Adam did not live to be 1,000.
He could not have.
He died in the prime of his youth at 930 years old.
Why could he not possibly have lived to be 1,000 or older? Simple.
“On the day you eat of the tree you will surely die,” God had said. And, “With the Lord… a thousand years is as a day.”
Thus, he had to die before reaching 1,000 years, which would be the end of the day on which Adam ate the fruit in the heavenly reckoning.
Q.E.D.
The source of this delightful reflection on the life and death of Adam is Jubilees 4.
I learn so many things from your blog.
It’s the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t it?
Or “in the day” could be an idiomatic way of saying “when you eat of it…”
Let’s not take all the fun out of it!
Sorry.
Impeccable logic!
I prefer the literal reading, Adam returned to the dust that 24 hour day, after a bit of sweat and hard labor- at least until it got dark. The rest of his story is an account of what might have been, inviting us to think a little bit, especially about the consequences of eating that silly fruit.
Interesting. What is Jubilees 4?
Jubilees is an early Jewish text:
http://wesley.nnu.edu/sermons-essays-books/noncanonical-literature/the-book-of-jubilees/
Chapter 4.
Jubilees 4:30 ‘And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge: ‘On the day that ye eat thereof ye shall die.’ For this reason he did not complete the years of this day; for he died during it.’
The idea, which is also found in 2 Peter 2:8, derives ultimately from Psalm 90:4 ‘For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night.’
October 23, 4004 BC.
9am according to William Ussher; I don’t think he ever said whether he meant GMT or what. Of course, lots of other people tried the same calculation, and they all came up with different answers.