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See this Yalkut Reuvein at the fourth and fifth line, that brings a Pshat that Mesushelach dies 14 years after the flood. As far as I am aware this cannot be resolved with the timeline that exists in the Torah, if the years he spent in Gan Eden would be counted towards his age. The Yalkut must not be counting those years into his life.

However, in this article which sources Christian and other non Jewish sources, there exists other timelines that are different from our text in the Torah, and which would support the fact that he dies 14 years after the Mabul.

Can anyone source anything from a Jewish contemporary to support a theory that Mesushelach lived longer than 969?

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  • For the (e.g.) Septuagint, It's not so much as that Methuselah lived longer than 969, it's that he had kids at a younger age (167 vs 187). Since the flood still happens when Noah was 600, the math ends up with Methuselah apparently living through it. (You get 14 years because the numbers for Lemech are also different).
    – Nic
    Commented Nov 4, 2019 at 14:50
  • I thought he died during the flood.
    – Jonathan
    Commented Nov 4, 2019 at 16:09
  • Rashi quotes the midrash that he died 7 days before the flood. This explains the כִּי֩ לְיָמִ֨ים ע֜וֹד שִׁבְעָ֗ה אָֽנֹכִי֙ מַמְטִ֣יר עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ. Seven days for mourning.
    – Nic
    Commented Nov 4, 2019 at 16:22

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This is technically an answer (it's a contemporary source), but...

The Yalkut Reuven here is quoting directly from שלשלת הקבלה. The original source can be found here (bottom third of the page). The problem is that the if you look at the beginning of the paragraph, it's prefaced with the follow disclaimer:

"האומות אומרים"

That is, שלשלת הקבלה is bringing myth/stories from "external sources", and if you read further, it looks like just a collection of weird things he's heard from various sources.

Example:

"בגלילות סיטיאה יש אנשים שאין להם אלא עין אחת במצח"

Note also that the general reputation of שלשלת הקבלה is problematic.

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