The Septuagint ages in Genesis 5 are wrong

The Septuagint ages in Genesis 5 are wrong.

If the Septuagint is so much better than the Hebrew MT text, why don’t modern versions follow it?

Genesis chapter 5 

How old was Adam when Seth was born?

The KJV says that Adam was 130 years old. 

Genesis 5: 3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

The septuagint has Adam at 230 years old. 

Genesis 5:3 And Adam lived two hundred and thirty years, and begot a son after his own form, and after his own image, and he called his name Seth. Brenton’s septuagint 

Well, if the Septuagint is the Bible that Jesus used, why would almost all modern versions follow the MT here and not the Septuagint 

130 is the reading of the NIV, ESV, NASB, ASV, ERV and Young’s literal to name just a few. 

The discrepancy between ages in Genesis 5 is not just limited to Adam

The KJV has Seth as being 105 years old when Enos was born

Genesis 5: 6And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: KJV

However, the Septuagint has Seth’s age as being 205 

Genesis 5:6 Now Seth lived two hundred and five years, and begot Enos.Septuagint

All major Bible versions follow the MT text here and not the Septuagint and also have 105 years. 

This continues 

The KJV and all major versions have Enos being 90 years old at the birth of Cainan 90 while the Septuagint has Enos at 190 years old. 

Genesis 5: 9And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan: KJV

Genesis 5:9 And Enos lived an hundred and ninety years, and begot Cainan. Septuagint

There is a 100 year discrepancy between the age of Cainan (MT) 70 and the Septuagint 170

Genesis 5:12 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel: KJV

Genesis 5: 12 And Cainan lived an hundred and seventy years, and he begot Maleleel. Septuagint 

also for Mahalaleel (MT) 65, Septuagint 165. 

Genesis 5:15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:KJV
Genesis 5: 15 And Maleleel lived an hundred and sixty and five years, and he begot Jared. Septuagint 

The ages agree for Jared at 162, 

Genesis 5:18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:KJV
Genesis 5: 18 And Jared lived an hundred and sixty and two years, and begot Enoch: Septuant 

but then the 100 year difference appears with Enoch (MT). 65, Septuagint 165. 

Genesis 5:21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: KJV

Genesis 5:21 And Enoch lived an hundred and sixty and five years, and begat Mathusala. Septuagint 

When it comes to Methuselah there is a 20 year difference but this time the Septuagint has him 20 years younger (167) than the MT text (187). Alexandrinus agrees with the MT text. 

Genesis 5: 25 And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:KJV
Genesis 5: 25 And Mathusala lived an hundred and sixty and seven years, and begot Lamech. Septuagint 

The ages of Lamech when Noah is born are the same with both the KJV (MT) and the Septuagint agreeing on 182 years old. 

Genesis 5:28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son KJV
Genesis 5:28 And Lamech lived a hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: Septuagint 

Again both the MT and the Septuagint agree that Noah was 500 years old and then he begat his 3 sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. 

Genesis 5: 32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. KJV

Genesis 5: 32 And Noe was five hundred years old, and he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth. Septuagint 

Josephus has 230 agreeing with the Septuagint. 
We do not have any DSS that contain the full ages in this chapter. However, we do have 1 DSS manuscript that contains 1 verse from chapter 5. The manuscript is 4Q2 Genesis^b 

It dates to the early -mid 1st Century AD.

13 Kenan lived after he became the father of Mahalalel eight hundred forty years, and became the father of other sons and daughters.

This agrees with the Masoretic text which reads 840 years. The Septuagint in this verse reads 740. 

Genesis 5:13 And Cainan lived after his begetting Maleleel, seven hundred and forty years, and he begot sons and daughters.

It should be noted that neither of the 2 “heavyweight” manuscripts of the Septuagint, namely Codicies Vaticanus or Sinaiticus are extant here and so do not provide us with any evidence for either reading. The Septuagint ages are found in Codex Alexandrinus.  

This then shows that the DSS manuscript, a Hebrew manuscript that dates to around a thousand years before our earliest MT manuscript and any Septuagint manuscript reads, in this verse anyway, just as the MT does and thus preserves a proto Masoretic reading. 

Interestingly this manuscript does not include the words “Let us go into the field,”  in Genesis 4;:8 found in the Septuagint but not found in the Masoretic text. 
https://dssenglishbible.com/scroll4Q2.htm

The Latin Vulgate also reads as the MT in this verse 

Genesis 5:et vixit Cainan postquam genuit Malalehel octingentos quadraginta annos genuitque filios et filias

And Cainan lived after he begot Malaleel, eight hundred forty years, and begot sons and daughters.

The Vulgate also supports the MT in the other ages also. 

The Samaritan Penteteuch starts off with the same ages as the MT but then from verse 18 diverges but also does not support the ages of the Septuagint. This shows there was clear corruption at this point of the text, either deliberate or accidental. 

It should be noted that with the Septuagint ages it would mean that Methuselah would have survived the flood by 14 years. The Bible tells us that only 8 people survived on the Ark, Methuselah was not one. 

• In the Masoretic Text:

  • Methuselah lived 969 years (Gen 5:27).

  • He died in the same year as the Flood (Noah’s 600th).

• In the Septuagint:

  • Methuselah lives to 969 years, but because of the higher begetting ages, his death falls 14 years after the Flood.

  • That creates a theological/chronological problem: Methuselah would have had to survive the Flood outside the Ark, which contradicts Genesis 7.

Either the Septuagint ages are wrong, the Bible text regarding who survived the flood is wrong, there is a contradiction, which the Masoretic text sought to correct, or the Masoretic text preserves the correct reading of the ages. 

Josephus Mostly agrees with the ages of the Septuagint but differs in some important ways. 
He agrees with the MT on the Age of Methuselah when he begat Lamech (187), he also agrees that Lamech was 777 when he died and that he was 182 when he begat Noah. 
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-1.html
Antiquities of the Jews book 1 chapter 3:3-4

So again I have to ask, if the Septuagint is the translation of the Hebrew into Greek and is what Jesus himself used, why have modern versions sided with the MT here over the Septuagint texts?  


With my studies of other biblical passages, where the MT and the Septuagint disagree, it is my conclusion that the MT preserves the correct ages and the Septuagint, as is so often the case, is incorrect. The Hebrew Text has been vindicated many times. 

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