Genesis 5: The Book of the Generations of Adam

This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness. Male and female He created them, and He blessed them. And in the day they were created, He called them “man.” (BSB)

Says “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness” (5:1, BSB). The Hebrew is זֶה סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדֹת אָדָם. The first אָדָם is tagged as the personal name; in “In the day that God created man” and in the name given in 5:2, it is the common noun. The BSB footnote at 5:2 gives Hebrew Adam. Where the personal name begins is set out in the notes on Genesis 2. Swete has Αὕτη ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως ἀνθρώπων, this is the book of the origin of men, and in 5:2 τὸ ὄνομα αὐτῶν Ἀδάμ, the name. That wording is a textual fact about the Greek, not a lean on what the Hebrew heading means. See the Hebrew note.

Implies 5:1–2 take up 1:26–28: likeness, “male and female,” and the blessing. Matthew 19:4 and Mark 10:6 cite the words male and female. The image given at creation is recalled as the line begins. See the notes on Genesis 1 and the Hebrew note here.

Uncertain What סֵפֶר, book, means here is open, and no lean is taken. (1) A written list of the line, taken up into Genesis; ground: the noun usually means a written document. (2) A heading naming the account that follows, as the formula does elsewhere; Calvin takes book for a catalog. Objection: the word is still a noun for a document. The persons of the chapter are treated in the note on persons and history.

The heading uses the same תּוֹלְדֹת formula as 2:4, here joined to a book and to a day of God's making. That verbal link is set out in the Hebrew note and in the Genesis 2 note on the boundary of the formula, and is not used here to reopen a source-critical question. The blessing of 5:2 is the blessing of 1:28, under which the line that follows will increase. The likeness of 5:1 is the likeness of 1:26–27, taken up again when Adam fathers Seth in 5:3. What is reused is stated lexically here; the image itself is treated in the notes on Genesis 1, and is not re-argued.

For the source question, see the historical note on the names shared by the lines of Cain and Seth; it is not re-argued here.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Gen.5.1-Gen.5.32.persons-and-history

When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son in his own likeness, after his own image; and he named him Seth. And after he had become the father of Seth, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. So Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died. When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of Enosh. And after he had become the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. So Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died. When Enosh was 90 years old, he became the father of Kenan. And after he had become the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. So Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died. When Kenan was 70 years old, he became the father of Mahalalel. And after he had become the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. So Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died. When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he became the father of Jared. And after he had become the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. So Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died. When Jared was 162 years old, he became the father of Enoch. And after he had become the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. So Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died. (BSB)

Says “When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son in his own likeness, after his own image; and he named him Seth” (5:3, BSB). The Hebrew is וַיּוֹלֶד בִּדְמוּתוֹ כְּצַלְמוֹ, he fathered in his likeness, as his image: the two nouns of 1:26, with the prepositions exchanged. The verb has no object noun; the BSB's he had a son gives the sense. Here Adam names him Seth; in 4:25 Eve names him. Then he fathered sons and daughters, and 5:5 closes with וַיָּמֹת, “and then he died” (5:5, BSB), the first of eight such closings in the chapter. “Death reigned from Adam until Moses” (Rom 5:14, BSB). See the Hebrew note, and the Genesis 4 note on Seth.

Uncertain What likeness is passed to Seth is open, and no lean is taken here. (1) The image of God of 5:1, carried on in Adam's line; ground: 5:1 and 5:3 set the same nouns side by side. Objection: 5:3 says his likeness, not God's. (2) Adam's own likeness after Genesis 3, so that the line shares his state as well as his nature; ground: his, after the sentence of death in 3:19. Objection: the verse does not mention the fall. (3) The ordinary likeness of son to father; ground: the plain sense of begetting. Objection: the choice of the nouns of 1:26. The views can be combined.

Says Each later entry runs as Seth's: he lived, he fathered, and after he fathered he lived further and had sons and daughters; all his days are given, and “and then he died.” Most numbers put the smaller part first; 5:5 has the hundreds first. The Masoretic Text marks a break after each completed entry. An open mark stands after 5:20. 1 Chronicles 1:1–4 lists the same names, without the ages. See the Hebrew note on the formula.

Implies The repeated formula sets every life in one frame, and “and then he died” closes each entry but Enoch's.

Says The printed ages are the Masoretic Text, which the BSB follows. The Samaritan and Greek figures stand beside them as textual facts; the full table is in the textual note, and is not repeated here. For Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel and Enoch, the Greek has a hundred more years before the fathering and a hundred fewer after, with the same total, and the Samaritan has the Masoretic figures. For Jared and Methuselah the Greek agrees with the Masoretic Text. For Jared, Methuselah and Lamech the Samaritan has lower ages at fathering and lower totals: Jared 62/785/847, Methuselah 67/653/720, and Lamech 53/600/653. For Lamech the Greek has 188/565/753 against the Masoretic 182/595/777. At 5:25 Swete prints ἑκατὸν καὶ ὀγδοήκοντα ἑπτὰ, 187, with the Hebrew; the apparatus lists the letters of eighty over an erasure in Alexandrinus, where the first hand apparently began the word for sixty. See the textual note and the Greek note.

Uncertain Which set of figures is earlier, and whether either was adjusted, is open; no lean is taken among the traditions. Keil adds the Masoretic begetting ages and the hundred years from Shem to the flood and arrives at 1,656 years from creation to the flood. Augustine notes that some Septuagint copies add a hundred years before most births and subtract them after, and that in those copies Methuselah outlives the flood by fourteen years; he prefers the Hebrew where they differ. Those are consequences of the numbers, not a lean on which chronology is right. See the historical note on early readings of the genealogy.

Says The text itself states these years as ages at fathering, remaining years, and totals.

Uncertain How the long lifespans are to be read is open, and no lean is taken here. (1) The years are literal chronological data; ground: they are given as ages at fathering and after, like those of 11:10–13, and the formula is the same throughout. Skinner holds that the statements “are meant to be understood literally,” and that “the author had in his view actual individuals.” Keil treats the Hebrew numbers as historical data for the first period of the world's history. Calvin reads the chapter as reciting the length of time from the creation of the world to the deluge. Objection: some totals look patterned. (2) The numbers are symbolic or schematic, or otherwise not literal; ground: Enoch's total is 365, and Lamech's is 777. Objection: most of the figures show no such pattern, and the formula reads as age and years lived. (3) The list may be compared with ancient lists of long-lived kings before a flood, without a claim of literary dependence; the likeness lies in a line of ten and in very long spans of years. Objection: Genesis 5 tells of fathers who beget sons and die, not of kings who reign, and likeness of form does not fix meaning. The Babylonian lists are treated in the historical note; no dependence is claimed, and that background does not fix the meaning of Genesis 5.

Uncertain Whether the line is closed, father to son, so that the numbers can be added, or open, with possible gaps, is also open, and no lean is taken. Ground for a closed line: the ages at fathering read as continuous. Ground for an open line: Luke 3:36 has Cainan between Arphaxad and Shelah, from the Greek of Genesis 11; the Hebrew of 11:12 has none, and Swete's Genesis 5 has no second Cainan (Καινάν at 5:9–14 is Kenan son of Enosh). Matthew's genealogy is sometimes read as omitting names; that is a fact about Matthew, raised here only as it bears on tightness or openness in Genesis 5. Skinner holds that attempts to explain the list by supposing many links omitted are not admitted by the terms of the text. The question remains open.

The like names in Cain's line — Kenan and Cain, Methuselah and Methushael, and Enoch and Lamech in both — are treated in the historical note and in the Genesis 4 notes. No lean is taken among two distinct lines, two forms of one list, and a deliberate contrast. The source question is not re-argued here.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Gen.5.1-Gen.5.32.ages-and-chronology

When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he had become the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. So Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God had taken him away. (BSB)

Says “When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he had become the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. So Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God had taken him away” (5:21–24, BSB). The Hebrew of 5:22 and 5:24 is וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ חֲנוֹךְ אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים, a Hithpael with אֶת, with. In place of “and then he died,” 5:24 has וְאֵינֶנּוּ כִּי־לָקַח אֹתוֹ אֱלֹהִים, and he was not, for God took him. The BSB's he was no more is one English choice. Swete has εὐηρέστησεν δὲ Ἑνὼχ τῷ θεῷ, Enoch pleased God, and καὶ οὐχ ηὑρίσκετο, διότι μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεός, and he was not found, because God removed him. The remaining years in Swete are 200, not 300; the total is 365, as in the Hebrew, and there is no καὶ ἀπέθανεν, and he died. See the Hebrew note and the Greek note.

Says Hebrews 11:5 reads the taking as the New Testament states it: “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death” (Heb 11:5, BSB). “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” “For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God” (Heb 11:5, BSB). The clause “He could not be found, because God had taken him away” agrees in form with Swete 5:24. Jude names him “Enoch, the seventh from Adam” (Jude 14, BSB), as he stands in this list, and quotes words that also stand in 1 Enoch: the Lord comes with his holy ones to judge and to convict the ungodly. That quotation is a fact of reception; 1 Enoch is not treated here as an authority, and Jude's use is not taken to settle the standing of that book.

The Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan says that Hanok “was not with the sojourners of the earth; for he was withdrawn, and he ascended to the firmament by the Word before the Lord, and his name was called Metatron the Great Saphra.” Josephus says they have not written down his death. Ben Sira and Jubilees, and Augustine on writings under Enoch's name, are treated in the historical note. These are their views; they do not fix the meaning of 5:21–24.

Uncertain Whether “walked with God” speaks chiefly of fellowship or of conduct, as “walk before me” in 17:1, with a different preposition, is open; the two are not exclusive. No lean is taken here. How and where Enoch was taken, beyond what 5:24 and Hebrews 11:5 say, is also open: the text gives no further account, and no lean is taken on the manner of the taking. Whether Jude drew on the book or a shared tradition is likewise open. The entry still gives other sons and daughters, and a total of 365 years, but it does not close with “and then he died.” That exception is part of what the text says, and it is already in view when Hebrews 11:5 says that he did not see death. The years 365 and the place of Enoch as seventh in the list have been noticed as possible patterns; they are grounds sometimes offered for a schematic reading of the lifespans, treated in the note on ages and chronology, and they do not settle the manner of the taking.

“Noah walked with God” (6:9) is taken up with Genesis 6; the walk of 5:22 and 5:24 points forward to it.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Gen.5.21-Gen.5.24.enoch

Minor variants

The printed text of this chapter is the Masoretic Text throughout. The ages are set out in the note on ages and chronology and in the textual note; they are not repeated here. Other Greek differences, named in the textual note, include ἀνθρώπων, of men, at 5:1, and the name Ἀδάμ at 5:2; κατὰ τὴν εἰδέαν αὐτοῦ καὶ κατὰ τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ at 5:3; εὐηρέστησεν τῷ θεῷ at 5:22 and 5:24; οὐχ ηὑρίσκετο … μετέθηκεν at 5:24; διαναπαύσει ἡμᾶς at 5:29, with Κύριος ὁ θεός for the Lord; and τρεῖς υἱούς at 5:32, which Swete numbers as the first sentence of 6:1. Whether these reflect other Hebrew or the translator is not settled, and no lean is taken on how the Greek readings arose. The apparatus also lists, in plain words, a corrected word over an erasure at 5:2, another order of the numerals in some manuscripts, the spelling Ιαρετ for Jared in some witnesses, and και εζησεν Ενωχ, and Enoch lived, in one manuscript at 5:22. These differences are named so that the Masoretic wording is not presented as if it were the only ancient form. They are not used to reconstruct a different Hebrew original. See the textual note and the Greek notes.

When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech. And after he had become the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. So Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died. When Lamech was 182 years old, he had a son. And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the Lord has cursed.” And after he had become the father of Noah, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. So Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died. After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (BSB)

Says “When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech.” After that he lived 782 years, and “Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died” (5:25–27, BSB). An open mark stands after 5:27. “When Lamech was 182 years old, he had a son” (5:28, BSB). And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the Lord has cursed” (5:29, BSB). The Hebrew is זֶה יְנַחֲמֵנוּ, this one will comfort us. The BSB renders the imperfect as a wish. The comfort is from work and from the toil of the hands, from the ground which the Lord cursed, with the toil, the ground and the curse of 3:17. Swete has Οὗτος διαναπαύσει ἡμᾶς, this one will give us rest, and Κύριος ὁ θεός for the Lord. That is a textual fact about the Greek, not a lean on the Hebrew. The Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan reads, “he called his name Noah, (Consolation,) saying, This shall console us for our works that are not prosperous.” Lamech then lives 595 years more, and “Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died” (5:31, BSB). A closed mark stands after 5:31. See the Hebrew note.

Implies The narrative draws a name-play: נֹחַ, Noah, is heard in יְנַחֲמֵנוּ. The BSB footnote notes that the name sounds like the Hebrew for rest or comfort.

Uncertain The horizon of the hope is open, and no lean is taken here. (1) Relief from toil in Noah's own day; ground: “our work” and “our hands.” (2) The time after the flood, when the Lord says he will not again curse the ground because of man (8:21); ground: the ground and the curse. Objection: 8:21 uses another verb, לְקַלֵּל, not the verb of 3:17 and 5:29. (3) A hope reaching beyond Noah, read with the promise of 3:15; objection: the verse names no more. Whether the imperfect voices a wish, as the BSB has it, or an expectation, is also open.

Says “After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth” (5:32, BSB). The Hebrew uses the usual idiom for age, a son of five hundred years. The entry stops there; the years after and the total come at 9:28–29, which close with “and he died.” The three are named again at 6:10, at 10:1, and in 1 Chronicles 1:4. Swete has no verse numbered 5:32: Καὶ ἦν Νῶε ἐτῶν πεντακοσίων is printed as the first sentence of Swete 6:1, with 32 in parentheses in the margin, and Swete adds τρεῖς υἱούς, three sons. English 6:1 then follows within the same Swete verse. There is no Masoretic paragraph mark after 5:32. The three names are given as a group, as they will be given again at 6:10 and at 10:1; those later verses are pointed to, and the walk of Noah and the flood are left for Genesis 6. 1 Chronicles 1:4 also names “The sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth” (1 Chr 1:4, BSB). The formula of the chapter is not yet complete at 5:32: Noah's remaining years and his total, and the closing “and he died,” stand at 9:28–29, after the flood narrative.

Genesis 6 is pointed to for Noah's walk and for what follows, and is not treated here.

Uncertain Whether all three sons were born when Noah was five hundred, or the first of them, with the names not in birth order, is open; 11:10 has Shem a hundred years old “Two years after the flood” (11:10, BSB). No lean is taken here.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Gen.5.28-Gen.5.32.lamech-and-noah

New Testament reading

Says Luke 3:36–38 runs the line from Cainan, Arphaxad, Shem, Noah and Lamech, through Methuselah, Enoch, Jared, Mahalalel and Cainan, to “the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:38, BSB). The second Cainan, between Arphaxad and Shelah, is a fact of Luke and of the Greek of Genesis 11, not of Swete Genesis 5, where Καινάν at 5:9–14 is Kenan son of Enosh. See the Greek note on the form of the New Testament texts, and the note on ages and chronology.

Hebrews 11:5 states how the New Testament reads the taking: “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death” (Heb 11:5, BSB). “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” “For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God” (Heb 11:5, BSB). The middle clause agrees in form with Swete 5:24. Form agreement is not a claim about which text the writer used.

Jude names “Enoch, the seventh from Adam” (Jude 14, BSB), as he is in this list, and 14–15 quote words that also stand in 1 Enoch, that the Lord is coming with his holy ones to execute judgment and to convict the ungodly. That is stated as a fact of reception. 1 Enoch is not treated here as an authority, and Jude's use is not taken to settle the standing of that book. See the historical note on early readings of Enoch.

“Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the way that Adam transgressed” (Rom 5:14, BSB). The reign of death is already marked in this chapter by the eight closings “and then he died,” and by the taking of Enoch, who did not see death. Matthew 19:4 and Mark 10:6 cite the words male and female, as in 5:2 and 1:27.

Implies These texts read Adam, Enoch and the line as real persons, consistent with the note on persons and history.

Luke's genealogy states the line as Luke writes it, including the second Cainan. It is consistent with the note on persons and history, and it does not by itself decide whether the numbers of Genesis 5 may be added as a closed series. Romans 5:14 states the reign of death from Adam; it is not used here to choose among the readings of the long lifespans. Hebrews 11:5 states the taking; it is not used to describe a manner the text does not give.

Uncertain No lean is taken on possible gaps, on the manner of the taking beyond 5:24 and Hebrews 11:5, or on whether Jude drew on the book or a shared tradition. No application is drawn.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Gen.5.1-Gen.5.32.new-testament-reading