Noah lived to 950 immediately after God stated this so it is very clear that God did not mean that 120 years max life on earth in the same old body is what he means.
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Genes 7:11 In the
six hundredth year of the life of Noe, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the floodgates of heaven were opened:
Although reckoning of years may be multiplied by 10 in the translation as a year consists of 10 months (Decka-ember;eg: December) in the ?Egyptian/Earlier than Alexandrian? systems; so that 950 might better translate as 95.0 years in our decimal system give or take a few non literal years added for calendar fixups.
Noe, then would be 60.0 to 60.2 years old in Genes 7:11 depending on which month he was born in… And the 120 years would mean that God was going to allow 12.0 years before the flood began.
How curious; Judgment, or becoming a son of the law is age 13; age 12 being the preparation year of a child, so that year they ask “questions” about the law traditionally in the temple. cf: Luke 2:42 - 46 before being allowed to be subjected to the law’s consequences and judgment. cf. Ishamel Gen 17:25; and many other examples.
I hadn’t notice the harmony of 120 before – it is exactly 12.0 years and here in Noe’s time is now a period commanded divinely before judgment begins. So the barmitzvah tradition has roots even predating Ishmael…
Commonly, in apolgetics arguments 12 is associated with the tribes of Abraham; and multiples of 10 mean divine/divinely magnified. 12,000 is a common number to pick for military legions in Israel… etc. and means Israel’s divine army; etc.
But that interpretation is mildly naive, for the number predates Abraham having 12 sons. So, 12 is a calendar/celestial cycle time period of some kind as well. Definitely something to look into…
The word for strive means:
to judge, contend, plead …
(Qal) … (Niphal) to be at strife, quarrel
So God first says that He repented that He created man. He is greiving over how man does not care … So God did not “strive” with Noah more than 120 years just as He will not “strive” with anyone after stating that more than 120 years. I find it most likely that He means “quarrel” So don’t think that you can quarrel with God more than 120 years.
:coffeeread:
as a Non expert here on Hebrew…but needing some practice, anyway; from my rudimentary notes:
י
2. Nif’al – 3ltr – intransitive, middle/passive voice. ( No gerunds, but do have infinitives and imperitives ). Intensified meaning, if remember, suddenly remember, if meet, intentionally meet. && prefix NUN-נ
Genes 6:3 ו-יאמר יהוה לא-ידון רוחי ב-אדם ל-עלם ב-שגם ה-וא ב-שר ו-היו ימיו מאה ו-עש-ים שנה.
Genes 6:3 And the LORD said, My-spirit
shall not always strive with man(adam), for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred andtwenty years.
But I don’t see a NUN prefix on any of the words; and I think that’s required for nif’al; so quarrel doesn’t appear to work…
I’d like to follow up on a word study, but I am not sure which Hebrew word you are referring to specifically (my vocabulary is limited.)
On the other hand. the Greek:
Genes 6:3 και ειπεν κυριος ο θεος
ου μη κατα-μεινη το πνευμα μου εν τοις ανθρωποις τουτοις εις τον αιωνα δια το ειναι αυτους σαρκας
εσονται δε αι ημεραι αυτων εκατον εικοσι ετη
The word rendered quarrel/strive in the Greek is only used in scripture here – as spelled; but it is the same root, as for example, “continue” found in John 8:31; by extension the Greek word means continue-under or continue-against. The second form carries the sense of a comparison & showdown and is often rendered “according” in Englsh; According to the whole/ under the whole = kata - holos (Catholic); what that means is that Catholics “compare favorably against the whole”.
In this passage, a crude-literal word order translation is:
The lord God said, no, not continuing-to-agree the spirit of-me in the men (these) into the age/world through the to-be them flesh BUT shall be what days of-them one-hundered twenty years.
I’m not sure of the structure quite yet, it’s strange to me. “dia” (through) refers back to something already said and must not be a new argument; The disagreement is associated with a “world/time” to come; I read it:
The Lord God said "my spirit will not continue-to-agree in these men [all the way] into the world through them being flesh; but their days shall be one-hundred-twenty years;
The emphasis is a disagreement between “flesh” and “spirit” and God is refusing to allow the flesh to enter the new world; these men must “change” somehow.
Curiously, Noah, is presumably “flesh” too – so this is somewhat of a reversal of the prophecy of Joel, where God pours out his spirit on all flesh; God here is saying the tolerance of his spirit in man will cease after a period of “12”; It isn’t the spirit of Man – but God’s spirit. Since “12” comes typically before judgment – this is simply stating that the flesh will be judged by God’s spirit after a symbolic period.
It really isn’t a lifespan statement as far as I can see – Noah was Judged as “good” and allowed to live into the “age/world”; the others were not.
What you are saying makes some sense, it’s just a bit beyond my Hebrew skills to verify. 600 + 120 = 780 years; So God’s spirit, if your numbers are correct (I didn’t check his death age) didn’t disagree with Noe for longer than 120 years.
