The report of Arpachshad: it should be noted that, beginning with Arpachshad, the fathers’ ages at the time of the birth of their son drops to what we would consider today as normal compared with those in chapter 5. Also the reported years of life are much less.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .