In the post on Cain and Abel, I shared that Adam was either 130 or 230 years old when Seth was born. The genealogies of Genesis chapter 5 and chapter 11 are where the Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Greek Septuagint disagree. I will get to that in a minute, but first, let’s mention some differences between Adam and Seth that the Scripture points out.
Verse 1 of chapter 5 reminds us that God created Adam in His image. In verse 3, it says that Adam father a child in his image. These two verses support the notion that being created in the image of God means sinless and perfect. The offspring of Adam were no longer in God’s image because of sin. The Bible says that we are born in sin. (see Romans 5). David wrote in Psalm 51, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me (vs. 5).” Although it is correct to say that we are created in the image of God, we currently are not in that state.
Now let us look at the Genesis 5 genealogy. The Hebrew Masoretic (HM) has 606 fewer years in the timeline than the Septuagint (LXX). Here are the names: Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jarod, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah. Ten generations. The first five are missing 100 years each from the time of the birth of their firstborn son. For instance, the HM says that Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born, but the LXX says 230. Jarod’s years are the same in both texts, but Enoch is missing 100 years. Methuselah is the same, but Lamech is missing six years. Thus, the cumulative missing years from the HM is 606 years. The total years of life for all of them are the same with the exception of Lamech who is said to have lived 777 years in the HM, but only 753 years in the LXX. There is no reasonable explanation for why these years were changed in the HM manuscripts, but this could be one of the reasons that scribes who rewrote them in the 11th century said they had known discrepancies.
The total number of years from the creation to the flood also changes. The traditional dating of the flood is 1,656 years after creation, but with the 606 years added in, that would be 2,262 years after creation. And, everyone’s life timeline stretches out further from the generation before. Adam lived to be 930 years old. Enoch would have been 30 when Adam died, according to the LXX, or Lamech would have been 65 when Adam died, according to the HM. The HM has been used to calculate the BC (or BCE) dates that we know today. For instance, the traditional dating for creation is 4004 BC or 4128 BC, depending on the calculation method. Again, the customary dating of the flood is 1,656 years from creation. That would make it 2348 BC or 2472 BC. The additional 606 years would push the creation back to 4610 BC or 4734 BC, which would make the earth over 6,630 years old. We’ll look at this again when we get to the flood account and the genealogy in Genesis 11. For now, we’ll leave it at that. I’ll try to get some charts posted so you can visualize the difference in the timelines.
The only mentionable thing in the genealogy other than the years for fatherhood would be the mention of Enoch being transposed by God at the age of 365 years. Genesis 5:24 “And Enoch was very pleasing to God and was not found because God transposed him. (LXX)” “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. (ESV)”
Some believe that Enoch may be one of the two witnesses mentioned in Revelation because Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Enoch doesn’t appear to have died. He may come back to die in the middle of the tribulation as per Revelation. But that’s a whole other topic.
The next thing to mention that is found in the genealogy is the naming of Noah. Genesis 5:29 “And [Lamech] gave him the name Noah, saying, ‘This one will relieve us from our works and from the pains of our hands and from the earth which the Lord God cursed.” I wonder if Lamech understood the prophecy that he gave, that the earth and everything in it would be destroyed.
Lastly, the genealogy concludes by saying that Noah was 500 years old and fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. That’s not the birth order of his sons, but we’ll save that story for another post.