So you want to know more about Methuselah, do you?

Last night I was involved in a heated discussion involving the word, "Methuselah". I repeatedly claimed that Methuselah meant giant monster, not unlike Leviathan. My adversary in turn kept changing the subject, trying to tell me what Leviathan means, even though I already knew (a biblical sea monster (often considered a big crocodile) and is commonly used as a synonym for large creature). Eventually I stopped arguing because I was too lazy to look it up and because my adversary clearly didn't care one way or another.

Well, adversary, and thatsplenty readers, I'll tell you anyway. I was pretty much right, but also sort of wrong. Methuselah is, like Leviathan, originally biblical. It is the name of the 969-year old guy. According to the Book of Genesis 5:27: "And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died." The word today can be used to refer a very old person, "I feel older than methuselah today. damn."

Methuselah is also the name of a 4700 year old tree in California. It used to be the oldest living thing in the world. Until they discovered a creosote bush was discovered that is thought to be 12,000 years old. But it doesn't even have a name, so it's probably a lie.