Edna Parker turns 115 today. She is the oldest person alive today, and only 7 and a half years short of the longest confirmed human lifespan. Happy Birthday, Edna. I hope you break all the records!
Yet Edna Parker is just a youngster by biblical standards. Here's a list of bible characters with life spans longer than Edna's.
- 120 Moses
- 127 Sarah
- 133 Kohath
- 137 Levi
- 137 Amram
- 137 Ishmael
- 140 Job
- 147 Jacob
- 148 Nahor
- 175 Abraham
- 180 Isaac
- 205 Terah
- 229 Serug
- 239 Peleg
- 239 Reu
- 365 Enoch
- 433 Salah
- 438 Arphaxad
- 464 Eber
- 600 Shem
- 777 Lamech
- 895 Mahalaleel
- 905 Enos
- 910 Cainan
- 912 Seth
- 930 Adam
- 950 Noah
- 962 Jared
- 969 Methuselah
It seems strange that the biblical list includes only one woman (Sarah), since women tend to live longer than men. But women in the Bible are lucky to have names, so it's not surprising that God didn't keep track of their life spans.
The Bible doesn't say why people (well, men anyway) lived so long long ago, or why life spans have decreased so rapidly since then. But I suppose it must be that they had a better health care system back then.
