Biblical lifespans: Retirement and then some

Methuselah
Canterbury Cathedral

If social security had been around in biblical times, it would have gone bankrupt long ago.  For some lucky patriarchs, human life was the gift that kept on giving.

Sometimes dubbed "Antediluvian" (having lived before the Noah's Ark flood), these elders allegedly earned the following number of candles for their final birthday cakes: Enoch (365), Lamech (777), Mahalalel (895), Enos (905), Kenan (910), Seth (912), Adam (930), Noah (950), Jared (962) and Methuselah (969).  As math would have it, that's thousands of years of virtue, wisdom, and slipped disks.

If you're wondering why Enoch "only" lived to be 365, rest assured that his fate was even better than that of his com-patriarchs.  It is said that Enoch never actually died; he was instead "translated" by God, perhaps into another dimension.  Some even believe that Enoch is alive to this day (move over, Methuselah).

For the rest of us mortals, accelerated aging seems genetically predetermined. Perhaps the Genesis flood, which severely limited the human gene pool, led to hereditary mutations that shortened lifespans... 

Resources

https://www.oldest.org/religion/people-bible/