Why did people in the Old Testament live so long?

So, why did people in the Old Testament live so long? Now, there is no precise biblical answer given to this question, but we can offer some ideas. First of all, when God made Adam and Eve, they were sinless and basically physically perfect.

When sin entered the world, there was an obvious harmful effect upon their bodies. They died. Genetically speaking, when we were first made, when they were first made, their health was so good that their natural inclination was to live as long as possible.

But since sin is in the world and it has an effect on people, we get sick, we grow old, and we die, some have said that the genetic mutations which occur with the birth of every new person are passed down from parent to child.

With each passing generation, new genetic problems are introduced and an accumulation of them over many generations has contributed to our shortened lifespans. Another theory is that before the Flood, there was a canopy of water vapor encompassing the whole world.

This is called the canopy theory. Some theologians think that there was no direct sunlight on earth because of this canopy and that instead, the sun's rays were refracted through the water, the canopy, and a diffused light passed through the clouds and lit the world.

This refraction produced plenty of light for a planet, but, as a theory goes, it also filtered out some of the harmful cosmic rays that contributed to us dying sooner than we should. In the Flood of Noah's time, the Bible says that the floodgates of the sky were opened, that's Genesis 7 .11.

This implies that a great amount of rain fell, hence the idea of a canopy of water vapor suspended in the sky. After the Flood, the canopy supposedly disappeared and the full brunt of cosmic rays from the sun fell upon the earth and upon people and their lifespans were shortened.

At least, this is how the theory goes. Finally, in Genesis 6 .3, God says, "...my spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he is also flesh, yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.".

It might be possible that God shortened the lifespan of man because of man's great wickedness. After all, the Flood came soon after this statement that God made. It is also possible that the 120-year time period was prophetic in that that's how many years were left until the Flood was to occur.

So though we don't know exactly why the people of the Old Testament lived so long, we can offer some of these different explanations. I hope that helps.