Genesis 6:3 - Lifespan Reduction or Countdown to the Flood?

For those that believe in the Bible, Torah or any other sacred text that supports this scripture, which explanation do you lean towards with regard to Genesis 6:3?

1. Lifespan Reduction
2. Countdown to the Flood

Here are a few translations of the scripture.

The King James Version:
“And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”

New Living Translation:
“Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.”

NET Bible:
“So the LORD said, “My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years.”

biblehub.com...

There seems to be a split in all Christian denominations of how Genesis 6:3 is to be interpreted. I’ll list some arguments against these thoughts; you supply some rebuttals and cast your vote.

1. Lifespan Reduction

The argument against a lifespan reduction to 120 years is the fact that most people in this modern world don’t ever reach age 100. Then there is the complete opposite with age limiting. Not long after the decree was made Noah’s son Shem lived to the age of 600. There were many generations after Shem that saw a lifespan of well over 200 years. It wasn’t until Moses time when the lifespan reduced to 120 years. Now fast forward to our modern time. A woman by the name of Jeanne Calumet lived to the age of 122 (February 21, 1875 – August 4, 1997). Those two extra years she lived would be in violation of that decree.

2. Countdown to the Flood

A countdown to the Flood should have attracted more than eight occupants into the Ark. Whenever there is doom and gloom advertised there is always a small group that believe out of fear. There should have been more on board the Ark if Noah was preaching a doomsday in 120 years. The building of the giant vessel and the variety of animals approaching the Ark should have attracted more believers as well. Future Armageddon has no publicized date why would the Flood be any different?


I would also like to add some other ancient accounts on the subject.

The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909)
IV – The Generation of the Deluge

“Partly they persisted in their obduracy of heart because Noah had made known to them that the flood would not descend so long as the pious Methuselah sojourned among them. The period of one hundred and twenty years which God had appointed as the term of their probation having expired, Methuselah died, but out of regard for the memory of this pious man God gave them another week’s respite, the week of mourning for him.”
www.sacred-texts.com...

The Book of Enoch the Prophet – Translated by Richard Laurence, 1883 edition
Chapter LXXIX verse 3

“In the days of sinners the years shall be shortened.”
(Verse 6 is worth mentioning because it could support verse 3.)
“The moon shall change its laws and not be seen at its proper time.”
www.sacred-texts.com...

Please share your thoughts and try to be civil.

a reply to: lostinspace
The best commentators (my commentator is Von Rad) understand the Hebrew as relating to reduction of individual life.
"My spirit" is the God-given power of life in each individual, which he will now allow only for restricted periods.
Even though the exact figure is breached, there's a deliberate message in the way the typical later age is lower than than the ages given previously.

Looking closely at the chapter, the bringing of the Flood is a fresh decision in v6, provoked by the conditions described in v5.

a reply to: lostinspace

There is one more layer to add. 120 x 50 (Grand Jubilee from book of Jubilees) is 6000. The flood happened, but was symbolism for baptism, or the involution of our essence into the human form. The countdown is twofold. Today is the end of the 6000 years as of 2020 (one generation past 1948). The last jubilee is 2017. We can calculate the last few jubilees from the 67 revolt, 1917 (WWI) and the 1967 six day war. The next one is 2017. Jesus said in Matthew 24 that these days would be cut short. The generation (precession divided by 360) will not end before all the signs of Matthew 24 happen.

One generation is 25920/360. The countdown also matches Enoch's 70 generation warning to the Watchers. Just before Adam died, both of them knew of the countdown, as did the Watchers. The long-count calendars of 5125.25 years were calculations to show us December 2012, or 33.33 nautical miles (2012.9 miles).

Epistle of Barnabas

Barnabas 15:3
Of the Sabbath He speaketh in the beginning of the creation; And
God made the works of His hands in six days, and He ended on the
seventh day, and rested on it, and He hallowed it.

Barnabas 15:4
Give heed, children, what this meaneth; He ended in six days. He
meaneth this, that in six thousand years the Lord shall bring all
things to an end; for the day with Him signifyeth a thousand years;
and this He himself beareth me witness, saying; Behold, the day of
the Lord shall be as a thousand years. Therefore, children, in six
days, that is in six thousand years, everything shall come to an end.

a reply to: lostinspace

The number of testing or resisting temptation is 40. In Gen 6, God is giving man 120 years or 3 cycles of 40 year testing periods to make a decision: repent or be washed away. The only people out of the entire world that passed the 120 year test were the people on the Ark.

The change of environment (360 day year to 365.25 days with 4 seasons) that resulted after the flood is probably what reduced our lifespan.

a reply to: lostinspace

For those that believe in the Bible, Torah or any other sacred text that supports this scripture, which explanation do you lean towards with regard to Genesis 6:3?

My opinion is that the antediluvian people marked time differently before the flood and sometime after the flood. I do believe they did have long lifespans but not as we imagine. I believe that Noah marked time by limited sight and that he used one equinox as compared to our two equinox's of today. I also believe the bible editors and translators interpreted the manuscripts based upon their understanding of a twelve month year.

The antediluvian people could not see the universe because of the water which surrounded the entire world at that time. This canopy of water which enveloped the world and created a greenhouse environment prevented these people from any observation of the second heaven. By this I also suspect that time was not marked by the moon but was marked by light and darkness which in turn would suggest (to me) that one equinox was observed as one year. (There is a a study of this underway).

As the canopy of water fell upon this earth and helped create the flood of Noah it then revealed the unseen universe. This ushered in a revelation of the sun and moon and other heavenly bodies and eventually the new knowledge of time. The change of time is this in which it is revealed as the length of man's life along with many other factors. I also believe that Noah and family saw a brighter world with a glaring sun and moon and for the first time could see the heavenly stars. Continents and islands and seas were created and the world enlarged with the vast amounts of water which fell upon the earth.

As the direct result of this amazing change in environment after the flood it had a gradual but rapid effect upon the lifespan of all creation. Science had a dramatic change in all respects including the rotation of the earth. Once man began to repopulate the earth was when man began once again to sin against his own flesh. These sins are the result of various diseases and infirmities of the flesh and the direct result of lifespans. Even today there are vast differences in lifespans of people in different parts of the world. There are many causes of this including environmental practices but the main cause is that we have lost the knowledge to care for the flesh.

I guess that i would have to lean towards both 1 and 2-----------

a reply to: lostinspace

The King James Version: “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”

I am not certain that Genesis 6:3 is referenced to life span. I have been taught that this was before the flood and in the days of the giants. Could it be that this was stated by God as to mean that the antediluvian people had 120 years to mend their ways before water destroyed them? According to associated accounts the entire creation became corrupt. Not simply the giants. According to Genesis the world at this time was watered from the one great sea which had rivers and tributaries to water the entire earth. This lasted for well over 1,600 from the creation. No one knew of water from heaven. How could anyone convince anyone of this water from heaven when it did not exist?

This verse leaves it open for two interpretations. I have the tendency to believe that it was the warning from God through Noah that man would have 120 years to get his house in order. Why would God warn people that they would lose longevity when He knew that they would be dead and that it would make no difference to the living? It is kind of senseless to me. Also apparently it did not apply to any of Noah's family who were the only survivors of the water.

If this was recorded after the flood and directed to the offspring of the family, then I would perhaps credit this to longevity but it ties in with the warning of the flood to my reasoning. I Could be wrong --

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: lostinspace

The number of testing or resisting temptation is 40. In Gen 6, God is giving man 120 years or 3 cycles of 40 year testing periods to make a decision: repent or be washed away. The only people out of the entire world that passed the 120 year test were the people on the Ark.

The change of environment (360 day year to 365.25 days with 4 seasons) that resulted after the flood is probably what reduced our lifespan.

Go back to my post and see that your 40 years cycles are multiples of 50 years each, or 2000 year increments. Double meaning.

Age of the Father 2000 years - Adam to Abraham
Age of the Son 2000 years - Issac to Jesus
Age of the Holy Spirit 2000 years - Mary to Today.

Day of rest 1000 years.

7 Days.

Thanks for all the responses. Some of the theories mentioned here were new to me. They all seemed reasonable with the explanation given.

It seem "Countdown to the Flood" is in the lead.

Countdown = 3
Lifespan = 1


To side with the underdog I will present a graph of lifespans from Adam to Eli.



If 120 years is meant to be a general figure then it's in the ballpark according to the graph. The following link may be of some interest.

Human Longevity Facts

a reply to: AlephBet

Abraham was born 1,947 years after Adam, not 2,000, and Jesus was born 2,057 years after Isaac.

The 6,000 years (120x40) does not pertain to the 1949-1967 Zionist State. Adam reached spiritual maturity late in the year 130 (or 131 if you are using the civil year), then God blessed him with Seth as a faith-gift. So, 131+6,000 = 6131 years after Adam's fall. The year 6131 translates to 2023 AD: which is 7 years after the Mayan Calendar reaches its intercalated ending in 2016. So 2023 is when Jesus returns to earth as our buddy Enoch witnessed.

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: AlephBet

Abraham was born 1,947 years after Adam, not 2,000, and Jesus was born 2,057 years after Isaac.

The 6,000 years (120x40) does not pertain to the 1949-1967 Zionist State. Adam reached spiritual maturity late in the year 130 (or 131 if you are using the civil year), then God blessed him with Seth as a faith-gift. So, 131+6,000 = 6131 years after Adam's fall. The year 6131 translates to 2023 AD: which is 7 years after the Mayan Calendar reaches its intercalated ending in 2016. So 2023 is when Jesus returns to earth as our buddy Enoch witnessed.

How long did Abram live before becoming Abraham? The days will be cut short. Not 120X40. 40X50=2000. Three allotments of 40 is what was stated, or 6000. Either way, the generation of 72 years ends on 2020. Close enough right?

a reply to: AlephBet

Close enough right?

Not if youre looking for Christ. The Abomination of Desolation will take place in 2020. If you confuse that event with the 2nd Advent, the youll be in trouble.

The days can only be shortened by a window of hours.

Human Longevity Facts a reply to: lostinspace
quote]
If 120 years is meant to be a general figure then it's in the ballpark according to the graph. The following link may be of some interest.

I believe your source is greatly flawed. I guess it depends upon which source you accept but my source is the Jewish Time Line Encyclopedia which is in accord with the Masoretic Text of Torah. The "Longevity Facts" lists Arphaxad as being 933 years when my sources say 438 years. Your source also says Eber at 860 years and my source says 464 years. You can note a sharp increase in longevity of these two men which indicates that the "Longevity Facts" source is flawed.

Date setting is not accurate at all unless everyone is on the same page and in order for dates to be discussed everyone must have an agreeable BCE and CE beginning. That is why scholars disagree so much. If you look at the time line of your choice you should notice that God supposedly made this rule of longevity before the flood so it can be assumed that it did not apply to Noah and his family. In other words it did not apply to the antediluvian race and it was a gradual descent to what we see today. That in respect to the entire greenhouse effect with a canopy of water as the second heaven is not simply a coincidence. The flood changed the entire science of life on this world and is the direct cause of change. (my opinion of course).

I am no medical professional but common sense tells me that it was not simply a matter of genetics but that the environmental change must have had some effect upon life . If Noah did live 950 years and did die in 1755 BCE then that tells me that for 350 of his years after the flood he had no genetic change that would affect his longevity. The same with Shem. Shem lived 500 years after the flood with no genetic effect that could be accounted. The drastic reduction came with Arphaxad who lived to be 438 but even then this supposed rule of longevity did not apply. Actually it really did not apply till the days of Jacob in about 1653 BCE.

Another great mystery connected to longevity is that of a giant named Og. Og was said to have been killed by Moses. That would be between 1393-1273. Og the giant was said to have been born before the flood of Noah. This is by Jewish tradition. The flood was over in 2105 BCE. This would place Og at least 832 years old when killed by Moses and probably closer to 900 years old. Og is said to be the last of the Rephaites (Emites) or also (Zanzummites). This is connected with the union of women and angels. My point being that this edict of 120 years did not apply to Og. As noted before, the antediluvian races were not affected in this countdown. I also took in consideration that Og must not have been considered Adamic seed. What say you guys out there?

Sorry about the quote error -- Don't understand what went wrong --

a reply to: Seede

Nice catch Seede. They need to fix those big errors.

The reduction of lifespan seems to be on purpose by what you have said. Many people believe the Flood was only meant to wipe out a wicked generation. That generation could have been in the millions. God could have easily killed these people off by using one angel as executioner. 2 Kings 19:35 said that one angel killed off 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. It seemed to be an inefficient way to do house cleaning. However, Genesis chapter 6:13 does mention that God chose to ruin the earth with the wicked. When God formed the earth for habitation he always ended the action by saying it was good. Right before the Flood he states that he intends to corrupt it. After the floodwaters receded God never said it was good again. The only positive confirmation from him was the rainbow covenant. It seems the word ‘corrupt’ best explains the eventuality of good genes after the Flood event. They became corrupted and now we live much shorter lifespans.

The Rephaim giants are quite an enigma. I can’t wait for the day when a real giant skeleton is unearthed with an extra digit on each extremity. I’m not quite convinced that they’re an antediluvian race. One would have to disregard what is recorded at Genesis 7:21-23. With those verses removed maybe some Nephilim heeded the deluge warning and made an Ark for themselves. It’s harder for me to imagine that somehow a giant stowed away on Noah’s Ark and became an ancestor of the Raphaim. On a side note, I’ve read that there are people who speculate that the monuments called dolmens were made by this race.

a reply to: lostinspace

One would have to disregard what is recorded at Genesis 7:21-23. With those verses removed maybe some Nephilim heeded the deluge warning and made an Ark for themselves. It’s harder for me to imagine that somehow a giant stowed away on Noah’s Ark and became an ancestor of the Raphaim.

Exactly the reason that I discounted Genesis 6:3 as pertaining to life span of future people.

Gen 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

I also believe that this verse is the most deceptive in this discussion. I do not believe that the antediluvian giants of 450 feet tall (according to Enoch) survived the flood and that Genesis 6:4 is referring to the Adamic seed as being these giants of old who were in the earth in those antediluvian days and after those antediluvian days. I do believe that Noah was about 200 feet tall and that the 450 foot giants of Enoch were indeed giants compared to Noah and family. That would coincide with the biblical story. This would also explain the gigantic strain of giants such as Goliath and brothers. Golith and brothers are said to have been King David's cousins

Jos_13:12 All the kingdom of Og in Bashan, which reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the giants: for these did Moses smite, and cast them out.

You see how people can jump to conclusions? You caught this immediately but it took me years to realize the true story. Most automatically assume that this is referencing the antediluvian giants. I also fell into that mode for years. This is one of those discrepancies that critics insist that the bible has. Most (including myself) questioned why would a giant named Og survive the flood when the bible says different? He did not survive the flood simply because he was not in the flood.

So what is the bible really saying? The bible is teaching that there were Adamic gigantic people before the flood and that there were gigantic people after the flood. These people are considered giants compared to us in today's world but were the seed of Adam. These were the antediluvian that God created before the flood. These antediluvian people were the people who mated with the 200 angels who came down to Mt. Herman and left their first estate. After hundreds of years this produced the 450 foot giants of mixed seed that Enoch describes as the corrupt seed. We now see two races of antediluvian giants compared to this world today. The one race is that of Adam (about 200 feet tall and the other is the race of corrupted seed which is 450 feet tall.

The bible then says that all life that breathed was destroyed except the life that was in the ark. This means that both races of 200 foot and 400 foot giants were killed except the six 200 foot antediluvian giants of Noah did survive. Due to the entire science of change the lifespan of man decreased to present day. During that decrease we had strains of people such as Og and Goliath that were eventually killed off. After reconsideration I now believe that I had misinterpreted the bible in believing the tradition that Og was born before the flood. I now think differently about the biblical giants but still interpret the 120 years edict as being a warning to the antediluvian Adamic seed to get prepared for the flood.

Here is where in the past that I assumed that Og survived the flood and was on the ark. This was years ago that I wrote a book "Giants On My Earth". Those years were long before the computer and large libraries. As you can understand the impression that it left me.

And all living things which were upon the face of the earth decayed, as it is said, "And every living thing was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground" (ibid.23), except Noah and those who were with him in the ark, as it is said, "And Noah only was left, and they that were with him in the ark" (ibid.), except Og, king of Bashan, who sat down on a piece of wood under the gutter [On a rung of (one of) the ladders] of the ark. He swore to Noah and to his sons that he would be their servant for ever. What did Noah do? He bored an aperture in the ark, and he put (through it) his food daily for him, and he also was left, as it is said, "For only Og, king of Bashan, remained of the remnant of the giants" (Deut. iii. 11). 41
(Pirke De Rabbi Eliezer – by Gerald Friedlander – Benjamin Bloom Inc. – NY - Ch. 23 – p. 167)

Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

a reply to: Seede

This means that both races of 200 foot and 400 foot giants were killed except the six 200 foot antediluvian giants of Noah did survive.

A giant Noah never crossed my mind. A 200ft Noah is hard to imagine. He may have been large but 200ft is quite a stretch. After the flood, Noah’s sons Ham, Japheth and Shem went different ways and founded some great cultures with new religions. Ham is thought to be the ancestor of the Egyptians. Japheth is thought to be the ancestor of the Greeks. Shem is thought to be the ancestor of Sumer. These three different civilizations all have giants depicted in their stories or on carved stone.

Egypt


Greece


Sumer


You make a valid point about giant sized people being associated with the antediluvians.

This topic has been on my mind lately and I wanted to add a quote from the Book of Enoch. This passage would be a supporting case for the reduction of the human life span.

This was taken from the translation from Richard Laurence that was published in 1883.
www.sacred-texts.com...

CHAP. LXXIX. 1-6
“In those days Uriel answered and said to me, Behold, I have showed thee all things, O Enoch; And all things have I revealed to thee. Thou seest the sun, the moon, and those which conduct the stars of heaven, which cause all their operations, seasons, and arrivals to return. In the days of sinners the years shall be shortened. Their seed shall be backward in their prolific soil; and everything done on earth shall be subverted, and disappear in its season. The rain shall be restrained, and heaven shall stand still. In those days the fruits of the earth shall be late, and not flourish in their season; and in their season the fruits of the trees shall be withholden. The moon shall change its laws, and not be seen at its proper period. But in those days shall heaven be seen; and barrenness shall take place in the borders of the great chariots in the west. Heaven shall shine more than when illuminated by the orders of light; while many chiefs among the stars of authority shall err, perverting their ways and works.”

This passage of Enoch just gives a simple generic view of the reduction of the human life span by saying “In the days of sinners the years shall be shortened”. To my understanding all humans are still sinners in God’s eyes and the rule still applies. The passage goes on to say the fruit bearing trees will not be as productive and the earth will not provide the produce that it was originally intended. The part that really stood out to me is the fact that the moon is not going to be seen as much in the post flood world. You can speculate on so many things on that piece of data. Does the moon rotate slower around the earth? Do the new large cloud masses block it from its regular view? Did the moon have a companion that was lost?

Comments are still welcome. The debate on what Genesis 6:3 really means has been an ongoing controversy amongst those in Judaism and Christianity.