Enos was ninety years old when his son Cainan was born, as one link in the unbroken line from Adam through Seth onward toward Noah. He belonged to the nine generations before the Flood who lived on average 912 years, nearly a thousand years each, and he himself lived 905 years in all before he died. Because those long lives overlapped for hundreds of years, with seven generations alive together and Adam still living when Methuselah was 243, divine truth and human knowledge could pass directly through few persons from Adam to Methuselah to Shem to Abraham and Isaac to Jacob. That centuries-long vitality came from the life-giving power of the tree of life, transmitted from Adam and Eve to their early descendants who still kept much of their original vigor, strength of mind and body, and power to plan and execute great works. God gave that length of days that men might serve Him and make His name a praise, but they gave loose rein to iniquity, and by continued transgression, corrupt appetite, and eating flesh after the Flood, human life was cut down progressively to seventy years and even less.
Genealogy and Great Longevity
Enos was ninety years old when he became the father of Cainan, placing him in the pre-Flood genealogy running from Adam and Seth onward to Noah. That genealogy belongs to the generations before the Flood whose patriarchs, from Adam to Noah, with few exceptions lived nearly a thousand years. Nine generations before the Flood averaged 912 years of life, between nine hundred and a thousand years, far greater than the 332-year average of nine generations after the Flood, the seventy years in the time of Moses, and about thirty-five years at present. Enos himself lived 905 years in all, and the record gives the years of these long lives and says that they died.
After Noah human life grew progressively shorter, and mortality increased as violation of the laws of life continued and lifespans steadily shortened. This long life belonged to a period of more than sixteen hundred years when people lived on a plant-based diet. Its place as one link in the unbroken genealogy from Adam establishes overlapping lifetimes, when seven generations lived on the earth together for hundreds of years. Adam was still alive when Methuselah was 243 years old, so knowledge could be communicated directly through few persons — Adam to Methuselah, Methuselah to Shem, Shem to Abraham and Isaac, and Abraham and Isaac to Jacob, father of the tribes of Israel.
Human life then gave unrivaled advantages for knowledge, because with great physical and mental vigor, strong memory, and no books or written records, men could grasp and retain what was communicated and transmit it unimpaired to posterity, consulting together and profiting each by the knowledge and experience of all. Adam, formed in God's image and pronounced good and instructed by the Creator in all wisdom pertaining to the material world and in the history of creation, himself witnessed the events of nine centuries and imparted his knowledge to his descendants. Those named in this genealogy therefore had far greater advantages even for merely human knowledge than modern men of masterly minds who plan and study and write during twenty to fifty years. The verse belongs to the line from Seth onward through which religious truth was passed from one generation to another, including the examples of Abel, Seth, Enoch, and Noah. Righteous men kept the knowledge of God before the world even as people rejected the truth and became evil.
Vigor Lost Through Transgression
The long lives recorded in Genesis 5 came from 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, and that vitality was transmitted from Adam and Eve to their descendants before the Flood. Only a few generations stood between Adam and Noah, and because only a short time had passed since Adam lost access to the tree that prolonged life, human life was still measured by centuries and the race still kept much of its early vigor. It was a long-lived people with rare powers to plan and execute, including many giants of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom and skillful in devising cunning and wonderful works.
Before the Flood nine generations averaged 912 years of life, while nine generations after the Flood averaged 332 years, tapering down to between one and two hundred years at the time of the Egyptian vassalage. In Moses' time and at the time of David, about halfway from Adam to the present day, it was seventy years, threescore years and ten, and at present it is about thirty-five years, in Europe and the United States but thirty years, and in great cities but twenty years. After Noah human life grew progressively shorter, and mortality increased as the generations continued onward from the patriarchs from Adam to Noah who with few exceptions lived nearly a thousand years, between nine hundred and a thousand years. Those ages are not the result of a different method of computing time, for the race was created with ten times more vital force than it now possesses, and would long ago have been extinguished altogether by its known violations of all the laws of Health and Life.
The cutting down of life to brief years marked with pain harrowing those years, disease seizing infants at birth, suffering, mortality, decrepitude, and imbecility was done by awful violations of God's laws of Health and Life, continued violation of the laws of life and physical law, corrupt appetites, and the accumulated weight of transgression under the original curse that bowed down the race. This stands in contrast to original human nobility in size and physical strength, with nearly a thousand years as the measure of life, before the effects of corrupt appetites and violations of physical law were felt strongly and while later generations had not yet begun to experience disease and weakness sooner. For more than sixteen hundred years people lived on a plant-based diet, and the record gives their years and says that they died, with Enos living 905 years in all as part of that period. By eating flesh as food after Noah, from which point the race rapidly declined in length of days, the brief present period of existence marked with disease came in place of that longevity.
God gave this long life to serve Him and make His name a praise in the earth, but men failed to do this and gave loose rein to iniquity, so their guilt was as great as their skill and mental ability.
Enos was ninety years old when his son Cainan was born, as one link in the unbroken line from Adam through Seth onward toward Noah. He belonged to the nine generations before the Flood who lived on average 912 years, nearly a thousand years each, and he himself lived 905 years in all before he died. Because those long lives overlapped for hundreds of years, with seven generations alive together and Adam still living when Methuselah was 243, divine truth and human knowledge could pass directly through few persons from Adam to Methuselah to Shem to Abraham and Isaac to Jacob. That centuries-long vitality came from the life-giving power of the tree of life, transmitted from Adam and Eve to their early descendants who still kept much of their original vigor, strength of mind and body, and power to plan and execute great works. God gave that length of days that men might serve Him and make His name a praise, but they gave loose rein to iniquity, and by continued transgression, corrupt appetite, and eating flesh after the Flood, human life was cut down progressively to seventy years and even less.
Genealogy and Great Longevity
Enos was ninety years old when he became the father of Cainan, placing him in the pre-Flood genealogy running from Adam and Seth onward to Noah. That genealogy belongs to the generations before the Flood whose patriarchs, from Adam to Noah, with few exceptions lived nearly a thousand years. Nine generations before the Flood averaged 912 years of life, between nine hundred and a thousand years, far greater than the 332-year average of nine generations after the Flood, the seventy years in the time of Moses, and about thirty-five years at present. Enos himself lived 905 years in all, and the record gives the years of these long lives and says that they died.
After Noah human life grew progressively shorter, and mortality increased as violation of the laws of life continued and lifespans steadily shortened. This long life belonged to a period of more than sixteen hundred years when people lived on a plant-based diet. Its place as one link in the unbroken genealogy from Adam establishes overlapping lifetimes, when seven generations lived on the earth together for hundreds of years. Adam was still alive when Methuselah was 243 years old, so knowledge could be communicated directly through few persons — Adam to Methuselah, Methuselah to Shem, Shem to Abraham and Isaac, and Abraham and Isaac to Jacob, father of the tribes of Israel.
Human life then gave unrivaled advantages for knowledge, because with great physical and mental vigor, strong memory, and no books or written records, men could grasp and retain what was communicated and transmit it unimpaired to posterity, consulting together and profiting each by the knowledge and experience of all. Adam, formed in God's image and pronounced good and instructed by the Creator in all wisdom pertaining to the material world and in the history of creation, himself witnessed the events of nine centuries and imparted his knowledge to his descendants. Those named in this genealogy therefore had far greater advantages even for merely human knowledge than modern men of masterly minds who plan and study and write during twenty to fifty years. The verse belongs to the line from Seth onward through which religious truth was passed from one generation to another, including the examples of Abel, Seth, Enoch, and Noah. Righteous men kept the knowledge of God before the world even as people rejected the truth and became evil.
Vigor Lost Through Transgression
The long lives recorded in Genesis 5 came from 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, and that vitality was transmitted from Adam and Eve to their descendants before the Flood. Only a few generations stood between Adam and Noah, and because only a short time had passed since Adam lost access to the tree that prolonged life, human life was still measured by centuries and the race still kept much of its early vigor. It was a long-lived people with rare powers to plan and execute, including many giants of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom and skillful in devising cunning and wonderful works.
Before the Flood nine generations averaged 912 years of life, while nine generations after the Flood averaged 332 years, tapering down to between one and two hundred years at the time of the Egyptian vassalage. In Moses' time and at the time of David, about halfway from Adam to the present day, it was seventy years, threescore years and ten, and at present it is about thirty-five years, in Europe and the United States but thirty years, and in great cities but twenty years. After Noah human life grew progressively shorter, and mortality increased as the generations continued onward from the patriarchs from Adam to Noah who with few exceptions lived nearly a thousand years, between nine hundred and a thousand years. Those ages are not the result of a different method of computing time, for the race was created with ten times more vital force than it now possesses, and would long ago have been extinguished altogether by its known violations of all the laws of Health and Life.
The cutting down of life to brief years marked with pain harrowing those years, disease seizing infants at birth, suffering, mortality, decrepitude, and imbecility was done by awful violations of God's laws of Health and Life, continued violation of the laws of life and physical law, corrupt appetites, and the accumulated weight of transgression under the original curse that bowed down the race. This stands in contrast to original human nobility in size and physical strength, with nearly a thousand years as the measure of life, before the effects of corrupt appetites and violations of physical law were felt strongly and while later generations had not yet begun to experience disease and weakness sooner. For more than sixteen hundred years people lived on a plant-based diet, and the record gives their years and says that they died, with Enos living 905 years in all as part of that period. By eating flesh as food after Noah, from which point the race rapidly declined in length of days, the brief present period of existence marked with disease came in place of that longevity.
God gave this long life to serve Him and make His name a praise in the earth, but men failed to do this and gave loose rein to iniquity, so their guilt was as great as their skill and mental ability.