And Methuselah lived a hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:
All Commentaries on Genesis 5:25 Go To Genesis 5
Jerome
AD 420
There is a famous question that has been aired by discussion in all churches: that by a careful reckoning it can be shown that Methuselah lived fourteen years after the flood. It appears that in this case as in many others, in the Septuagint translation of the Bible there is an error in the numbers. Among the Hebrews and the books of the Samaritans, I have found the text written thus: “Methuselah lived a hundred and eightyseven years and became the father of Lamech. Methuselah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred and eightytwo years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixtynine years; and he died. And Lamech lived one hundred and eighty two years and begot Noah.” Accordingly, there are years from the day of Methuselah’s birth to the day of Noah’s birth; to these add Noah’s six hundred years, since the flood occurred in the six hundredth year of his life, and so it works out that Methuselah died in the nine hundred sixtyninth year of his life, in the same year when the flood began.
