The term "Antediluvians" refers to the people who lived before the Great Flood, as described in the Book of Genesis. This period, often called the Antediluvian Age, spans from the creation of Adam to the time of Noah, covering the first ten generations of humanity. The primary biblical account of the Antediluvians is found in Genesis chapters 1 through 6.

Genealogy and Lifespans

The genealogy of the Antediluvians is detailed in Genesis 5, which lists the descendants from Adam to Noah. This genealogy is notable for the extraordinarily long lifespans attributed to these early figures. For example, Adam lived 930 years (Genesis 5:5), Methuselah lived 969 years (Genesis 5:27), and Noah was 600 years old at the time of the Flood (Genesis 7:6). These extended lifespans have been the subject of much theological and scholarly discussion, often interpreted as a sign of the unique conditions of the pre-Flood world.

Moral Decline and Divine Judgment

The Antediluvian period is characterized by a progressive moral decline, culminating in widespread wickedness and corruption. Genesis 6:5-6 states, "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart." This pervasive evil prompted God to pronounce judgment upon the earth, deciding to cleanse it through the Flood.

The Nephilim and Sons of God

A mysterious aspect of the Antediluvian world is the presence of the Nephilim, mentioned in Genesis 6:4 : "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown." The identity of the "sons of God" and the nature of the Nephilim have been subjects of various interpretations, ranging from fallen angels to the descendants of Seth intermarrying with the line of Cain.

Noah and the Ark

Amidst the corruption, Noah stands out as a righteous man. Genesis 6:9 describes him as "a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God." God chose Noah to build an ark to preserve his family and pairs of every living creature from the impending deluge. The narrative of Noah's obedience and the construction of the ark is detailed in Genesis 6:13-22.

The Flood

The culmination of the Antediluvian era is the Great Flood, an event of divine judgment that eradicated all life on earth except for those preserved in the ark. Genesis 7:11-12 describes the onset of the Flood: "In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights."

Significance in Biblical Theology

The Antediluvian period serves as a foundational narrative in biblical theology, illustrating themes of human sinfulness, divine judgment, and grace. The account of the Antediluvians underscores the consequences of turning away from God and the hope of redemption through obedience and faith, as exemplified by Noah. This era sets the stage for the post-Flood world and the unfolding of God's redemptive plan through subsequent generations.ANTEDILUVIANS

an-te-di-lu'-vi-ans.

1. Chronology Uncertain:

According to the ordinary interpretation of the genealogical tables in Genesis 5 the lives of the antediluvians were prolonged to an extreme old age, Methuselah attaining that of 969 years. But before accepting these figures as a basis of interpretation it is important to observe that the Hebrew, the Samaritan and the Septuagint texts differ so radically in their sums that probably little confidence can be placed in any of them. The Septuagint adds 100 years to the age of six of the antediluvian patriarchs at the birth of their eldest sons. This, taken with the great uncertainty connected with the transmission of numbers by the Hebrew method of notation, makes it unwise to base important conclusions upon the data accessible. The most probable interpretation of the genealogical table in Genesis 5 is that given by the late Professor William Henry Green, who maintains that it is not Intended to give chronology, and does not give it, but only indicates the line of descent, as where (1 Chronicles 26:24) we read that "Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was ruler over the treasures"; whereas, while Gershom was the immediate son of Moses, Shebuel was separated from Gershom by several generations. According to the interpretation of Professor Green all that we can certainly infer from the statement in Hebrew that Adam was 130 years old when he begat Seth, is that at that age the line branched off which culminated in Seth, it being permitted, according to Hebrew usage, to interpolate as many intermediate generations as other evidence may compel.

2. Meaning of Genealogies:

As in the genealogies of Christ in the Gospels, the object of the tables in Genesis is evidently not to give chronology, but the line of descent. This conclusion is supported by the fact that no use is made afterward of the chronology, whereas the line of descent is repeatedly emphasized. This method of interpretation allows all the elasticity to prehistoric chronology that any archaeologist may require. Some will get further relief from the apparent incredibility of the figures by the Interpretation of Professor A. Winchell, and T. P. Crawford (Winchell, Pre-adamites, 449) that the first number gives the age of actual life of the individual while the second gives that of the ascendancy of his family, the name being that of dynasties, like Caesar or Pharaoh.

3. The Nephilim:

The nephilim (giants) and the mighty men born of "the sons of God" and the "daughters of men" (Genesis 6:4, 5) are according to the best interpretation "giants in wickedness," being the fruit of intermarriage between the descendants of Seth ("sons of God" who called on the name of Yahweh, Genesis 4:26), and the "daughters of men." The idea that "sons of God" refers to angels or demigods has no support in Scripture. On this familiar designation of the worshippers of the true God see Exodus 4:22 Deuteronomy 1:41; Deuteronomy 32, repeatedly; Isaiah 1:2; Isaiah 43:6; Isaiah 45:11 Hosea 1:10; Hosea 11:1. Intermarriage with depraved races such as is here intimated produced the results which were guarded against in the Mosaic law prohibiting marriages with the surrounding idolatrous nations. The word Nephilim in Genesis 6:4 occurs again only in Numbers 13:33 (the King James Version "giants"). But the word is more probably a descriptive term than the name of a race. In the older Greek versions it is translated "violent men."

4. The Ice Age:

The antediluvians are, with great probability, identified by some geologists (Sir William Dawson, e.g.) with glacial or paleolithic man, whose implements and remains are found buried beneath the deposits of glacial floods in northern France, southern England, southern Russia, and in the valleys of the Delaware, Ohio and Missouri rivers in America. The remains of "paleolithic" men reveal only conditions of extreme degradation and savagery, in which violence reigned. The sparse population which was spread over the northern hemisphere during the closing floods of the Glacial period lived in caves of the earth, and contended with a strange variety of gigantic animals which became extinct at the same time with their human contemporaries. See DELUGE OF NOAH.

LITERATURE.

Green, "Primeval Chronology," Bibliotheca Sacra, April, 1890; Dawson, Modern Science in Bible Lands; B. B. Warfield, "On the Antiquity and the Unity of the Human Race," Princeton Theol. Review, January, 1911; Winchell, Pre-adamites; Wright, Ice Age in North America, 5th ed.; Man and the Glacial Period, and Scientific Confirmations of Old Testament History.

George Frederick Wright

Of the Different Computation of the Ages of the Antediluvians ...
... Book XV. Chapter 10."Of the Different Computation of the Ages of the
Antediluvians, Given by the Hebrew Manuscripts and by Our Own. ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 10 of the different computation.htm

Of the Long Life and Greater Stature of the Antediluvians.
... Book XV. Chapter 9."Of the Long Life and Greater Stature of the Antediluvians.
Wherefore no one who considerately weighs facts ...
//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/city of god/chapter 9 of the long life.htm

Safe in the Ark.
... As long as he was outside of the ark he was exposed to the wrath of God
just like the rest of those antediluvians. If he stayed ...
/.../moody/moodys anecdotes and illustrations/safe in the ark.htm

Journey to Jerusalem. Ten Lepers. Concerning the Kingdom.
... The antediluvians and the citizens of Sodom discharged the business of the day and
laid their plans for to-morrow and had no thought of evil or anticipation of ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/xcv journey to jerusalem ten.htm

"Come Thou and all Thy House into the Ark. "
... their sins. How the Message was Received. For one hundred and twenty years
God strove with those antediluvians. He never smites ...
//christianbookshelf.org/moody/the overcoming life/come thou and all thy.htm

Chapter v
... no means of knowing who was the one that penned the document, we are hardly safe
in following Whitelaw, when he ascribes the writing to antediluvians and so ...
//christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter v.htm

General Index.
... Annihilation, 318. Antediluvians, warnings unheeded by, 337, 338. Antichrist,
recognized by Wycliffe, 86; by Luther, 139, 141, 205. ...
/.../white/the great controversy between christ and satan /general index.htm

The Redeemer's Return is Necessitated by the Lamentation of all ...
... The punishment which was meted out to the antediluvians was not limited to the human
family, it fell upon the lower orders of creation as well"all were swept ...
/.../pink/the redeemers return/viii the redeemers return is.htm

Letter Lii. To Nepotian.
... I say nothing of the antediluvians, who, although after nine hundred years their
limbs must have been not old merely, but decayed with age, had no recourse to ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/letter lii to nepotian.htm

Whether, in Computing Years, we Ought to Follow the Hebrew or the ...
... the years which were wanting are added, it is obvious that the copyist who contrived
this arrangement designed to insinuate that the antediluvians lived an ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 13 whether in computing years.htm

Antediluvians
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia ANTEDILUVIANS. an-te-di-lu'-vi-ans. 1.
Chronology Uncertain: According to the ordinary interpretation ...
/a/antediluvians.htm - 11k

Antelope (2 Occurrences)

/a/antelope.htm - 11k

Nephilim (2 Occurrences)
... in the Revised Version (British and American), is found in two passages of the Old
Testament-one in Genesis 6:4, relating to the antediluvians; the other in ...
/n/nephilim.htm - 8k

Food (2953 Occurrences)
... the exception mentioned (2:17). The use of animal food was probably not
unknown to the antediluvians. There is, however, a distinct ...
/f/food.htm - 36k

Patriarch (2 Occurrences)
... articles. See ANTEDILUVIAN PATRIARCHS; ANTEDILUVIANS (GENEALOGY). James
Orr. Multi-Version Concordance Patriarch (2 Occurrences). ...
/p/patriarch.htm - 10k

Prison (131 Occurrences)
... of Scripture, while Peter appears to be speaking to his readers of something with
which they are familiar; it seems strange that these antediluvians should be ...
/p/prison.htm - 52k

Spirits (129 Occurrences)
... of Scripture, while Peter appears to be speaking to his readers of something with
which they are familiar; it seems strange that these antediluvians should be ...
/s/spirits.htm - 42k

Giants (18 Occurrences)
... See also ANTEDILUVIANS. James Orr. GIANTS, VALLEY OF THE. See REPHAIM, VALLEY OF.
VALLEY OF GIANTS. See REPHAIM, VALE OF. Multi-Version Concordance ...
/g/giants.htm - 19k

Life (6001 Occurrences)
... possible (Psalm 91:16). The longevity of the ante-diluvian patriarchs
is a problem by itself (see ANTEDILUVIANS). It was one of ...
/l/life.htm - 51k

Eden (19 Occurrences)
... involve the existence of "Tertiary man," and thus extend his chronology to an
incredible extent, even though with Professor Green (see ANTEDILUVIANS) we are ...
/e/eden.htm - 28k

How was the flood in the time of Noah just? | GotQuestions.org

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus