Genesis 5

Translator Notes

1. 'Book of the generations' (sefer toledot, סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדוֹת) — this is the second toledot heading in Genesis (cf. 2:4). The addition of sefer ('book, written record, document') makes this the most formal genealogical introduction in Genesis. It suggests a written source or an authoritative record.
2. 'Adam' here functions both as the proper name of the first man and as the word for 'man/humanity.' The dual meaning is deliberate — the genealogy connects the individual Adam to the human race.
3. 'In the likeness of God' (bidmut Elohim, בִּדְמוּת אֱלֹהִים) echoes 1:26 but uses only demut ('likeness') without tselem ('image'). The concept of the divine image is reaffirmed at the beginning of this genealogy, establishing that the image of God persists through the generations despite the fall.

Translator Notes

1. 'Called their name Adam' (vayyiqra et-shemam Adam) — God named both the man and the woman 'Adam.' The name is applied collectively to both, reinforcing that adam is a term for humanity as a whole, not exclusively the male. The rendering uses 'mankind' here to capture the collective sense, though the Hebrew word is simply adam.
2. This verse summarizes 1:27–28 in compressed form, reconnecting the genealogy to the original creation account.

Translator Notes

1. 'In his own likeness, according to his image' (bidmuto ketsalmo, בִּדְמוּתוֹ כְּצַלְמוֹ) — the terms demut ('likeness') and tselem ('image') from 1:26 are now applied to Adam's relationship with Seth. The word order is reversed (1:26 has 'image... likeness'; here 'likeness... image'), but the pairing is deliberate: as God made Adam in God's image, so Adam fathers Seth in Adam's image. The divine image is transmitted through human generation.
2. This verse establishes the genealogical formula that will repeat through the chapter: age at fathering → son's name → years after → total years → death.

Translator Notes

1. 'Sons and daughters' — the genealogy acknowledges the existence of other children beyond the named son, though they are not listed. This formula recurs for each patriarch and confirms that the named son is selected for the genealogical line, not as the only child.

Translator Notes

1. 'And he died' (vayyamot, וַיָּמֹת) — this refrain closes each entry in the genealogy (with the notable exception of Enoch, v. 24). The repeated 'and he died' functions as a drumbeat throughout the chapter, underscoring the reality of the death sentence pronounced in 2:17 and 3:19. Despite extraordinary lifespans, death claims each generation.
2. The ages recorded in this genealogy are extraordinarily long by modern standards. Various explanations have been proposed: (1) literal years, reflecting a different era of human longevity; (2) symbolic or schematic numbers; (3) a different calculation system. The Masoretic, Septuagint, and Samaritan Pentateuch each preserve different numbers for many of these lifespans. The rendering follows the MT numbers without interpretive comment.

Translator Notes

1. The genealogy now follows Seth's line — the line through which the story of God's people will continue. Cain's line, traced in 4:17–24, is left behind.

Translator Notes

1. The formulaic pattern continues: age at fathering, remaining years, other children.

Translator Notes

1. The death formula vayyamot ("and he died") marks the end of Enosh's entry in the genealogy. This refrain appears for each patriarch except Enoch (v 24), whose departure is described differently — he "walked with God, and was not, for God took him."

Translator Notes

1. 'Kenan' (Qenan, קֵינָן) — the name resembles 'Cain' (Qayin), which has prompted scholarly discussion about whether this is a variant of the same name appearing in Seth's line. The rendering uses the standard English form.

Translator Notes

1. Enosh's total lifespan of 905 years follows the standard genealogical formula. The extraordinarily long lifespans in this chapter have been interpreted variously: as literal years, as representing dynasties, or as reflecting a pre-flood vitality that diminished after the flood.

Translator Notes

1. The death formula vayyamot ("and he died") marks the end of Kenan's entry in the genealogy. This refrain appears for each patriarch except Enoch (v 24), whose departure is described differently — he "walked with God, and was not, for God took him."

Translator Notes

1. 'Mahalalel' (מַהֲלַלְאֵל) means 'praise of God' — from mahalal ('praise') and El ('God'). The name embeds a declaration of praise within the genealogy.

Translator Notes

1. Kenan's total lifespan of 910 years follows the standard genealogical formula. The extraordinarily long lifespans in this chapter have been interpreted variously: as literal years, as representing dynasties, or as reflecting a pre-flood vitality that diminished after the flood.

Translator Notes

1. The death formula vayyamot ("and he died") marks the end of Mahalalel's entry in the genealogy. This refrain appears for each patriarch except Enoch (v 24), whose departure is described differently — he "walked with God, and was not, for God took him."

Translator Notes

1. 'Jared' (Yered, יָרֶד) may mean 'descent' — from yarad (יָרַד, 'to go down, to descend').

Translator Notes

1. Mahalalel's total lifespan of 895 years follows the standard genealogical formula. The extraordinarily long lifespans in this chapter have been interpreted variously: as literal years, as representing dynasties, or as reflecting a pre-flood vitality that diminished after the flood.

Translator Notes

1. The death formula vayyamot ("and he died") marks the end of Jared's entry in the genealogy. This refrain appears for each patriarch except Enoch (v 24), whose departure is described differently — he "walked with God, and was not, for God took him."

Translator Notes

1. 'Enoch' (Chanokh, חֲנוֹךְ) — the same name as Cain's son in 4:17 ('dedicated'). This Enoch, in Seth's line, will be distinguished by his extraordinary fate (vv. 22–24).

Translator Notes

1. Jared's total lifespan of 962 years follows the standard genealogical formula. The extraordinarily long lifespans in this chapter have been interpreted variously: as literal years, as representing dynasties, or as reflecting a pre-flood vitality that diminished after the flood.

Translator Notes

1. Jared has the second-longest lifespan in this genealogy, after Methuselah (969 years, v. 27).

Translator Notes

1. 'Methuselah' (Metushelach, מְתוּשֶׁלַח) — the name's meaning is debated. Possible interpretations include 'man of the javelin' (from mat, 'man,' and shelach, 'weapon/missile') or 'his death shall bring' (from mut, 'death,' and shalach, 'to send'). If the latter, the name may be prophetic: according to the chronology, Methuselah dies in the year of the flood.

Translator Notes

1. 'Walked with God' (vayyithallekh Chanokh et-ha'Elohim, וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ חֲנוֹךְ אֶת הָאֱלֹהִים) — a unique expression in this chapter that breaks the genealogical formula. Where every other patriarch simply 'lived,' Enoch 'walked with God.' The hitpael of halakh ('to walk') is the same form used for God's walking in the garden (3:8). It implies a sustained, intimate companionship — a habitual way of life in God's presence. The same phrase is later used of Noah (6:9).
2. The preposition et ('with') indicates accompaniment — Enoch and God walked together, as companions. This is the most compressed and powerful character description in Genesis.

Translator Notes

1. Enoch's lifespan of 365 years is by far the shortest in this chapter — yet the narrative presents it not as a truncation but as a distinction. The number 365 corresponds to the days in a solar year, which some scholars see as significant, though the text does not draw this connection explicitly.
2. Crucially, this verse omits the expected refrain 'and he died.' The absence is deafening in a chapter built on the drumbeat of death. What happened instead is stated in the next verse.

Translator Notes

1. 'He was not' (ve'einennu, וְאֵינֶנּוּ) — instead of 'and he died,' the text says 'and he was not.' The phrase means 'he was no longer' or 'he was gone' — he was no longer present in the earthly realm. This terse statement, unique in the chapter, has fascinated readers for millennia.
2. 'God took him' (laqach oto Elohim, לָקַח אֹתוֹ אֱלֹהִים) — the verb laqach ('to take') here implies divine removal from earth. The text does not say where God took him or what form this taking assumed. Later tradition understood it as bodily translation to heaven (cf. Hebrews 11:5; Sirach 44:16; 49:14). The only other person described as being 'taken' by God is Elijah (2 Kings 2:1–11).
3. In a genealogy dominated by death, Enoch's entry stands as a dramatic exception. The pattern of 'and he died... and he died... and he died' is broken by a life so characterized by walking with God that death is bypassed entirely. The contrast gives the chapter a theological dimension beyond mere record-keeping.

Translator Notes

1. 'Lamech' (לָמֶךְ) — the same name as the violent descendant of Cain (4:18–24), but a different person. The name's meaning is uncertain.

Translator Notes

1. Methuselah's total lifespan of 969 years — the longest lifespan recorded in the Hebrew Bible follows the standard genealogical formula. The extraordinarily long lifespans in this chapter have been interpreted variously: as literal years, as representing dynasties, or as reflecting a pre-flood vitality that diminished after the flood.

Translator Notes

1. Methuselah's 969 years make him the longest-lived person recorded in the Bible. According to the MT chronology, Methuselah dies in the year of the flood (his birth year + his age at death = the year of the flood in 7:6). Whether this is coincidental or intentional is debated; if intentional, it suggests he died in the flood or immediately before it.

Translator Notes

1. Lamech's entry breaks the formula by not immediately naming his son. Instead, the naming and its explanation are given in the next verse — the most theologically significant naming in the genealogy.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. 'Noah' (Noach, נֹחַ) — the name is explained with a wordplay, though it is not a direct etymological match. Noach is related to nuach (נוּחַ, 'to rest'), but Lamech's explanation uses the verb nacham (נָחַם, 'to comfort, to bring relief'). The sound connection (noach/yenachamenu) creates the wordplay even though the roots differ: Noah ('rest') will 'comfort/relieve' (nacham) them. 'Relief' is used to capture the nuach/nacham overlap.
2. 'Painful toil of our hands' (itstsevon yadenu, עִצְּבוֹן יָדֵינוּ) — the word itstsavon is the same root used for the woman's pain in childbearing (3:16) and the man's painful toil with the ground (3:17). Lamech's lament explicitly references the curse of 3:17 ('the ground that the LORD has cursed') — the consequences of the fall are still felt and still lamented generations later.
3. Lamech's hope that Noah will bring relief from the curse anticipates Noah's role in the flood narrative — though the 'relief' comes in a way no one expected.

Translator Notes

1. The formulaic pattern resumes.

Translator Notes

1. Lamech's lifespan of 777 years contains the number seven three times. Whether this is numerically significant or coincidental is debated. In light of Lamech of Cain's line claiming 'seventy-sevenfold' vengeance (4:24), the sevens in this Lamech's lifespan may create an intentional contrast between the line of violence and the line of faith.

Translator Notes

1. The genealogy ends without the formula 'and he died' for Noah — his story continues in the following chapters. Noah's entry lacks the closure that every other patriarch receives (except Enoch, for a different reason). Noah's death is not recorded until 9:29.
2. 'Shem, Ham, and Japheth' — the three sons of Noah who will become the ancestors of all post-flood humanity (chapters 9–10). 'Shem' (שֵׁם) means 'name' or 'renown'; 'Ham' (חָם) means 'hot' or 'warm'; 'Japheth' (יָפֶת) may mean 'enlarged' or 'beautiful,' related to the root y-p-h ('beauty') or p-t-h ('to enlarge'). Though listed in this order, Shem may not be the eldest (cf. 10:21, which is ambiguous).