LONGEVITY. Longevity is a compound of two Latin words, and signifies prolong-ation of lip. The lengthened ages of some of the ante and post diluvian fathers, as given by Moses in the Hebrew text, are as follows Infidelity has not failed, in various ages, to attack revelation on the score of the supposed ab surdity of assigning to any class of men this lengthened term of existence. In refcrence to this, Josephus (Anti/. i. 3. 9) remarks Let no one upon comparing the lives of the ancients with our lives, and with the few years which we now live, think that what we say of them is false ; or make the shortness of our lives at present an arg,ument that neither did they attain to so long a duration of life.' When we consider the compensating pro cess which is going on, the marvel is that the human frame should not last longer than it does. Some, however, have supposed that the years above named are lzertar, consisting of about thirty days ; but this supposition, with a view to reduce the lives of the antediluvians to our standard, is re plete with difficulties. At this rate the whole time from the creation of man to the Flood would not be more than about 140 years ; and Methu selah himself would not have attained to the age which many even now .do, whilst many must have had children when mere infants ! Besides, if we compute the age of the postdiluvians by this mode of calculation—and why should we not ?— we shall find that Abraham, who is said to have died in a good old age (Gen. xxv. S) could not have been more than fifteen years old ! Moses must therefore have meant solar, not lunar years—not, however, exactly so long as ours, for the ancients generally reckoned twelve months, of thirty days each, to the year. 'Nor is there,' observes St. Augustine (De Civ. Dei, xv. 12), any care to be given unto those who think that one of our ordi nary years would make ten of the years of thes:: times, being so short ; and therefore, say they, goo years of theirs are 90 of ours—their to is out and their too our 10. Thus think they, that Adam was but 20 years old when he begat Seth, and lie but 201 when he begat Enos, whom the Scriptures call (the Sept. ver.) 205 years. For, as these men hold, the Scripture divided one year into ten parts, calling each part a year ; and each part had a six-fold quadrate, because in six days God made the world. Now 6 times 6 is 36, which multiplied by to makes 360---i.e., twelve lunar months.' Abarbanel, in his Coniment. on Gen. v., states that some, professing Christianity, had fallen into the same mistake, viz., that Moses meant lunar, and not solar years. Ecclesiastical history does not inform us of this fact, except it be to it that Lactantius refers (ii. '3) when he speaks of one Varro :—` The life of man, though temporary, was yet extended to moo years ; of this Varro is so ignorant that, though known to all from the sacred writings, be would argue that the moo years of Moses were, according to the Egyptian mode of calculation, only moo months !' That the ancients computed time differently we learn from Pliny (Hist. Nat. vii.), and also from
ScaEger (De Emend. TeVorum, i.); still this does not alter the case as above stated (see Heideg gerus, De Anno Patriareharum).
But it is asked, if Moses meant solar years, how came it to pass that the patriarchs did not begin to beget children at an earlier period than they are reported to have done ? Seth was 105 years old, on the lowest calculation, when he begat Enos ; and 'Methuselah '87 when Lamech was born ! St. Augustine (i. 15) explains this difficulty in a two fold manner, by supposing— '. Either that the age of puberty was later in proportion as the lives of the antediluvians were longer than ours ; or 2. That Moses does not record the first-born sons but as the order of the genealogy required, his object being to trace the succession from Adam, through Seth, to Abraham. The learned Heideg gems (De /Elate Ante-Diluv.) thus confirms this latter view : Consilium fuit Mosi, uti cuilibet con fectu proclive est. Nox et Abralaami genealogiarn pertexere, tum quia illi duo inter caeteros fide et pietate eminebant et uterque divinitus insigni do natus est prcerogativa.' Whilst the Jews have never questioned the longevity assigned by Moses to the patriarchs, they have yet disputed, in many instances, as to whether it was common to all men who lived up to the period when human life was contracted. Maimonides (More Nevochim, ii. 47) says— ' Longtevitatem hanc non fuisse nisi quorundam singularium commemoratorum in lege ; reliquos illorum seculorum annos attigisse non plures, quam hodie adhuc coannuniter fieri solet.' With this opinion Abarbanel, on Gen. v., agrees ; Nachmanides, however, rejects it, and slims that the life of the descendants of Cain must have been quite as long as that of the Sethites, though not no ticed by Moses ; for only seven individuals of the former filled up the space which intervened be tween the death of Abel and the Flood, whereas ten of the latter are enumerated. We have reason then to conclude, that longevity was not confined to any peculiar tribe of the ante or post-diluvian fathers, but was vouchsafed, in general, to all. Irenoeus (Aciversits Hares. v.) informs us that some supposed that the fact of its being recorded that no one of the antediluvians named attained the age of woo years, was the fulfilment of the declaration (Gen. iii.), in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die ;' grounding the opinion, or rather conceit, upon Ps. xc. 4, namely, that God's day is moo years.