Bible Dictionary: Antediluvians

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ANTEDILUVIANS

an-te-di-lu'-vi-ans.

1. Chronology Uncertain:

According to the ordinary interpretation of the genealogical tables in Genesis 5 the lives of the antediluvians were prolonged to an extreme old age, Methuselah attaining that of 969 years. But before accepting these figures as a basis of interpretation it is important to observe that the Hebrew, the Samaritan and the Septuagint texts differ so radically in their sums that probably little confidence can be placed in any of them. The Septuagint adds 100 years to the age of six of the antediluvian patriarchs at the birth of their eldest sons. This, taken with the great uncertainty connected with the transmission of numbers by the Hebrew method of notation, makes it unwise to base important conclusions upon the data accessible. The most probable interpretation of the genealogical table in Genesis 5 is that given by the late Professor William Henry Green, who maintains that it is not Intended to give chronology, and does not give it, but only indicates the line of descent, as where (1 Chronicles 26:24) we read that "Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was ruler over the treasures"; whereas, while Gershom was the immediate son of Moses, Shebuel was separated from Gershom by several generations. According to the interpretation of Professor Green all that we can certainly infer from the statement in Hebrew that Adam was 130 years old when he begat Seth, is that at that age the line branched off which culminated in Seth, it being permitted, according to Hebrew usage, to interpolate as many intermediate generations as other evidence may compel.

2. Meaning of Genealogies:

As in the genealogies of Christ in the Gospels, the object of the tables in Genesis is evidently not to give chronology, but the line of descent. This conclusion is supported by the fact that no use is made afterward of the chronology, whereas the line of descent is repeatedly emphasized. This method of interpretation allows all the elasticity to prehistoric chronology that any archaeologist may require. Some will get further relief from the apparent incredibility of the figures by the Interpretation of Professor A. Winchell, and T. P. Crawford (Winchell, Pre-adamites, 449) that the first number gives the age of actual life of the individual while the second gives that of the ascendancy of his family, the name being that of dynasties, like Caesar or Pharaoh.

3. The Nephilim:

The nephilim (giants) and the mighty men born of "the sons of God" and the "daughters of men" (Genesis 6:4, 5) are according to the best interpretation "giants in wickedness," being the fruit of intermarriage between the descendants of Seth ("sons of God" who called on the name of Yahweh, Genesis 4:26), and the "daughters of men." The idea that "sons of God" refers to angels or demigods has no support in Scripture. On this familiar designation of the worshippers of the true God see Exodus 4:22 Deuteronomy 1:41; Deuteronomy 32, repeatedly; Isaiah 1:2; Isaiah 43:6; Isaiah 45:11 Hosea 1:10; Hosea 11:1. Intermarriage with depraved races such as is here intimated produced the results which were guarded against in the Mosaic law prohibiting marriages with the surrounding idolatrous nations. The word Nephilim in Genesis 6:4 occurs again only in Numbers 13:33 (the King James Version "giants"). But the word is more probably a descriptive term than the name of a race. In the older Greek versions it is translated "violent men."

4. The Ice Age:

The antediluvians are, with great probability, identified by some geologists (Sir William Dawson, e.g.) with glacial or paleolithic man, whose implements and remains are found buried beneath the deposits of glacial floods in northern France, southern England, southern Russia, and in the valleys of the Delaware, Ohio and Missouri rivers in America. The remains of "paleolithic" men reveal only conditions of extreme degradation and savagery, in which violence reigned. The sparse population which was spread over the northern hemisphere during the closing floods of the Glacial period lived in caves of the earth, and contended with a strange variety of gigantic animals which became extinct at the same time with their human contemporaries. See DELUGE OF NOAH.

LITERATURE.

Green, "Primeval Chronology," Bibliotheca Sacra, April, 1890; Dawson, Modern Science in Bible Lands; B. B. Warfield, "On the Antiquity and the Unity of the Human Race," Princeton Theol. Review, January, 1911; Winchell, Pre-adamites; Wright, Ice Age in North America, 5th ed.; Man and the Glacial Period, and Scientific Confirmations of Old Testament History.

George Frederick Wright

Library

Of the Different Computation of the Ages of the Antediluvians ...
... Book XV. Chapter 10."Of the Different Computation of the Ages of the
Antediluvians, Given by the Hebrew Manuscripts and by Our Own. ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 10 of the different computation.htm

Of the Long Life and Greater Stature of the Antediluvians.
... Book XV. Chapter 9."Of the Long Life and Greater Stature of the Antediluvians.
Wherefore no one who considerately weighs facts ...
//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/city of god/chapter 9 of the long life.htm

Safe in the Ark.
... As long as he was outside of the ark he was exposed to the wrath of God
just like the rest of those antediluvians. If he stayed ...
/.../moody/moodys anecdotes and illustrations/safe in the ark.htm

Journey to Jerusalem. Ten Lepers. Concerning the Kingdom.
... The antediluvians and the citizens of Sodom discharged the business of the day and
laid their plans for to-morrow and had no thought of evil or anticipation of ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/xcv journey to jerusalem ten.htm

"Come Thou and all Thy House into the Ark. "
... their sins. How the Message was Received. For one hundred and twenty years
God strove with those antediluvians. He never smites ...
//christianbookshelf.org/moody/the overcoming life/come thou and all thy.htm

Chapter v
... no means of knowing who was the one that penned the document, we are hardly safe
in following Whitelaw, when he ascribes the writing to antediluvians and so ...
//christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter v.htm

General Index.
... Annihilation, 318. Antediluvians, warnings unheeded by, 337, 338. Antichrist,
recognized by Wycliffe, 86; by Luther, 139, 141, 205. ...
/.../white/the great controversy between christ and satan /general index.htm

The Redeemer's Return is Necessitated by the Lamentation of all ...
... The punishment which was meted out to the antediluvians was not limited to the human
family, it fell upon the lower orders of creation as well"all were swept ...
/.../pink/the redeemers return/viii the redeemers return is.htm

Letter Lii. To Nepotian.
... I say nothing of the antediluvians, who, although after nine hundred years their
limbs must have been not old merely, but decayed with age, had no recourse to ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/letter lii to nepotian.htm

Whether, in Computing Years, we Ought to Follow the Hebrew or the ...
... the years which were wanting are added, it is obvious that the copyist who contrived
this arrangement designed to insinuate that the antediluvians lived an ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 13 whether in computing years.htm

Thesaurus

Antediluvians
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia ANTEDILUVIANS. an-te-di-lu'-vi-ans. 1.
Chronology Uncertain: According to the ordinary interpretation ...
/a/antediluvians.htm - 11k

Antelope (2 Occurrences)

/a/antelope.htm - 11k

Nephilim (2 Occurrences)
... in the Revised Version (British and American), is found in two passages of the Old
Testament-one in Genesis 6:4, relating to the antediluvians; the other in ...
/n/nephilim.htm - 8k

Food (2953 Occurrences)
... the exception mentioned (2:17). The use of animal food was probably not
unknown to the antediluvians. There is, however, a distinct ...
/f/food.htm - 36k

Patriarch (2 Occurrences)
... articles. See ANTEDILUVIAN PATRIARCHS; ANTEDILUVIANS (GENEALOGY). James
Orr. Multi-Version Concordance Patriarch (2 Occurrences). ...
/p/patriarch.htm - 10k

Prison (131 Occurrences)
... of Scripture, while Peter appears to be speaking to his readers of something with
which they are familiar; it seems strange that these antediluvians should be ...
/p/prison.htm - 52k

Spirits (129 Occurrences)
... of Scripture, while Peter appears to be speaking to his readers of something with
which they are familiar; it seems strange that these antediluvians should be ...
/s/spirits.htm - 42k

Giants (18 Occurrences)
... See also ANTEDILUVIANS. James Orr. GIANTS, VALLEY OF THE. See REPHAIM, VALLEY OF.
VALLEY OF GIANTS. See REPHAIM, VALE OF. Multi-Version Concordance ...
/g/giants.htm - 19k

Life (6001 Occurrences)
... possible (Psalm 91:16). The longevity of the ante-diluvian patriarchs
is a problem by itself (see ANTEDILUVIANS). It was one of ...
/l/life.htm - 51k

Eden (19 Occurrences)
... involve the existence of "Tertiary man," and thus extend his chronology to an
incredible extent, even though with Professor Green (see ANTEDILUVIANS) we are ...
/e/eden.htm - 28k

Subtopics

Antediluvians

Antediluvians: Arts of

Antediluvians: Destruction of

Antediluvians: Enoch Prophesies To

Antediluvians: Noah Preaches To

Antediluvians: Occupations of

Antediluvians: Wickedness of

Antediluvians: Worship God

Related Terms

Antelope (2 Occurrences)

Nephilim (2 Occurrences)