Why, if god limited man's life to 120 years, did people live longer?

Alter ...Friedman ...Stone Edition ...JPS Torah Commentary ...bible.org ...The Targum of Onkelos ... Targum Pseudo-Jonathan ... Bible.org notes: "Some interpret this to mean that the age expectancy of people from this point on would be 120, but neither the subsequent narrative nor reality favors this. It is more likely that this refers to the time remaining between this announcement of judgment and the coming of the flood." Similarly, the Commentary notes that the Targumim (as I have shown) as well as Seder Olam, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and Radak all take this as the time before the Flood. One can insist they were all deficient in their understanding of Biblical Hebrew and/or they were being disingenuous and/or they were simply not very bright, but none of these claims strike me as particularly compelling, arachnophilia's efforts notwithstanding.Throwing pebbles at the Torah strikes me as more juvenile that useful

i think you misunderstand? my point is exactly what you have said above, and the 120 years is not a limit on individual human lifespan, but a timeframe for god extermination of mankind as a whole. well, finding contradictions is actually useful for some purposes. for instance, it can help us understand that construction of the text (ie: documentary hypothesis), and the goals of the redactors.but it's foolish to throw pebbles over something that is so easily explained, consistent with the context of the text, so as to not be contradictory. reading something out of context, and ignoring the grammar and implication so as to distort the meaning is wrong whether it is in support of religious ideology, or against.

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My apologies. Of course, but I doubt that what motivates and sustains threads such as this is anything even remotely related to responsible textual criticism. Foolish and stupid, but also disrespectful. Much of this can be mitigated by assuming the religious mythos of the Torah to reflect an honest effort on the part of a sincere and intelligent people.

quote:

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Genesis 6:33 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.

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The topic here concerns mankind.
120 years is the time left before God's striving with mankind at that time ceased.
And,in a sense, of course, all men (except Noah and family) were indeed limited to that 120 years.
Thus, no contradiction.joman.

yes, generally. though i could make at least one case for purposeful dishonesty.but it is better to start with the assumption that the people who wrote the bible were intelligent, and honest. they might have thought a little differently than us, and they might have had different priorities -- they seem to favor recording tradition over accuracy. many conflicts arise because they chose to respect the integrity of the source over the consistency and definitive qualities of the volumne.but we make a mistake when we start thinking of them as backwards, delusional, or schizophrenic people. it is every bit as significant a mistake as when we start thinking the book was written by god. a reasonable, rational approach is always the best course.

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This is a misinterpretation of the Genesis passage. The 120-years is how much longer man had before God sent the Flood.

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Everything was nothing before there was something.
Everything is something even if its nothing at all.
For nothingness came from Something, and that
Something has always been there.
Without an Infinite Designer, nothhing,
could not have ever been.
For even Nothing is Something;
And from Something...came everything.
~ Jason Fessenden

Hello, this is my first post here. This answer is quite easy if you believe that the authorised version (king james version, kjv) is the only inspired word of God. Many false bibles are sent into the world to decieve many..so, here`s the answer.If you look at Gen 5:32 -And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.Noah was 500 when he got his three sons. After that you will see in Genesis 6:3 -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.NOTE: nowhere does it say here that people will live up to 120 years. God said that human race (except the people in the ark) will be wiped off in 120 years. Note also that gen 5 and gen 6:1-10 are not chronologically ordered. God said this before Noah got his kids. In Gen 6:10 there`s the proof.This means that God said he will wipe out human race when Noah was 480. In the meantime Shem, Ham and Japeth were born, and it took him a hundred years to build the ark. 480+120=600, Noahs age when the flood started.NOWHERE does the Bible say that people won`t live more then 120 years.Hope this helped.

Welcome 3fojurky,

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i find the idea that kjv is the inspired word of god, but the documents it was translated from are not, rather peculiar. there are many translations, and some render this verse especially poorly.but i believe that earlier in this thread i gave a very comprehensive explanation using the original hebrew. in any case, it's the same as yours. it's simply the most logical reading of the verse, in any language.

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So I guess that since the KJV is the only inspired word of God, then anyone on Earth who does not know English, indeed, the King's English, is somehow further from God.How nationalistic of you.Additionally, perhaps you should know who King James VI of Scotland, later King James I of England really was. Such a character seems an odd choice at best for having the ultimate responsibility for approving any infallible and inerrant Bible.Perhaps if you believe that God speaks through the text, then maybe, just maybe, how the text came about is somehow worthy of your consideration.If I were you, I would not imply that all Christians who died prior to 1603 and who did not then or now know the King's English were clueless concerning any 'word of God.' Such a position makes you appear narrow-minded and somewhat racist.BTW, welcome to EVC.ABE - This is an example of going off-topic, which leads to all kinds of problems and is frowned upon for that reason. If you are still willing to support your assertion concerning the KJV being the only inspired word of God, I'm sure it would be quite active. Perhaps you would like to propose a new topic, when comfortable.Edited by anglagard, : No reason given.Edited by anglagard, : speling

and yet not one of the translators considered it "authorized" what ever that means, you do know this means authorized to be used in the church of england and not meant to mean the only true bible? from the next bit i think no
its funny, i've read it and its pretty decietful i agree with you, theres nothing to prepose this, but a bad translation

It does not say man will no longer live to be 120 years and older, it says God will limit mans life down to 120.Where it says 1 day in heaven is 1000 years here means that time is not a issue up in heaven, but in reality there is no time in heaven because God created time, space, and matter. He is not controlled by any of them.

Welcome Evangelist,

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yes, maybe i was to harsh, but the KJV is the only translation without any errors. NIV and others just create contradictions which are not in the KJV (example with 40000 horsemen issue).I live in Croatia, so don`t attack me, because we don`t have KJVs here, just poorly done translations where Jesus is called "the Servant of God", rather than the Son of God, where there is no 1. John 5:7 which clearly says Jesus is God etc etc...

Translated from what?Brian.