To what does the 120 years in Genesis 6:3 refer?

Bible Question:

I was reading about the 120 years that people would yet live according to Genesis 6:3. I used to think it was a prophecy that God would flood the earth in 120 years. But I found that it was less than 100 years until the flood. In Genesis 5:32, Noah is 500 years old. In Genesis 7:6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood was upon the earth. At most, the flood took place 100 years after the prophecy. To what does the 120 years refer?

Bible Answer:

There are two major views about the meaning of Genesis 6:3. Both views will be considered in this brief article. There are three verses that are relevant to the question, “To what does 120 years in Genesis 6:3 refer?” They are Genesis 5:32, 6:3 and 7:6.

Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis 5:32 (NASB)

Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” Genesis 6:3 (NASB)

Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. Genesis 7:6 (NASB)

The first passage, Genesis 5:32, says that Noah was 500 years old when he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The third passage tells us that the flood started when Noah was 600 years of age. This means the flood occurred 100 years after his sons were born. Therefore, the question before us is since Genesis 6:3 occurs between Genesis 5:32 and Genesis 7:6, to what does the 120 years refer?

Noah’s Flood Destroyed Most Air Breathing Life

Limit of 120 Years for Human Life

The first view believes that the middle passage, Genesis 6:3, is not a prophecy about the coming flood. This view says that due to man’s sin, God announced a judgment on men and women that they would not live live longer than 120 years. But this view cannot be supported by the fact that men and women continued to live longer than 120 years even though the length of their days was dropping (Genesis 11:10-26, Genesis 23:1; 25:7; Genesis 47:28). Notice that Sarah lived to be 127 years (Genesis 23:1), Abraham lived to 175 years (Genesis 25:7), and Jacob lived 147 years before dying (Genesis 47:28).

The chronological timeline of Noah’s ancestral line reveals that people lived 906 years on the average. Then 1,556 years after Adam and Eve were created, the flood occurred. Then the length of life began to shorten; however, men continued to live longer than 120 years for a long time.

Later in Psalm 90, God indicates that it is very difficult for anyone to live past 80 years of age.

As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away. (NASB) Psalm 90:10

Therefore, it is unlikely that this is the correct view.

Number of Years Before the Flood

The second view states that Genesis 6:3 is a prophecy about the number of years before the universal flood would occur. This view is consistent with the fact that Genesis 6:3 occurs between Genesis 5:32 and Genesis 7:6.

First, the opening chapters of Genesis overlap each other to some extent. For example, Genesis 1 describes God’s creative acts regarding the universe and our world. Then Genesis 2:4-25 provides a lengthy description and detailed description of the creation or man that occurred on the sixth day. The creation account in Genesis 2:4-25 merely overlaps the creation account given in Genesis 1. This reveals that the book of Genesis is not always chronological.

The next example reveals that Genesis 5 provides a genealogical account from Adam to Noah. But just as Genesis 2:4-25 did not follow Genesis 1, Genesis 6 does not follow after Genesis 5 chronologically. Genesis 6 overlaps Genesis 5, just as Genesis 2 overlapped Genesis 1. This is obvious by noticing Genesis 5:32 is repeated in Genesis 6:9-10, and Genesis 6:3 is in between them.

It would be awkward and strange to interrupt the middle of the genealogical account in Genesis 5 in order to insert a prophecy about the destruction of the world by a flood, and then continue the genealogy. Thus there is no discrepancy for the event described in Genesis 6:3 to have actually occurred before Noah’s five hundredth birthday and the births of his children.

Again, note that the birth of Noah’s sons is repeated six verses after Genesis 5:32 in Genesis 6:9-10. That is, Genesis 6:3 occurred before Noah’s sons were born. Also, notice that God speaks to Noah about building the ark after verses 9-10. This reveals that God’s statement about the 120 years (Genesis 6:3) occurred before Noah’s sons were born (Genesis 6:9-10), and God’s request of Noah to build the ark occurred after the births (Genesis 6:11-22).

Therefore, it appears that Noah’s ark was constructed in less than 100 years since Noah was 500 years old when his sons were born, then God told Noah to build the ark, and the flood began when Noah was 600 years old. This means that Noah had to construct some of the ark on his own without the help of his sons.

This view is supported by Targum Jonathan (2nd century B.C.) which provides this ancient Jewish comment about Genesis 6:3,

And the Lord said by His Word, All the generations of the wicked which are to arise shall not be purged after the order of the judgments of the generation of the deluge, which shall be destroyed and exterminated from the midst of the world. Have I not imparted My Holy Spirit to them, (or, placed My Holy Spirit in them,) that they may work good works? And, behold, their works are wicked. Behold, I will give them a prolongment of a hundred and twenty years, that they may work repentance, and not perish.¹

Conclusion:

Another view that is being promoted on the internet claims the 120 years in Genesis 6:3 are Jubilee years. This view was not considered in this article since there is no biblical basis for such a claim. The view is simply someone’s speculation that cannot be biblically supported.

Therefore in summary, Genesis 5:32 is the last verse of the generations given in Genesis 5. Genesis 6:1-6 interrupts the flow to teach us about the evil on the earth. This helps us understand God’s decision to destroy the people on the earth with a flood (Genesis 6:3).

Then the generations of Noah is resumed in Genesis 6:9-10. God tells Noah to build the ark, because He is going to destroy everyone but Noah’s family.Genesis 6:1-5 is a parenthesis. Then the timeline continues until Genesis 7:6. There are no timeline problems. Since men and women continued to live longer than 120 years, we conclude that Genesis 6:3 is an announcement of the coming flood, a warning that God will not tolerate man’s sin forever and not a statement about the longevity of man’s life.