Tehillim 145 — the name Methuselah ben Enoch in Tehillim

Methuselah ben Enoch in Tehillim

Tehillim 145:9 טוֹב-יי לַכֹּל; וְרַחֲמָיו, עַל-כָּל-מַעֲשָׂיו - “Tov Ad-nai lakol, verachamav al kol maasav” — (The L-rd is good to all, and His mercies extend over all His creations.) Methuselah — מְתֿוּשֶלַח — translates as “man of the spear” or “his death will bring judgment.” Methuselah was the son of Enoch, of whom it is said: “And Enoch walked with G-d, and he was no more, for G-d took him” (He took him alive, and he did not taste death). (Genesis 5:24). He was also Noah’s grandfather. Methuselah died on the 11th of Cheshvan, seven days before the beginning of the Great Flood. Methuselah lived 969 years (Adam lived 930). He lived longer than anyone else on earth—969 of the 1,000 years allotted to him, a difference of 31 years. 31—the gematria of G-d’s name in Keter (אל — El)—teaches us that our connection with Hashem prolongs our lives. There is only one verse in Tanakh whose gematria is 969, namely, the following verse in Tehillim: “Tov Ad-nai lakol, verachamav al kol maasav” — (The L-rd is good to all, and His mercies extend over all His creations.) (Tehillim 145:9) The gematria of the first letter of the first word — ט — and the first letter of the last word — מ — which together constitute the energy of the verse is 49. 49 represents duality: the 49 gates of wisdom versus the 49 levels of impurity. Similarly, Akrav/Cheshvan represents the duality of the cold of the Flood and the potential essence of the 72-letter Name of G-d. If we remove Kar קר (cold) from the word Akrav — עקרב (scorpion—the sign of the month of Cheshvan), the letters עב—(Ayin/Bet)—of the 72-letter Name of Hashem are joined together. (based on a lesson by Rabbi Avraham Sutton)