Editing Methuselah

{{Short description|Longest-lived Biblical figure}}
{{About|the biblical figure}}
{{Good article}}
{{Infobox person
| name       = Methuselah
| image      = Methuselah Stained glass.jpg
| caption    = [[Stained glass window]] of Methuselah from the southwest [[transept]] of [[Canterbury Cathedral]] in [[Kent, England]]
| known_for  = Exceptionally long life
| birth_date = 
| death_date = Died the year of the [[Genesis flood narrative|flood]] before it started, allegedly aged 969<!-- Do not add year of death as this is pure conjecture. -->
| spouse     = Not mentioned
| children   = [[Lamech (father of Noah)|Lamech]] and other sons and daughters
| father     = [[Enoch]]
}}

'''Methuselah''' ({{IPAc-en|US|m|ə|ˈ|θ|uː|z|ˌ|l|ɑː}}; {{langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|מְתוּשֶׁלַח}}}} ''Məṯūšélaḥ'', in [[pausa]] {{Script/Hebrew|מְתוּשָׁלַח}} ''Məṯūšālaḥ'', "His death shall send" or "Man of the [[javelin]]" or "Death of sword";<ref name= sword>{{cite news |last= Klein |first= Reuven Chaim |date=2019-10-22 |title= Bereishis: The Sword of Methusaleh |work=[[Times of Israel]] |url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/bereishis-the-sword-of-methusaleh/ |access-date=2019-10-22}}</ref> {{langx|el|Μαθουσάλας}} ''Mathousalas'')<ref name= adv>{{cite book|author = Molloy, J.|year=1911|chapter-url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10048b.htm |chapter=Methuselah|title=Catholic Encyclopedia |access-date=2017-11-12}}</ref> was a [[Patriarchs (Bible)|biblical patriarch]] and a figure in [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]]. He is claimed to have lived the longest life, dying at 969 years of age.<ref name= age>{{cite book|editor-last1=Twain|editor-first1=Mark|title=The Bible According to Mark Twain: Writings on Heaven, Eden, and the Flood|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQgbd46eEgIC&q=methuselah+oldest+person&pg=PA350|publisher=[[University of Georgia Press]]|date=1995| page=350|isbn=9780820316505|access-date=September 2, 2018}}</ref> According to the [[Book of Genesis]], Methuselah was the son of [[Enoch (ancestor of Noah)|Enoch]], the father of [[Lamech (father of Noah)|Lamech]], and the grandfather of [[Noah]]. Elsewhere in the Bible, Methuselah is mentioned in [[Genealogies in the Bible|genealogies]] in [[Books of Chronicles|1 Chronicles]] and the [[Gospel of Luke]].

His life is described in further detail in other texts such as the [[Book of Enoch]], [[Second Book of Enoch|Slavonic Enoch]], and the [[Book of Moses]]. Bible commentators have offered various explanations as to why the Book of Genesis describes him as having died at such an advanced age; some believe that Methuselah's age is the result of a mistranslation, while others believe that his age is used to give the impression that part of Genesis takes place in a very distant past. Methuselah's name has become synonymous with longevity, and he has been portrayed and referenced in film, television and music.

==In the Bible==
Methuselah is a [[Patriarchs (Bible)|biblical patriarch]]<ref name= eb/> mentioned in Genesis 5:21–27, as part of the [[Genealogies of Genesis|genealogy]] linking [[Adam]] to [[Noah]]. The following is taken from the [[New Revised Standard Version]] of the [[Bible]]:

{{Blockquote|When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him. When Methuselah had lived one hundred eighty-seven years, he became the father of Lamech. Methuselah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years; and he died. 5:21–27<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|5:21–27|NRSV}}</ref>}}

According to the Hebrew Bible, Methuselah begets Lamech and then lives 782 more years. When Lamech is 182, he begets Noah, and the [[Genesis flood narrative|Genesis Flood]] comes when Noah is 600 years old.<ref name= flood/> This would imply that Methuselah dies the year of the Flood. (In the [[Septuagint]], most of the ages in this section are different. Lamech begets Noah at age 188, and Methuselah lives 802 years after begetting Lamech.<ref>[https://biblehub.com/interlinear/apostolic/genesis/5.htm Genesis 5] in the Septuagint.</ref>) He was also the oldest of all the figures mentioned in the Bible.<ref name= age/> Methuselah is mentioned once in the [[Hebrew Bible]] outside of Genesis, in {{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|1:3|NRSV}}.<ref name= eb>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Methuselah|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Methuselah|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=November 12, 2017}}</ref> Methuselah is mentioned a single time in the [[New Testament]], when the [[Gospel of Luke]] traces [[Jesus]]' lineage back to Adam in [[Luke 3]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|3:23–38|NRSV}})</ref><ref name= eb/>

==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>

==Interpretations==
{{further|Biblical longevity}}

===Literal===
Some [[biblical literalists]] attempt to justify "969 years": perhaps early humans had a better diet, or a hypothetical "water [[vapor canopy]]" protected the earth from radiation before the Flood.<ref>John C. Whitcomb, Jr. and Henry M. Morris, "The Genesis Flood" (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1961), 399–404</ref> Others introduce theological causes: humans were originally to have everlasting life, but [[sin]] was introduced into the world by Adam and [[Eve]], its influence became greater with each generation, and [[God]] progressively shortened human life, particularly after the Flood.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Cultural Dictionary of the Bible|author=Pilch, John J.|publisher=Liturgical Press|year=1999|pages=144–146|isbn=0-8146-2527-4}}</ref> The ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' says "Certain exegetes solve the difficulty to their own satisfaction by declaring that the year meant by the sacred writer is not the equivalent of our year."<ref name= adv/>

===Mistranslation===
Some believe that Methuselah's extreme age is the result of an ancient mistranslation that converted "months" to "years", producing a more credible 969 lunar months, or 78½ years,<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Carol A. |last1=Hill |date=December 2003 |title=Making Sense of the Numbers of Genesis |journal=[[Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith]] |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=239–51 |url=https://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/2003/PSCF12-03Hill.pdf}}</ref> but the same calculation applied to Enoch would have him fathering Methuselah at the age of 5<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=Henry M. |title=The Genesis Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings |page=[https://archive.org/details/genesisrecordsc00morr/page/159 159] |year=1976 |publisher=[[Baker Book House]] |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |quote=Such an interpretation would have made Enoch only five years old when his son was born! |isbn=0-8010-6004-4 |author-link=Henry M. Morris |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/genesisrecordsc00morr/page/159 }}</ref> using numbers from the [[Masoretic Text]]. Donald V. Etz suggested that the Genesis 5 numbers "might for convenience have all been multiples of 5 or 10".<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Donald V. |last1=Etz |date=April 1993 |title=The Numbers of Genesis V 3-31: A Suggested Conversion and Its Implications |journal=Vetus Testamentum |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=171–89 |jstor=1519351 |id={{INIST|4293595}} |doi=10.1163/156853393x00034}}</ref>

Ellen Bennet argued that the [[Septuagint]] Genesis 5 numbers are in tenths of years, which "will explain how it was that they read 930 years for the age of Adam instead of 93 years, and 969 years for Methuselah instead of 96 years, and 950 years for that of Noah instead of 95 years"... "Surely it is much more rational to conclude that Noah lived 50 years instead of 500 years before he took a wife and begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth..." and then lists the Septuagint total ages with decimal points: 93.0 for Adam, 91.0 for [[Cainan]], 96.9 for Methuselah, 95.0 for Noah, etc.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Ellen H. |last1=Bennet |year=1897 |chapter=Cosmogony, or Creation of the World |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rb9CAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA30 |pages=30–7 |title=Astrology: Science of Knowledge and Reason: A Treatise on the Heavenly Bodies in an Easy and Comprehensive Form |location=New York |oclc=11451986}}</ref> This, however, also implies that Enoch became a father at the age of 6.5 and that the other [[antediluvian]] patriarchs did so at implausibly young ages.

===Myth===
Yigal Levin states that these long lifespans are intended simply to speed the reader from Adam to Noah.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Yigal |last1=Levin |title=Understanding Biblical Genealogies |journal=Currents in Research: Biblical Studies |volume=9 |date=October 2001 |pages=11–46}}</ref> Claus Westermann states they are intended to create the impression of a distant past.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Westermann |title=Genesis 1–11: A Commentary |page=354}}</ref>

Some versions of the [[Sumerian King List]] mention a character named [[Ubara-Tutu]] who seems almost identical to Methuselah.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021|reason=citation needed for comparison between methusaleh and ubaru tutu}} He was the son of [[En-men-dur-ana]], a Sumerian mythological figure often compared to Enoch, as he entered heaven without dying. Ubara-Tutu was the king of [[Sumer]] until a [[deluge (mythology)|flood]] swept over his land. Although the ages of Methuselah and Ubara-Tutu are different, they both died in a Great Flood.<ref>[[James B. Pritchard|Pritchard, James B.]] (ed.), ''[[Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament]]'' (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1955, 1969). [https://books.google.com/books?id=885iAAAAMAAJ 1950 1st edition at Google Books]. p. 44: "...a flood [will sweep] over the cult-centers; to destroy the seed of mankind; is the decision, the word of the assembly [of the gods]."</ref> Babylonian writer [[Berossus]] also claims that, prior to the events of Babylon's [[flood myth]], kings could live for tens of thousands of years, which bears some similarity to Genesis 5.{{sfn|Gnuse|2014|pages=172–173}} In ''Forever Young: A Cultural History of Longevity'', [[Lucian Boia]] says that the Bible's portrayal of Methuselah and other long-lived figures features "traces of the Mesopatamian legends" found in the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', where [[Gilgamesh]] rules [[Uruk]] for 126 years, and his ancestors are said to have ruled for several hundred years each. Boia also notes that tales of kings who lived for thousands of years can be found in both [[Hindu mythology|Hindu]] and [[Chinese mythology]], and that the Bible is comparatively "restrained" in depicting early humans as being able to live for hundreds of years, rather than thousands.{{sfn|Boia|1998|page=13}}

Boia notes that following the Flood, the Bible depicts its characters' lifespans as gradually diminishing; Noah's sons lived between 400 and 500 years, while [[Abraham]] died at 175, [[Moses]] died at 120, and [[David]] died at 70, an age that the Bible portrays as old for David's time. Boia compares early biblical figures and their vast lifespans to the people of the [[Golden Age]] in [[Hesiod]]'s poem ''[[Works and Days]]'', whose bodies are perpetually youthful.{{sfn|Boia|1998|pages=13–14}}

===Symbolic===
Methuselah's father Enoch, who does not die but is taken by God, is the seventh patriarch, and Methuselah, the eighth, dies in the year of the Flood, which ends the ten-generational sequence from Adam to Noah, in whose time the world is destroyed.<ref>Abraham Malamat, "King Lists of the Old Babylonian Period and Biblical Genealogies," ''[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]]'' 88 (1968): 165. See also the discussion of "ten" in the Gen. genealogies in M. Abot section 5, Jacob Neusner, ''The Mishnah: A New Translation'' (New Haven, CT: [[Yale University Press]], 1988), 685. Duane A. Garrett also thinks this is deliberate, thus indicating redaction, ''Rethinking Genesis: The Sources and Authorship of the First Book of the Bible'', Ross-shire, Great Britain: [[Christian Focus Publications]], 2000, p. 99.</ref> Boia believes that Methuselah serves the symbolic function of linking the Creation and the Flood, as Adam would have died during Methuselah's lifetime and Methuselah could have learned about the [[Garden of Eden]] from Adam.{{sfn|Boia|1998|page=11}} The kings of the ''Sumerian King List'' lived for over a thousand years, and Mesopotamians believed both that living over a thousand years made someone divine or somewhat divine, and that their contemporary kings were descended from the kings of the ''Sumerian King List''.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} Robert Gnuse hypothesizes that the author of Genesis made all of its characters die before they turned one thousand as a polemic against these Mesopotamian beliefs, as well as any claim that a king is divine. Gnuse also believes that the author of Genesis said that Methuselah died before he lived a thousand years to show that he was not divine.{{sfn|Gnuse|2014|page=173}}

==Cultural influence==
Methuselah's name "has become a synonym for longevity".<ref name= adv/> Saying that someone is "as old as Methuselah" is a humorous way of saying that someone is very elderly.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/as-old-as-methuselah |title=as old as Methuselah|work=Cambridge Dictionary|access-date=2017-11-12}}</ref> In this context, dogs which have lived long lives have been described as "Methuselah dogs".<ref name= dog>{{Cite journal |last1=Jónás |first1=Dávid |last2=Sándor |first2=Sára |last3=Tátrai |first3=Kitti |last4=Egyed |first4=Balázs |last5=Kubinyi |first5=Enikö |date=2020-04-16 |title=A Preliminary Study to Investigate the Genetic Background of Longevity Based on Whole-Genome Sequence Data of Two Methuselah Dogs |journal=Frontiers in Genetics |volume=11 |page=315 |doi=10.3389/fgene.2020.00315 |issn=1664-8021 |pmc=7176982 |pmid=32373156|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The word "Methuselarity", a blend of Methuselah and [[Technological singularity|singularity]], was coined in 2010 by the biomedical gerontologist [[Aubrey de Grey]] to mean a future point in time where people are expected not to die from age-related causes anymore, however long they live.<ref>{{cite web |last=de Grey |first=Aubrey |website=[[SENS Research Foundation]]|url=http://sens.org/files/pdf/FHTI07-deGrey.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613012258/http://sens.org/files/pdf/FHTI07-deGrey.pdf |archive-date=2010-06-13 |url-status=dead |title=The singularity and the Methuselarity: similarities and differences |date=2008 |access-date=2017-02-24}}</ref>

===Biblical character===
The lyrics of [[Ira Gershwin]]'s song "[[It Ain't Necessarily So]]" (1935) cast doubt on the idea that Methuselah lived so long.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Roncace|first1=Mark|last2=Gray|first2=Patrick|title=Teaching the Bible Through Popular Culture and the Arts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRYTAwAAQBAJ&q=methuselah+in+popular+culture&pg=PA47|publisher=Society of Biblical Literature|date=2007| page=47 |isbn=9781589836754|access-date=September 2, 2018}}</ref>

Methuselah appeared in [[Darren Aronofsky]]'s 2014 film ''[[Noah (2014 film)|Noah]],''<ref name= noah>{{cite magazine |last=Zuckerman |first=Esther|title=Why Emma Watson Is the Secret Key to 'Noah'|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/03/emma-watson-darren-aronofsky-makes-noah-about-family/359752/|magazine=[[The Atlantic]]|date=March 27, 2014|access-date=November 12, 2017}}</ref> with [[Thor Kjartansson]] playing him as a youth and [[Anthony Hopkins]] playing the elderly character. In the film, Noah's adopted daughter Ila (played by [[Emma Watson]]) is infertile until Methuselah blesses her.<ref name= noah/> Aronofsky's version of Methuselah is an [[Eccentricity (behavior)| eccentric]] but [[virtuous]] [[hermit]] who lives on a [[Summit| mountaintop]] and is friends with [[Watcher (angel)| Watchers]]. In this retelling of the [[Genesis flood]], Methuselah dies during the deluge.<ref name= flood>{{cite news|author=Krule, Miriam|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/03/28/noah_movie_biblical_accuracy_how_the_darren_aronofsky_movie_departs_from.html|title=How Biblically Accurate Is Noah?|work=[[Slate (website)|Slate]]|date=March 28, 2014|access-date=September 13, 2018}}</ref>

===Plants and animals===
[[File:Methuselah Walk USA Ca.jpg|thumb|right|270px|The tree [[Methuselah (pine tree)|Methuselah]]]]

A {{Age nts|-2832|8|5}}-year-old<ref name= gymnoDB>{{cite web |url=http://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_longaeva.php |title= ''Pinus longaeva'' |access-date= 2015-01-04 |publisher= Gymnosperm Database|date= March 15, 2007}}</ref> [[Pinus longaeva|Great Basin bristlecone pine]] (''Pinus longaeva'') tree growing high in the [[White Mountains (California) |White Mountains]] of [[Inyo County, California|Inyo County]] in eastern [[California]] is called [[Methuselah (pine tree)|Methuselah]].<ref name= usda1>{{cite web|url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/specialplaces/?cid=stelprdb5129900|title=Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest|access-date=March 11, 2013|publisher=USFS}}</ref><ref name= usda2>{{cite web|url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/learning/nature-science/?cid=stelprdb5138621|title= Ancient Bristlecone Pine Natural History|access-date=March 11, 2013|publisher=USFS}}</ref>

A [[Judean date palm]] grown from an ancient seed has been dubbed Methuselah.

The Steinhart Aquarium in the [[California Academy of Sciences]] has an [[Australian lungfish]] named Methuselah. It is the world's oldest aquarium fish with an estimated age of 93 years old (± 9 years).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Methuselah (Our Australian Lungfish) |url=https://www.calacademy.org/learn-explore/creature-closeups/methuselah-our-australian-lungfish |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=California Academy of Sciences}}</ref>

===Science===
In the 1970s, mathematician [[John Horton Conway|John Conway]] introduced the [[Conway's Game of Life|Game of Life]], a [[cellular automaton]]. In cellular automata, [[Methuselah (cellular automaton)|methuselahs]] refer to a small initial state of cells that continue to grow for a large number of generations.

The subgiant star [[HD 140283]], believed to be the oldest extant star discovered, is often nicknamed "The Methuselah Star" after the ancient biblical figure.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 7, 2013 |title=Hubble Finds 'Birth Certificate' of Oldest Known Star |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130307145103.htm |work=[[Science Daily]] |access-date=August 11, 2013}}</ref> The name is also used to refer to the exoplanet [[PSR B1620−26 b]], which is one of the oldest known exoplanets with an estimated age of 12.7 billion years old.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilford |first=John Noble |date=2003-07-11 |title=Oldest planet yet is discovered / 'Methuselah' dates back nearly to time of the Big Bang |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Oldest-planet-yet-is-discovered-Methuselah-2566068.php |access-date=2022-10-19 |website=SFGATE |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Fictional characters===
The character Flint from the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode "[[Requiem for Methuselah]]" is a nearly immortal man who was born in ancient [[Mesopotamia]] during the year 3,834 BC; and was a [[soldier]] (probably of [[Babylon]]) before his powers. His identities include Methuselah, [[Alexander the Great]], [[Solomon]], [[Lazarus of Bethany]], [[Merlin]], [[Leonardo da Vinci]] and [[Johannes Brahms]]. He knew [[Moses]], [[Socrates]], [[Jesus]], [[Galileo Galilei]], and many more. Flint becomes lonely after living for a time on a deserted planet, and creates an immortal [[gynoid]] to keep him company. He eventually begins to slowly die because he left Earth's atmosphere, and dedicates the remainder of his days to the betterment of mankind.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Okuda|first1=Michael|last2=Okuda|first2=Denise|last3=Mirek|first3=Debbie|title=The Star Trek Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbYf2l7gczUC&q=requiem+for+methuselah+star+trek+da+vinci&pg=PT2353|publisher=Pocket Books|date=1999|isbn=9781451646887|access-date=September 2, 2018}}</ref>

In the TV series [[Altered Carbon (TV series)|''Altered Carbon'']], based on [[Richard K. Morgan]]'s 2002 [[Altered Carbon|novel of the same name]], a class of people who can afford to live forever by transferring their consciousness into cloned bodies are called "Meths" or "Methuselahs."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Chaney|first1=Jen|title=Altered Carbon Is an Over-Stacked Cyberpunk Mess|url=http://www.vulture.com/2018/02/altered-carbon-netflix-review.html|website=[[Vulture.com]]|access-date=February 2, 2018|date=September 2, 2018}}</ref>

In the children's literature series ''[[Redwall]]'', Brian Jacques has multiple anthropomorphic characters named after several biblical figures, one of which is an old abbey mouse named Methuselah, who is described to be the oldest mouse to have ever lived in Redwall Abbey.

A giant monster or "Titan" named Methuselah appears in the 2019 film ''[[Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019 film)|Godzilla: King of the Monsters]]'', residing in Monarch Outpost 67 in [[Munich]], [[Germany]]. In the film, it is woken up by [[King Ghidorah]] alongside the other Titans.<ref>{{cite web |title=MonsterVerse Can Bring Back KOTM's Original Titans in New Godzilla Show |date=6 February 2022 |url=https://screenrant.com/godzilla-show-monsterverse-king-monsters-original-titans/ |work=[[Screen Rant]]}}</ref> It also makes an appearance in the 2021 graphic novel ''Godzilla Dominion''.

==Gallery==
[[File:Carbonero el Mayor - Iglesia de San Juan Bautista 26.jpg|thumb|165px|A depiction of Methuselah at the Church of San Juan Bautista in [[Carbonero el Mayor]], [[Segovia Province]], Spain]]

[[File:HarrowingBermejo.jpg|thumb|right|270px|[[Bartolomé Bermejo]], ''Christ Leading the Patriarchs to Paradise'', c. 1480. In this depiction of the [[Harrowing of Hell]], Methuselah is portrayed as leading the procession of the righteous behind [[Jesus]], along with [[Solomon]], the [[Queen of Sheba]], and [[Adam and Eve]].]]

==Family tree==
{{Antediluvian patriarchs genealogy}}

==See also==
* [[Aging]]
* [[Jeanne Calment]]
* [[Genealogies of Genesis]]
* [[Longevity]]
* [[Longevity myths]]
* [[Maximum life span]]
* [[Oldest people]]
* [[Salih]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{citation|last=Boia|first=Lucian|date=1998|title=Forever Young: A Cultural History of Longevity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bdIBlQXSKi8C&q=longevity+myths+methuselah|location=79 Farringdon Rd, London|publisher=Reaktion Books Ltd|isbn=1-86189-154-7}}
* {{citation|last=Gnuse|first=Robert|date=2014|title=Misunderstood Stories: Theological Commentary on Genesis 1-11|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V20NBQAAQBAJ&q=methuselah+symbolic+not+literal&pg=PA171|location=Eugene, Oregon|publisher=Cascade Books|isbn=978-1-62564-007-9}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.complete-bible-genealogy.com/names/methuselah_23.htm Complete Bible Genealogy] Family tree of Methuselah
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Methuselah}}

{{Adam to David}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bereshit (parashah)]]
[[Category:Book of Genesis people]]
[[Category:Book of Jubilees]]
[[Category:Longevity myths]]
[[Category:Prophets in Mormonism]]