Genesis Chapter 5

Note: this study is in process...

Genesis chapter 5 provides a detailed genealogy from the creation of Adam until the birth of Noah and his sons. Not only does it provide a record of the names of each generation, but it also includes ages and lifespans for each generation.

Genesis 5:1-32

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. 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 an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own 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 begat sons and daughters:

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

6 And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:

7 And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:

8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.

9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:

10 And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:

11 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.

12 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:

13 And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:

14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:

16 And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:

17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.

18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:

19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.

21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:

22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:

24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

25 And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:

26 And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:

27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.

28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:

29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.

30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:

31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.

32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Adam's Generation (verses 1-5)

Beginning in verse 3 we find that when Adam was 130 years old he begat Seth and called his name Seth. Recall from the study on the Hebrew word "yalad" (begat) that this word does not require that the one begotten be a direct descendant like a son or daughter, but could instead be a distant descendant. However in the study of the Hebrew phrase "qara shem" (to call the name) it was shown that this phrase does in fact indicate a direct descendant (son or daughter), being a phrase that shows who actually named the child. So in the case, because Adam was the one that named Seth, we know Seth was Adam's direct son who was born when Adam was 130 years old. Thus, Adam's generation lasted until the birth of his son Seth.

Seth's Generation (verses 6-8)

Verse 6 says that Seth lived 105 years and begat Enos. Here again we must remind ourselves that "begat" by itself does not mean that Enos was the direct son of Seth. Recall that we found Seth was the direct son of Adam because the phrase "called his name" (qara shem) was used in Genesis 5:3, meaning Adam was the one that named Seth. But here in verse 6 this phrase is not used of Seth's offspring Enos. However we must also consider Genesis 4:26,

Genesis 4:26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

Here we learn that Seth was the one that named Enos, so we know Enos was a direct son of Seth who was born when Seth was 105 years old. And because Seth was born to Adam at 130 years old, we know Enos was born when Adam was 235 years old, or 235 years after creation. Thus, Seth's generation lasted until the birth of his son Enos.

Enos' Generation (verses 9-11)

Verse 9 says that Enos lived 90 years and begat Cainan. We know that we cannot assume that "begat" means Cainan was the direct son of Enos, so we look for the phrase "called his name" (qara shem) to see if Enos was the one that named Cainan. However we don't find this phrase used for Enos-Cainan in verse 9 nor in any other verse in the Bible, so we can only conclude that Cainan was an offspring of Enos, possibly a son, or a grandson, or a great grandson, etc. At this point it should be noted that Enos continued to begat sons and daughters over the next 815 years, until he finally died at the age of 905.