The pattern, and its exceptions. Seven of the nine fathers in Genesis 5 are exactly one hundred years older in the Greek, and the two that are not break the pattern in opposite directions. The table below sets all nine side by side as the two texts print them.
| Father | Hebrew (ASV) | Greek (Brenton) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam | 130 | 230 | +100 |
| Seth | 105 | 205 | +100 |
| Enosh | 90 | 190 | +100 |
| Kenan | 70 | 170 | +100 |
| Mahalalel | 65 | 165 | +100 |
| Jared | 162 | 162 | identical |
| Enoch | 65 | 165 | +100 |
| Methuselah | 187 | 167 | −20 |
| Lamech | 182 | 188 | +6 |
⭐ A 1915 encyclopedia describes the same shape, from its own study of the manuscripts. ISBE states that "Divergence exists in the case of Jared, Methuselah and Lamech only" (ISBE article: Antediluvian Patriarchs), the three rows in the table above that do not simply gain a century. It also records the majority judgement that the differences were deliberate rather than accidental: "It is agreed by all that the divergences between the texts are mainly due, not to accidental corruption, but to systematic alteration."
⭐
And it explains the Methuselah row specifically. On the Greek numbers Methuselah would still be alive after the Flood. ISBE records what happened next: "readers of the Septuagint noticed that according to its data Methuselah survived the flood, and in order to avoid this incongruity a scribe changed the 167 years, ascribed to his age at the birth of his son, to 187 years. This reading was early in existence, and was followed by Josephus." ⚠️ That is ISBE's account of the history, not a demonstration; what is directly checkable is that Brenton prints 167, "And Mathusala lived an hundred and sixty and seven years, and begot Lamech." (Genesis 5:25, Brenton), where the Hebrew prints 187: "And Methuselah lived a hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:" (Genesis 5:25, ASV).
⚖️ Which text is closer to the original is argued, and ISBE names the arguers on each side. For the Hebrew: Keil and Delitzsch, Preuss, Nöldeke and Eduard König. For the Samaritan numbers in Genesis 5 but the Hebrew in Genesis 11: Bertheau and Dillmann. For the Septuagint: Klostermann. ⚠️ ISBE's own lean is disclosed rather than adopted: it writes that "The general superiority of the Hebrew text of the Pentateuch as a whole to the Samaritan text and the Septuagint is no longer questioned by Biblical scholars", while allowing that "whether the superiority obtains in this particular passage has given rise to long and earnest discussion." That first clause is ISBE's sentence, written in 1915, and is reported here as its position, not as a settled fact.
Sources: Genesis 5:3-31 (ASV and Brenton); Genesis 5:25 (ASV and Brenton); ISBE 1915, article Antediluvian Patriarchs.
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