1 This is the book of Adam's generations. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him.
2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
3 And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot [a son] in his likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth.
4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years; and he begot sons and daughters.
5 And all the days of Adam that he lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.
6 And Seth lived a hundred and five years, and begot Enosh.
7 And Seth lived after he had begotten Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.
8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.
9 And Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.
10 And Enosh lived after he had begotten Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begot sons and daughters.
11 And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.
12 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalaleel.
13 And Cainan lived after he had begotten Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begot sons and daughters.
14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.
15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared.
16 And Mahalaleel lived after he had begotten Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.
17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died.
18 And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch.
19 And Jared lived after he had begotten Enoch eight hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.
21 And Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methushelah.
22 And Enoch walked with God after he had begotten Methushelah three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.
24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
25 And Methushelah lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lemech.
26 And Methushelah lived after he had begotten Lemech seven hundred and eighty-two years, and begot sons and daughters.
27 And all the days of Methushelah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.
28 And Lemech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and begot a son.
29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This [one] shall comfort us concerning our work and concerning the toil of our hands, because of the ground which Jehovah has cursed.
30 And Lemech lived after he had begotten Noah five hundred and ninety-five years, and begot sons and daughters.
31 And all the days of Lemech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.
32 And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 5
Commentary on Genesis 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
Ge 5:1-32. Genealogy of the Patriarchs.
1. book of the generations—(See Ge 11:4).
Adam—used here either as the name of the first man, or of the human race generally.
5. all the days … Adam lived—The most striking feature in this catalogue is the longevity of Adam and his immediate descendants. Ten are enumerated (Ge 5:5-32) in direct succession whose lives far exceed the ordinary limits with which we are familiar—the shortest being three hundred sixty-five, [Ge 5:23] and the longest nine hundred sixty-nine years [Ge 5:27]. It is useless to inquire whether and what secondary causes may have contributed to this protracted longevity—vigorous constitutions, the nature of their diet, the temperature and salubrity of the climate; or, finally—as this list comprises only the true worshippers of God—whether their great age might be owing to the better government of their passions and the quiet, even tenor of their lives. Since we cannot obtain satisfactory evidence on these points, it is wise to resolve the fact into the sovereign will of God. We can, however, trace some of the important uses to which, in the early economy of Providence, it was subservient. It was the chief means of reserving a knowledge of God, of the great truths of religion, as well as the influence of genuine piety. So that, as their knowledge was obtained by tradition, they would be in a condition to preserve it in the greatest purity.
21. Enoch … begat Methuselah—This name signifies, "He dieth, and the sending forth," so that Enoch gave it as prophetical of the flood. It is computed that Methuselah died in the year of that catastrophe.
24. And Enoch walked with God—a common phrase in Eastern countries denoting constant and familiar intercourse.
was not; for God took him—In Heb 11:5, we are informed that he was translated to heaven—a mighty miracle, designed to effect what ordinary means of instruction had failed to accomplish, gave a palpable proof to an age of almost universal unbelief that the doctrines which he had taught (Jude 14, 15) were true and that his devotedness to the cause of God and righteousness in the midst of opposition was highly pleasing to the mind of God.
26. Lamech—a different person from the one mentioned in the preceding chapter [Ge 4:18]. Like his namesake, however, he also spoke in numbers on occasion of the birth of Noah—that is, "rest" or "comfort" [Ge 5:29, Margin]. "The allusion is, undoubtedly, to the penal consequences of the fall in earthly toils and sufferings, and to the hope of a Deliverer, excited by the promise made to Eve. That this expectation was founded on a divine communication we infer from the importance attached to it and the confidence of its expression" [Peter Smith].
32. Noah was five hundred years old: and … begat—That he and the other patriarchs were advanced in life before children were born to them is a difficulty accounted for probably from the circumstance that Moses does not here record their first-born sons, but only the succession from Adam through Seth to Abraham.