Genesis5

New King James Version

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

²He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.

³And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

⁴After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters.

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

⁶Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh.

⁷After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters.

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

⁹Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.

¹⁰After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters.

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

¹²Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel.

¹³After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters.

¹⁴So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

¹⁵Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared.

¹⁶After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters.

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

¹⁸Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch.

¹⁹After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters.

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

²¹Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah.

²²After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters.

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

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

²⁵Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech.

²⁶After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters.

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

²⁸Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son.

²⁹And he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.”

³⁰After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters.

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

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

Study Guide

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Chapter Summary

In this chapter: Adam and Seth. (1–5). The patriarchs from Seth to Enoch. (6–20). Enoch. (21–24). Methuselah to Noah. (25–32).

vv1-5

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.

vv6-20

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.

vv21-24

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, Am 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, Heb 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.

Key Words

ThisH2088Hebrew

זֶה: the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or that

bookH5612Hebrew

סֵפֶר: properly, writing (the art or a document); by implication, a book

generationsH8435Hebrew

תּוֹלְדָה: (plural only) descent, i.e. family; (figuratively) history

AdamH121Hebrew

אָדָם: Adam the name of the first man, also of a place in Palestine

WhenH3117Hebrew

יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)

GodH430Hebrew

אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative

createdH1254Hebrew

בָּרָא: (absolutely) to create; (qualified) to cut down (a wood), select, feed (as formative processes)

manH120Hebrew

אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)

madeH6213Hebrew

עָשָׂה: to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application

likenessH1823Hebrew

דְּמוּת: resemblance; concretely, model, shape; adverbially, like