah, for Adam lived till Methuselah was 243 years old, and Methuselah imparted it to Shem, for Methuselah lived till Shem son of Noah was 98. Shem imparted it to Abraham and Isaac, for Shem lived 150 years after the birth of Abraham and 50 years after the birth of Isaac. Abraham and Isaac imparted it to Jacob, for Abraham lived till Jacob and Esau were 15, and Isaac lived till they were 120.
Genesis 5:6 places Seth in the faithful line with Abel, Enoch, Methuselah and Noah among the righteous men before the Flood who presented the truth and kept the knowledge of God continually before the world. Their history was preserved and cherished and taught to later generations, the truth about them being handed down by human lips from one generation to another, engraving the image of God on the heart and strengthening faithfulness to God against intemperance and idolatry. Life was given to serve God and make the Creator's name a praise in the earth, and those long-lived people had rare powers to plan and execute, including many giants of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom and skillful in devising the most cunning and wonderful works. They failed to do this, giving loose rein to iniquity with guilt in proportion to skill and mental ability, despising truth as truth is despised today, their hearts imagining evil and only evil continually, with secret societies working in darkness to do violence, until God destroyed that long-lived race by a flood.