Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu. Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of more sons and daughters.”
(Genesis 11:18-19)

Peleg was 191 years old when Abraham was born. Peleg, named because of the dividing in the Earth – which most scholars believe is the confusion of languages at Babel (1 Chronicles 1:19). Who else was alive when Peleg walked the Earth? Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. In fact, Peleg died ten years before Noah.

Peleg’s death is a big deal. He was the first human to die of natural causes under the age of 300. His own father outlived him. His father died at 464 years old. It is only after Peleg that we start to see the ages of humanity get shorter than 400. Peleg’s son died the same age as Peleg. Because of this, some sages believe the division of the Earth wasn’t languages or a physical earthquake that changed the landscape, but a spiritual breaking that changed the length of people’s lives.

The sage Ibn Ezra writes: ‘It is possible that Peleg was given this name on the day of his death, the reason for this being as follows: Shem lived for five hundred years following the flood, Arpachshad lived for four hundred and thirty-eight years, his son Shelah lived four hundred and thirty-three years, and his son Eber four hundred and sixty-four years. Now Peleg lived two hundred and thirty-nine years. Thus Peleg’s life span was half that of his ancestors. Reu, the son of Peleg, similarly lived to the same age as Peleg. Reu’s son Serug also lived about the same number of years as Peleg and Reu. This, then, is the general rule: no one after Peleg, aside from his son, ever lived to be two hundred and thirty-nine years.’