Editing Methuselah (section)

==In other religious texts==
===Judaism===
The [[Biblical apocrypha| apocryphal]] [[Book of Enoch]] claims to be revelations of Enoch, transcribed by him and entrusted to be preserved for future generations by his son, Methuselah.<ref name= lost>{{cite book |title= The Lost Bible |author1-first= J. R. |author1-last= Porter |year= 2010 |publisher= Metro Books |location= New York |isbn= 978-1-4351-4169-8 |page= [https://archive.org/details/lostbible0000port/page/38 38] |url= https://archive.org/details/lostbible0000port/page/38 }}</ref> In this book, Enoch recounts two visions he has had to Methuselah. The first is about the [[Genesis flood|Flood]], and the second chronicles the history of the world from Adam to the [[Last Judgment]]. In the latter vision, men are represented as animals – the righteous are white cattle and sheep, the sinners and enemies of Israel are black cattle and wild animals.<ref name= ppp/> Following his father's death in the Book of Enoch, Methuselah is designated by God as a priest, while Methuselah's grandson, Noah's brother Nir, is designated by God as his successor.<ref name= lost/> In [[Second Book of Enoch|Slavonic Enoch]], Methuselah asks his father for a blessing, and is given instructions on how to live righteously. After their father ascends into heaven, Methuselah and his brothers build an altar and make "a great festivity, praising God who had given such a sign by means of Enoch, who had found favor with Him."<ref name= ppp>{{JewishEncyclopedia|article=Enoch, Books of (Ethiopic and Slavonic)|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5773-enoch-books-of-ethiopic-and-slavonic}}</ref>

The [[Book of Jubilees]] presents itself as "the history of the division of the days of the Law, of the events of the years, the year-weeks, and the jubilees of the world" and claims to be a revelation of God to [[Moses]], given through the [[Angel of the Presence]] in addition to the written Law received by Moses on [[Biblical Mount Sinai| Mount Sinai]]; and, while the written Law was to be imparted to all, this was to be a secret tradition entrusted only to the saints of each generation, to Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, and [[Shem]], then to [[Abraham]], [[Isaac]], [[Jacob]], and [[Levi]], and finally to the priests and scribes of the latter times.<ref>{{JewishEncyclopedia|article=Jubilees, Book of (Τὰ Ἰωβηλαῖα; known also as Little Genesis [ᾙ Κλεινὴ Γένεσις = "Bereshit Zuṭa"]; Apocalypse of Moses; Life of Adam)|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8944-jubilees-book-of}}</ref>

[[Rabbinic literature]] states that when Noah was 480 years old, all the righteous men were dead—except Methuselah and himself. At God's command, they both announced that 120 years would be given to men for repentance; if, in that time, they had not mended their evil ways, the earth would be destroyed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ccel.org/a/anonymous/jasher/5.htm|title=Book of Jasher 5|website=www.ccel.org}}</ref> But their plea was in vain; even while Noah was engaged in building the ark, the wicked—who were of [[Nephilim|immense stature]] as they were descended from the [[sons of God]]—made sport of him and his work, saying: "If the Flood should come, it could not harm us. We are too tall; and, moreover, we could close up with our feet [which were of monstrous size] the springs from below." They resorted to these tactics; but God heated the water, and their feet and the flesh of their bodies was scalded.<ref>{{JewishEncyclopedia|article=Flood, The (Hebr. ; LXX. κατακλυαμός).|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6192-flood-the}}</ref><ref>Citing [https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_DeRabbi_Eliezer.22.9?lang=bi Pirkei De Rabbi Eliezer 22]</ref>

The 17th-century [[midrash]]ic [[Sefer haYashar (midrash)|Sefer haYashar]] ("[[Sefer haYashar (Biblical references)|Book of Jasher]]")<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8AHZ-l0u4n8C&dq=sefer+ha+yashar&pg=RA1-PR17|title=Sefer Ha-Yashar: Or, the Book of Jasher; Referred to in Joshua and Second Samuel|date=November 11, 1887|publisher=Parry|access-date=November 11, 2021|via=Google Books}}</ref> describes Methuselah with his grandson Noah attempting to persuade the people of the earth to return to godliness.<ref>[https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=OnBAAQAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PA10&hl=en_GB Jasher 5:7]</ref> All other very long-lived people died, and Methuselah was the only one of this class left.<ref name= Jasher>[https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=OnBAAQAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PA12&hl=en_GB Jasher 5:21]</ref> God planned to bring the flood after all the men who walked in the ways of the Lord had died (besides Noah and his family).<ref>[https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=OnBAAQAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PA10&hl=en_GB Jasher 4:20]</ref> Methuselah lived until the ark was built but died before the flood, since God had promised he would not be killed with the unrighteous.<ref name= Jasher/> The [[Sefer haYashar (midrash)|Sefer haYashar]] gives Methuselah's age at death as 960.<ref>[https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=OnBAAQAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PA12&hl=en_GB Jasher 5:36]</ref>

===Islam===
Methuselah ([[Arabic]]: ''Matūshalaḥ'') is also mentioned in [[Islam]] in the various collections of [[qisas al-anbiya|stories of the pre-Islamic prophets]], which also say he was an ancestor of Noah. Furthermore, early Islamic writers like [[Ibn Ishaq]] and [[Ibn Hisham]] always included his name in the genealogy of [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]].<ref>Ibn Ishāq, ''Sīrat Rasūl Allāh'', tr. A. Guillaume (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 3</ref>

===Mormonism===
The [[Book of Moses]], a 19th-century [[Standard works|Mormon text]], says that after Enoch and the [[Zion (Latter Day Saints)#Zion, the City of Enoch|City of Zion]] were taken up to [[heaven]], Methuselah stayed behind; this was so that God's promises to Enoch – that he would always have descendants on earth and that he would be an ancestor of Noah – would be fulfilled. [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] further teaches that Methuselah was a [[prophet]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Methuselah|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/gs/methuselah?lang=eng|work=Guide to the Scriptures |access-date=November 12, 2017}}</ref>