The Amazingly long lifespan of Enos of the Book of Mormon
by a scholarly Church member
Enos, the son of Jacob, writes “an hundred and seventy and nine years had passed away from the time that our father Lehi left Jerusalem” (Enos 1:25). This timespan, 179 years, is a very long span to cover in just slightly over 2 generations, also overlapping enough so that Jacob could raise Enos. Let’s explore hypothetically how this could be:
We know that Jacob and Joseph were both born in the wilderness, before they sailed to America. They were in the wilderness about 10 years before they finished the boat and sailed to the promised land, so if Jacob was born in 592 BC at the latest, that would leave room for Joseph to be born in 590 BC and grow a bit before they set sail.
- 600 BC Lehi and family depart Jerusalem into the wilderness (1 Nephi 2:4)
- 592 BC? Jacob born (1 Nephi 18:7)
- 590 BC? Joseph born (1 Ne 18:7)
- 591 BC? Lehi and extended group depart by sea to the promised land (1 Ne 18:8)
- 517 BC? Enos, son of Jacob born (Jacob’s age about 75?)
- 495 BC? Jacob dies, age 97? (Enos’ age about 22? Jacob 7:27)
- 420 BC Enos dies, about age 97? (Enos 1:27)
Note: The years above in bold are specifically given in the Book of Mormon; the other years followed by question marks are my conjectures.
I pushed the age of Jacob at the birth of Enos to a very advanced age at which a man could still father a child, say 75 years old. In verse 3of Enos chapter 1 in the Book of Mormon, Enos says “the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart”, so (1) he would have to have been old enough to both understand and (2) Jacob had to have lived long enough so Enos could hear the words of his father “often”. So, at a minimum, I estimate Enos must have been about 22 when Jacob died (at age 97?).
Now, Enos also must have lived to be about 97 (it must have been in their genes), in able to be able to write: “an hundred and seventy and nine years had passed away from the time that our father Lehi left Jerusalem”.
Click here to return to the scholar index
Click here to return to the Scriptural Jokes and Adages Menu page
Click here to return to the Personal section index
Click here to return to the Main Menu page