*This page was migrated in July 2022 from my older website, biblicalambiguities.net.
July 2022 - 22 August 2022 index-passages
Genesis 5 is the fifth chapter of the Hebrew Bible.
After Genesis 4, which contains the story of Cain's descendants, Genesis 5 contains a genealogy of Seth which has such a detailed correspondence to the lineage of Cain that either one must depend on the other, or the two have a common ancestor. It also begins a series of interlinked chronological references, scattered throughout the Primary History, which produce a gapless[1] chronology from the creation to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.
The chapter consists entirely of a lineage stretching from Adam to Noah, moving us on from the chapters about the "first family" to the chapters about another first family.
The chronology of Genesis 5 takes obvious cues from the Babylonian King Lists, whether or not the author(s) of Genesis 5 were directly acquainted with the Babylonian material. This becomes obvious when Genesis 5 is joined with its other half, Genesis 11:10-32. In the Babylonian King Lists, we find a series of kings with implausibly long reigns, then a flood occurs, and then the reigns become shorter, until real kings appear in the list with normal lifespans. In Genesis, a list of long-lived people live before the flood, and are succeeded by a list of people after the flood who live progressively shorter lives. Eventually, by the end of Genesis, Joseph lives only 110 years.
1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. On the day God created Adam, in the image of God he created him. 2 Male and female he created them, and called their name Adam in the day they were created. 3 And Adam lived nine hundred thirty years, and begot in his own likeness, after his own image, and called his name Seth. 4 And all the days of Adam after his begetting Seth were eight hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters. 5 And all the days of Adam that he lived were nine hundred thirty years, and he died.
And Seth lived one hundred five years, and begot Enosh. 7 And Seth lived after he begot Enosh eight hundred seven years, and begot sons and daughters. 8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred twelve years, and he died.
9 And Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Kenan. 10 And Enosh lived after he begot Kenan eight hundred fifteen years, and begot sons and daughters. 11 And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years, and he died.
12 And Kenan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. 13 And Kenan lived after he begot Mahalalel eight hundred forty years, and begot sons and daughters. 14 And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred ten years, and he died.
15 And Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. 16 And Mahalalel lived after he begot Jared eight hundred thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. 17 And all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety-five years, and he died.
18 And Jared lived one hundred sixty-two years, and begot Enoch. 19 And Jared lived after he begot Enoch eight hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years, and he died.
21 And Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begot Methuselah three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, because God took him.
25 And Methuselah lived one hundred eighty-seven years, and he begot Lamek. 26 And Methuselah lived after he begot Lamek seven hundred eighty-two years, and begot sons and daughters. 27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years, and he died.
28 And Lamek lived one hundred eighty-two years, and begot a son. 29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This one will comfort us from our work and the toil of our hands, from the ground which Yahweh cursed. 30 And Lamek lived after he begot Noah five hundred ninety-five years, and begot sons and daughters. 31 And all the days of Lamek were seven hundred seventy-seven years, and he died.
32 And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.