515. Verses 19-20 And Jared lived after he beget Enoch eight hundred years; and he beget sons and daughters. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.

These words also are similar in meaning to those that have been dealt with already. The fact that these characters' ages were not actually that great - for example, Jared's being nine hundred and sixty-two years, and Methuselah's being nine hundred and sixty-nine - must be clear to everyone. It will also become clear from what will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated at verse 3 of the next chapter, where it is said, 'Their days will be one hundred and twenty years'. Consequently a specific number of years does not mean the life-span of some person or other but periods of time and states of the Church.