Section 7 of 1045:1–32Genesis

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King James VersionGenesis 5:1–32

This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:

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

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

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

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

And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:

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

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

And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Genesis 5:1–32

Adam's Generations Carry Life Through Death to Noah

A line that keeps dying, and one who walks with God

Genesis 5 is a generations list from Adam to Noah. The refrain is almost always the same: he lived, he fathered, he died. Image and likeness from Genesis 1 reappear at the start, so this line still bears the human vocation even after Eden.

Enoch breaks the refrain: he walks with God, and God takes him. Noah's name looks toward comfort from the cursed ground. The genealogy is not filler. It carries blessing, mortality, and the approach of the flood.

How this should shape us

Let a life be measured by walking with God, not only by years listed. The chapter's honesty about death should keep readers from treating long life or famous names as the whole meaning of a human story.

Teach it back

Explain how Genesis 5 uses repetition and interruption to carry the story from Adam to Noah. Include the creation echo, the death refrain, Enoch's exception, Noah's naming, and one chronological question the text does not settle with certainty.

Explain the section in your own words

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Go deeper

The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

How should the extraordinary ages in Genesis 5 be understood?

Best judgment: The text plainly uses years to build an ordered genealogy, but the exact historical mechanics of the extraordinary ages cannot be recovered with certainty. Their clearest contextual work is to mark succession and extended life while the repeated death refrain remains decisive. The different ancient chronologies must stay visible.

How certain? uncertain

What happened to Enoch?

Best judgment: Extraordinary divine removal without ordinary death best fits the break in Genesis 5 and Hebrews 11. Genesis still leaves the manner and destination unstated, so later heavenly-tour and angelic traditions should not be inserted into the verse.

How certain? strong

How does Noah provide the comfort anticipated in his name?

Best judgment: Lamech's speech is best read first as hope for relief from cursed-ground toil. Noah's later role in preserving life, sacrifice, divine promise, and cultivation partially develops that hope, but the story does not offer a simple, painless fulfillment.

How certain? probable

Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Reader-facing Scripture wording, verse numbering, paragraph data, and supplied-word markup.

Pinned eBible/CrossWire standardized 1769 KJV corpus, Genesis 5:1–32

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Supports: Toledot heading, Adam/humanity wording, image and likeness, formulaic genealogy, Enoch walking and taking, death refrain, and Noah-comfort wordplay.

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 5:1–32

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Supports: Adam as humanity, image and likeness, Enoch idiom, Noah wordplay, name cautions, and translation alternatives.

NET Bible, Genesis 5 translator notes

Genesis

Supports: Final-form movement from Adam's image-bearing line through repeated death, Enoch's exception, and Noah's anticipated comfort.

Genesis commentary, section Genesis 5:1–32

The Book of the Toledot (Descendants) of Adam (Genesis 5; 11:10–26 and Related Texts)

Supports: Genesis 5's toledot-book form, textual chronology, proposed compositional development, and Sumerian King List comparison, all retained as historical reconstruction rather than explicit final-form narration.

The Formation of Genesis 1–11, chapter 4, pp. 83–114; official chapter abstract and contents

Intratextual Exegesis in the Primeval History – the Literary Function of the Genealogies in View of the Formation of Gen 1–11

Supports: Genealogical structure, Genesis 1 echoes, named and unnamed children, ten-generation pattern, Adam-Enoch-Noah expansions, death refrain, textual age differences, and ancient Near Eastern formal setting.

Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 131.2 (2019), pp. 177–193, especially pp. 177–182 and 185–186

A Hasmonean Edition of MT Genesis?: The Implications of the Editions of the Chronology in Genesis 5

Supports: Material chronological differences among MT, SP, and LXX and the proposal that the editions respond to ancestors outliving the flood.

Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel 1.4 (2012), pp. 448–464; official abstract

Genealogies of the Book of Genesis: Between History, Tradition, and Theology

Supports: Genesis 5 as chronological succession from Adam to Noah and evidence of continuing blessing and fertility.

The Biblical Annals 1.1 (2011/online 2015), pp. 5–38; official abstract and article record

The Sumerian King List

Supports: Primary ancient comparison for exceptionally long antediluvian reigns, succession, and the flood transition.

Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, composite translation 2.1.1, lines 1–39

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Reader-facing Scripture wording, verse numbering, paragraph data, and supplied-word markup.

Exact location: Pinned eBible/CrossWire standardized 1769 KJV corpus, Genesis 5:1–32

Open source ↗

hebrew text morphology and lemma data

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project

Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026

Supports: Toledot heading, Adam/humanity wording, image and likeness, formulaic genealogy, Enoch walking and taking, death refrain, and Noah-comfort wordplay.

Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 5:1–32

Open source ↗

Translation and textual notes

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026

Supports: Adam as humanity, image and likeness, Enoch idiom, Noah wordplay, name cautions, and translation alternatives.

Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 5 translator notes

Open NET Genesis 5 ↗

modern open whole book commentary

Genesis

T. Desmond Alexander

The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023

Supports: Final-form movement from Adam's image-bearing line through repeated death, Enoch's exception, and Noah's anticipated comfort.

Exact location: Genesis commentary, section Genesis 5:1–32

Open source ↗

modern scholarly compositional textual and comparative chapter

The Book of the Toledot (Descendants) of Adam (Genesis 5; 11:10–26 and Related Texts)

David M. Carr

Oxford University Press, The Formation of Genesis 1–11: Biblical and Other Precursors, 2020

Supports: Genesis 5's toledot-book form, textual chronology, proposed compositional development, and Sumerian King List comparison, all retained as historical reconstruction rather than explicit final-form narration.

Exact location: The Formation of Genesis 1–11, chapter 4, pp. 83–114; official chapter abstract and contents

Open source ↗

peer reviewed open literary compositional and reception study

Intratextual Exegesis in the Primeval History – the Literary Function of the Genealogies in View of the Formation of Gen 1–11

Michaela Bauks

Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 131.2, 2019

Supports: Genealogical structure, Genesis 1 echoes, named and unnamed children, ten-generation pattern, Adam-Enoch-Noah expansions, death refrain, textual age differences, and ancient Near Eastern formal setting.

Exact location: Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 131.2 (2019), pp. 177–193, especially pp. 177–182 and 185–186

Open source ↗

peer reviewed modern textual chronology study

A Hasmonean Edition of MT Genesis?: The Implications of the Editions of the Chronology in Genesis 5

Ronald Hendel

Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel 1.4, 2012

Supports: Material chronological differences among MT, SP, and LXX and the proposal that the editions respond to ancestors outliving the flood.

Exact location: Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel 1.4 (2012), pp. 448–464; official abstract

Open source ↗

peer reviewed open genealogy and theology study

Genealogies of the Book of Genesis: Between History, Tradition, and Theology

Dariusz Dziadosz

The Biblical Annals 1.1, 2011; official record published online 2015

Supports: Genesis 5 as chronological succession from Adam to Noah and evidence of continuing blessing and fertility.

Exact location: The Biblical Annals 1.1 (2011/online 2015), pp. 5–38; official abstract and article record

Open source ↗

open scholarly edition and translation of ancient text

The Sumerian King List

Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, University of Oxford

Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, ETCSL corpus completed 2006; accessed 2026

Supports: Primary ancient comparison for exceptionally long antediluvian reigns, succession, and the flood transition.

Exact location: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, composite translation 2.1.1, lines 1–39

Open source ↗

Genesis 5:1–32, King James Version

A line that keeps dying, and one who walks with God

How this should shape us

Teach it back

Go deeper

How should the extraordinary ages in Genesis 5 be understood?

What happened to Enoch?

How does Noah provide the comfort anticipated in his name?

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Genesis

The Book of the Toledot (Descendants) of Adam (Genesis 5; 11:10–26 and Related Texts)

Intratextual Exegesis in the Primeval History – the Literary Function of the Genealogies in View of the Formation of Gen 1–11

A Hasmonean Edition of MT Genesis?: The Implications of the Editions of the Chronology in Genesis 5

Genealogies of the Book of Genesis: Between History, Tradition, and Theology

The Sumerian King List