The Bible's Golden Oldies

Helen Bond (0:20)

My name is Helen Bond, and I am Professor of Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh.

And as always, I am joined by my bestie, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, who is Professor in Ancient History at the University of Cardiff.

Now Lloyd, are you feeling your age today?

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (0:39)

Oh, Helen, I'm always feeling my age these days.

Helen Bond (0:43)

Thirty, of course.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (0:45)

Thirty, yes, thirty inwardly, but definitely quickly approaching sixty on the outside.

Helen Bond (0:51)

It's like looking into the mirror, isn't it?

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (0:54)

Do you make noises when you get up out of chair?

Helen Bond (0:56)

Oh, definitely.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (0:57)

Constantly.

Helen Bond (0:58)

Constantly.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (1:00)

We're asking this, of course, because we've just passed on the 1st of October, International Day of Older Persons, which is recognized by the UN General Assembly. And I think it's a really interesting thing to commemorate, in a way, to celebrate, but also really to think about, because we're going to be there soon.

Helen Bond (1:23)

And if not already. And I mean, there are more and more older people on the earth.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (1:30)

The statistics are really incredible. So it says from their latest bulletin that in 2019, there were 703 million people aged 65 plus. And by 2050, the number is projected to exceed 1.5 billion.

And that has to be a first in world history, right? Because in the period that we're talking about, I mean, we got nowhere close to even 703 million people living to be 65

Helen Bond (2:02)

Yeah.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (2:03)

I mean, it's astounding really, isn't it? When you think of that demographic.

Helen Bond (2:07)

That's right. I mean, average age in the first century is around about mid-20s. And I know that's skewed because so many people died in infancy. But really, you would be very unlikely to make it. There's a few in their 50s, but not many in their 60s and beyond.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (2:23)

Exactly. I think your life expectancy was okay if you managed to survive those pesky childhood years.

Helen Bond (2:30)

Exactly. If you made it to adulthood.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (2:32)

Yeah. Then you're okay, I think. You were kind of in with a chance. But yeah, I mean, the statistics from what we know. I know you've been looking at Egyptian material, haven't you? Roman Egypt, censuses and all that kind of stuff.

They're pretty stark, aren't they?

Helen Bond (2:47)

They are. I mean, when you look at the amount of children who die, half of children don't make it to puberty. And I mean, just thinking, what must that have been like for parents?

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (3:00)

I know. That's one of two things, isn't it? Either they feel it as intensely as any parent today would, or it's more a matter of fact kind of thing.

And with such constant deaths within a family, do you really even embrace the idea of childhood?

Helen Bond (3:18)

You try not to bond so much. Yeah. I think they must have felt it just as keenly as today.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (3:24)

Yeah, I think so too.

Helen Bond (3:25)

It must have been. I mean, they were tough times, as we said before, to people who go on our time machine. So anyway, we thought this would be a good chance, didn't we, to have a look at oldies in the Bible.

Of course, Methuselah is the one that everybody knows, who lived on this earth 969 years. But there were some others who made it to a good long time. I mean, in the Hebrew Bible, Lloyd, telling you people's ages and telling you that they're old people, it's not just a matter of biology, is it?

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (3:59)

No, no, it's not just a matter of survival at all. It's a matter of, well, first of all, the good fortune of God. God is on your side and has chosen you for a long life because there's usually a mission that's attached to it. But also, it comes with this kind of, it's almost like a tangible reward for doing God's work as well.

With old age also comes this kind of kudos, this idea that somebody is wise and blessed, and therefore kind of needs to be treated in a very different way. So those individuals, male and female, who make it to advanced old age in the Hebrew Bible, always have this sense of kind of moral probity and uprightness about them.

Helen Bond (4:50)

Standing.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (4:51)

Yeah, yeah. Something to be admired, something to be emulated, I suppose.

Moses is a really good example of that. Allegedly, 120 when he dies, and a man who walked with God, a man who looked at God's face, and so forth. He's the ultimate payoff. Although, of course, not even Moses gets his full reward in the end. I mean, he never steps a foot in the promised land, does he? So there's always a caveat.