Methuselah

Biblical Figure

Methuselah was a descendant of Adam who lived to be 969 years old, according to the Bible. Methuselah is not a major figure in the Bible; he is mentioned only in passing in Genesis, 1 Chronicles 1:3, and Luke 3:37. According to the King James version of Genesis 5:25-27, "And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech. And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died." Lamech was the father of Noah, making Metheselah Noah's grandfather. Biblical scholars say Methuselah died in the year of the Great Flood, though the Bible gives no indication whether the old man was a victim of the flood itself. Luke 3:37 traces the lineage of Jesus of Nazareth back through Noah and Methuselah to Adam. The name of Methuselah is now a synonym for any old or long-lasting person.

Extra credit: Methuselah is mentioned in the lyrics to "It Ain't Necessarily So" from the George Gershwin musical Porgy and Bess: "Methus'lah lived nine hundred years / Methus'lah lived nine hundred years / But who calls dat livin' / When no gal will give in / To no man what's nine hundred years."

More recent old-timers include actress Helen Hayes, Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. and baseball star Satchel Paige.