In [Genesis 5](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen%205&version=ESV) , some of the descendants of Adam are listed with their ages. The people listed lived very much longer than anybody does today. For example, Adam lived to be 930. The oldest age, 969 years, is listed for Methuselah. How did these people live so long? Does the Bible explain this at all?

According to one comment from EGW (SDA) in Genesis 6 she lumps Methuselah and Noah together as having preached to the people prior to the flood. Here is the following quote from EGW on her comment on Genesis 6 below: "(1 Peter 3:18-21) God preached through Methuselah Noah and others-God granted them one hundred and twenty years of probation,and during that time preached to them through Methuselah,Noah and many others of his servants.Had they listened to the testimony of these faithful witnesses,had they repented and returned to their loyalty,God would not have destroyed them(The Review and Herald,April 23,1901)(1 BC 1088.4)" But according to the narrative in the previous chapter(Genesis 5) we are only told of Methuselah's genealogy and nothing else Genesis 5:21-27 ESV >21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God[b] after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not,[c] for God took him.25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. Looking up the genealogy of Methuselah, its clear that when Noah was building the ark Methuselah was still alive.There is no record of Methuselah building the ark with Noah or warning people about the coming disaster. So what is the basis for believing that Methuselah was also a preacher like Noah?

A few answerers to the question [Significance of Methuselah's death year](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/3595/significance-of-methuselahs-death-year) replied with the claim that Methuselah died seven days before the Flood began, thus leaving Noah and his family as the only remaining righteous people on Earth. (Most of these answers are deleted as they weren't sufficiently high-quality.) Furthermore, two of them also said that the 7 days between Methuselah's death and the Flood was for a period of mourning. At least one commenter said that they had heard of this tradition before, but did not know of any support for it, and a request for references did not get a response. I've never heard of this tradition anywhere else other than these answers. Where and/or when did it originate? Specifically, the tradition that 1) Methuselah died 7 days before the Flood and that 2) the 7 days were for a period of mourning.

*This is something I noted once when reading Genesis, and am still wondering if there's any meaning to it.* Genesis tells us that Noah was 599-600 years old1 when the flood came. > [**Genesis 7:11 (ESV)**](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%207:11&version=ESV) > In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. We can also find the age difference of Methuselah and Noah in Genesis 5, and it's 187 + 182 = 369 years2: > [**Genesis 5:25-29 (ESV)**](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%205:25-29&version=ESV) > 25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. > 28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah, saying, "Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands." So, if Noah was 600 when the flood happened, Methuselah was 600 + 369 = 969. That is, he died around the time of flood. Did Methuselah die in the flood? Does the Bible refer to this anywhere else? Is this in any way significant? ---- 1 I don't know Hebrew, so I'm not gonna guess. The *tenth year of my life* was technically when I was 9 years old. But even in English the phrase might also mean being 10 years old. 2 More precisely, the age difference is in the range of [369 years; 370 years + 364 days]