Methuselah
METHUSELAH, in the Old Testament, the seventh in descent from Adam, and father of Larhech. According to Genesis v. 2 1 he lived 969 years (see BIBLE: Old Testament, 5, " Chronology "). The name itself has been much discussed. Holzinger interprets it as " man of the javelin ": Hommel prefers " man of Selah," Selah being the Hebraized form of the Babylonian Sarrahu (i.e. the god Sin), and identifies it with the 'A^e/u^wos of Berossus. The form Methushael, used by the author of Gen. iv. 18 and by some commentators preferred for Gen. v. 21, is variously explained as meaning " man of El " (Ball), or as a transcription (Sayce) of the Babylonian Mutu-sa-ili (possibly, " man of the goddess ").
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
