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Methuselah (Help with Hebrew Name and Meaning)


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I was listening to Dr. J Vernon McGee on Thu the Bible today, he says that the name "Methuselah" means "when he dies it shall come", Ussher's Chonology tells us that in the year Methuselah died that the Genesis flood occurred.

However when I tried to independently confirm that particular meaning of the name Methuselah I was confused. the most common definition I have found is "Man of Dart" which I don't understand how that could mean "When he dies it shall come". Can someone help me understand this?

It certainly would be interesting if his name really has prophetic signification pointing toward the Genesis flood, especially considering that he is the longest person ever to live recorded for in the Bible... that surely would be an amazing picture of the mercy and grace of God.

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Methuselah's name is a little uncertain in its construction.  From my understanding there are three basic possibilities, as follows:

1.  The "methu" part of his name is from the Hebrew word "math," meaning "man;" and the "selah" part of his name is from the Hebrew verb "shalach," meaning "to send forth."

2.  The "methu" part of his name is from the Hebrew word "math," meaning "man;" and the "selah" part of his name is from the Hebrew noun "shelach" (which is the noun from for the Hebrew verb "shalach"), meaning a weapon of sending (such as a spear, dart, arrow, etc., although it can also refer to any weapon as that which is sent against another).  It is from this construction that many commentators say that his name means "man of a dart."

3.  The "methu" part of his name is from the Hebrew verb "muwth," meaning "to die," or from the Hebrew noun "mowth," meaning "death;" and the "selah" part of his name is from the Hebrew verb "shalach," meaning "to send forth."  It is from this construction that some commentators say that his name means "when dies, a sending forth (of judgment)."

Did the Lord God or the prophet Enoch intend something in his name?  The Scripture does not place a great deal of emphasis upon the meaning of his name (whatever it may be), or even upon the fact that he died in the same year as the flood (which we are able to deduce from comparative study).

On the other hand, I myself find it interesting concerning Enoch his father --

1.  That Scripture indicates in Genesis 5:22 that Enoch walked with God from the time of and following after his first-born son's birth (that being Methuselah).

2.  That Scripture indicates in Genesis 522 that Enoch walked with God for the entire remaining 300 years of his life.

3.  That therefore Methuselah, as well as his brothers and sisters, would have been raised in a home wherein their father walked in close fellowship with the Lord.

I pray that this information and these thoughts will be of help to you.

Edited by Pastor Scott Markle
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I've heard this before, and it was my understanding that the definition in question actually is derived from the Greek spelling found in Luke 3:37. I also heard that it depends upon which Lexicon one uses in order to look up the definition.

Having never looked it up personally, I found that the definition in question isn't given in my Bible program...so...out of curiosity, I downloaded and installed the Thayer Greek Lexicon to see what it said...

Luke 3:37
Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan,

Thayer's Definition is as follows...

Μαθουσάλα
Mathousala
Methuselah = “when he dies, there shall be an emission”
1) the son of Enoch, grandfather of Noah, lived longer than anyone else to 969 years
Part of Speech: noun proper masculine
A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: of Hebrew origin H4968
Total KJV Occurrences: 1

Whether that's true or not, I don't know. However, I'll be removing the Thayer Lexicon now. 

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20 minutes ago, No Nicolaitans said:

I've heard this before, and it was my understanding that the definition in question actually is derived from the Greek spelling found in Luke 3:37.

I myself cannot see how the definition could be derived from the Greek spelling, (1) since the Greek spelling is simply a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew, and (2) since there are no specific Greek words from which that transliteration could be derived.

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1 hour ago, Pastor Scott Markle said:

I myself cannot see how the definition could be derived from the Greek spelling, (1) since the Greek spelling is simply a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew, and (2) since there are no specific Greek words from which that transliteration could be derived.

I agree. I was just relaying what I "had heard" before. I didn't mean to sound as though I was endorsing it.

EDITED TO ADD: I think what I was attempting to relay is...based upon what I know (which isn't a lot) and have heard, the only way to see that particular definition spelled out is found in a Greek Lexicon...

It's not found in Strong's, Brown-Driver-Briggs, nor Gesenius

Not that I use all of those...I just thought I'd look it up in them to see what they said. All of them say "man of the dart".

Edited by No Nicolaitans
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13 hours ago, Jordan Kurecki said:

I was listening to Dr. J Vernon McGee on Thu the Bible today, he says that the name "Methuselah" means "when he dies it shall come", Ussher's Chonology tells us that in the year Methuselah died that the Genesis flood occurred.

However when I tried to independently confirm that particular meaning of the name Methuselah I was confused. the most common definition I have found is "Man of Dart" which I don't understand how that could mean "When he dies it shall come". Can someone help me understand this?

It certainly would be interesting if his name really has prophetic signification pointing toward the Genesis flood, especially considering that he is the longest person ever to live recorded for in the Bible... that surely would be an amazing picture of the mercy and grace of God.

In my 1560 Geneva Bible, it has names and their meanings in the back. Methuselah is spelled  "Methushélah",  which it says means "spoiling his death".

I use to love listening to Bro. McGee years ago. A lot of good memories. I disagree with much of his view on the end times of course, but he had quite the way with explaining things that I enjoyed.

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