Genesis 5

Descendants of Adam

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him ¹in the likeness of God.

2 He created them ²male and female, and He ³blessed them and named * them Man in the day when they were created.

3 When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named * him Seth.

4 Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters.

5 So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

6 Seth lived one hundred and five years, and became the father of Enosh.

7 Then Seth lived eight hundred and seven years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters.

8 So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve * years, and he died.

9 Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan.

10 Then Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen * years after he became the father of Kenan, and he had other sons and daughters.

11 So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died.

12 Kenan lived seventy years, and became the father of Mahalalel.

13 Then Kenan lived eight hundred and forty years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he had other sons and daughters.

14 So all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five * years, and became the father of Jared.

16 Then Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Jared, and he had other sons and daughters.

17 So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five * years, and he died.

18 Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two * years, and became the father of Enoch.

19 Then Jared lived eight hundred years after he became the father of Enoch, and he had other sons and daughters.

20 So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two * years, and he died.

21 Enoch lived sixty-five * years, and became the father of Methuselah.

22 Then Enoch ⁴walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters.

23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five * years.

24 ⁵Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God ⁶took him.

25 Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and became the father of Lamech.

26 Then Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other sons and daughters.

27 So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine * years, and he died.

28 Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son.

29 Now he called his name Noah, saying, "This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from ⁷the ground which the LORD has cursed."

30 Then Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five * years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other sons and daughters.

31 So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.

32 Noah was ⁸five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 5 Commentary

Chapter 5

Adam and Seth. (1-5) The patriarchs from Seth to Enoch. (6-20) Enoch. (21-24) Methuselah to Noah. (25-32)

Verses 1-5 Adam was made in the image of God; but when fallen he begat a son in his own image, sinful and defiled, frail, wretched, and mortal, like himself. Not only a man like himself, consisting of body and soul, but a sinner like himself. This was the reverse of that Divine likeness in which Adam was made; having lost it, he could not convey it to his seed. Adam lived, in all, 930 years; and then died, according to the sentence passed upon him, "To dust thou shalt return." Though he did not die in the day he ate forbidden fruit, yet in that very day he became mortal. Then he began to die; his whole life after was but a reprieve, a forfeited, condemned life; it was a wasting, dying life. Man's life is but dying by degrees.

Verses 6-20 Concerning each of these, except Enoch, it is said, "and he died." It is well to observe the deaths of others. They all lived very long; not one of them died till he had seen almost eight hundred years, and some of them lived much longer; a great while for an immortal soul to be prisoned in a house of clay. The present life surely was not to them such a burden as it commonly is now, else they would have been weary of it. Nor was the future life so clearly revealed then, as it now under the gospel, else they would have been urgent to remove to it. All the patriarchs that lived before the flood, except Noah, were born before Adam died. From him they might receive a full account of the creation, the fall, the promise, and the Divine precepts about religious worship and a religious life. Thus God kept up in his church the knowledge of his will.

Verses 21-24 Enoch was the seventh from Adam. Godliness is walking with God: which shows reconciliation to God, for two cannot walk together except they be agreed, ( Amos 3:3 ) . It includes all the parts of a godly, righteous, and sober life. To walk with God, is to set God always before us, to act as always under his eye. It is constantly to care, in all things to please God, and in nothing to offend him. It is to be followers of him as dear children. The Holy Spirit, instead of saying, Enoch lived, says, Enoch walked with God. This was his constant care and work; while others lived to themselves and the world, he lived to God. It was the joy of his life. Enoch was removed to a better world. As he did not live like the rest of mankind, so he did not leave the world by death as they did. He was not found, because God had translated him, ( Hebrews 11:5 ) . He had lived but 365 years, which, as men's ages were then, was but the midst of a man's days. God often takes those soonest whom he loves best; the time they lose on earth, is gained in heaven, to their unspeakable advantage. See how Enoch's removal is expressed: he was not, for God took him. He was not any longer in this world; he was changed, as the saints shall be, who are alive at Christ's second coming. Those who begin to walk with God when young, may expect to walk with him long, comfortably, and usefully. The true christian's steady walk in holiness, through many a year, till God takes him, will best recommend that religion which many oppose and many abuse. And walking with God well agrees with the cares, comforts, and duties of life.

Verses 25-32 Methuselah signifies, 'he dies, there is a dart,' 'a sending forth,' namely, of the deluge, which came the year that Methuselah died. He lived 969 years, the longest that any man ever lived on earth; but the longest liver must die at last. Noah signifies rest; his parents gave him that name, with a prospect of his being a great blessing to his generation. Observe his father's complaint of the calamitous state of human life, by the entrance of sin, and the curse of sin. Our whole life is spent in labour, and our time filled up with continual toil. God having cursed the ground, it is as much as some can do, with the utmost care and pains, to get a hard livelihood out comfort us." It signifies not only that desire and expectation which parents generally have about their children, that they will be comforts to them and helpers, though they often prove otherwise; but it signifies also a prospect of something more. Is Christ ours? Is heaven ours? We need better comforters under our toil and sorrow, than the dearest relations and the most promising offspring; may we seek and find comforts in Christ.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 1:26, 27; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10
• 2. Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6
• 3. Genesis 1:28
• 4. Genesis 6:9; Genesis 17:1; Genesis 24:40; Genesis 48:15; Micah 6:8; Malachi 2:6; 1 Thessalonians 2:12
• 5. 2 Kings 2:11; Jude 14
• 6. 2 Kings 2:10; Psalms 49:15; Psalms 73:24; Hebrews 11:5
• 7. Genesis 3:17-19; Genesis 4:11
• 8. Genesis 7:6

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "Adam"
• [b]. Lit "begot," and so throughout the ch
• [c]. Lit "comfort us in"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 5

This chapter contains a list or catalogue of the posterity of Adam in the line of Seth, down to Noah; it begins with a short account of the creation of Adam, and of his life and death, Ge 5:1-5 next of five of the antediluvian patriarchs, their age and death, namely Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Ge 5:6-20 then a particular relation of Enoch, his character and translation, Ge 5:21-24 then follows an account of Methuselah, the oldest man, and Lamech's oracle concerning his son Noah, Ge 5:12-29 and the chapter is closed with the life and death of Lamech, and the birth of the three sons of Noah, Ge 5:30-32.