5:1__6:8 _Adam's Descendants, This section of Genesis falls into two distinctive parts. Whereas 5:1__32 is largely a genealogy that traces a single line of descendants from Adam to Noah, naming only one person in each generation, 6:1__8 provides a worldwide picture of increasling human wickedness. The contrast between these two elements is not simply between the particular and the universal but, more importantly, between righteousness and evil.
5:1__32 _The Family Line from Adam to Noah. After a brief introduction, which echoes elements of chapter 1, this passage follows a particular line of descendants from Adam to Noah. The chapter's layout is dominated by a distinctive literary structure that is repeated for each of those specifically mentioned in each generation. The pattern may be set out as follows: When A has lived x years, he fathered B. A lived y years after he fathered B and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of A were Z (=X + y) years, after which he died (See Chapter 60). Since the word "fathered" in a genealogy can mean "fathered an ancestor of," it is possible that this genealogy skips any number of generations; certainly the literary conventions allow for this. That omissions do actually occur appears from comparing, for example, the genealogy of Moses in EXODUS 6:16__20 with that of JOSHUA in 1 CHRONICLES 7:23__27: undoubtedly the genealogy for Moses has been compressed (EZRA 7:1__5 with 1 CHRONICLES 6:4__14).At three points in GENESIS 5:3__31, the pattern is briefly broken to introduce additional information involving Adam__Seth, Enoch, and Lamech-Noah. One of the most striking aspects of the passage is the great age of the first people in GENESIS. (Other ancient Near Eastern texts attribute even longer lives to earlier geneations; the Sumerian king List mentions kings who reign__interestingly, before a flood__for periods of 28,800, 36,000 and 43,200 years).
5:1__32 _Given that the life span of people today (and at least since the flood) is much shorter that the life soan of those listed from Adam to Noah, the question is ofren raised as to whether the remarkable longevity of these partiarchs as given in 5:1__32 should be taken at face value or whether their longevity has some other explanation. Some have suggested that the figures should be understood as symbolic (that they may be related to various astronomical periods); or that the numbers are encodedwith some unknown honorary significance; or that the figures were calculated by a different numeric method (that they should be divided by a factor of 5, plus, in some cases, the addition of the number 7 or 14). No writer, however, has offered a convincing alternative explanation, and none of the proposed alternative can be substantiated with any certainty. The traditional understanding is that the numbers should be taken at face value, ofte assuming that something changed in the cosmologyof the earth or in the physiology of humans (or in both) after the flood, resulting in a rapid decline in longevity, finally stabilizing at a "normal" life span in the range of 70 years or 80 years (See PSALM 90:10). In any case, one clear implication of these genealogies is that these people actually lived (regardless of how long), and that they actually died.
5:1__2 _The heading that introduces 5:1__6:8 differs from all the others (SEE 2:4) by referring to a BOOK. This was probably something like a clay tablet that preserved the contents of 5:1__21 and possibly 11:10__26, although there the pattern is somewhat abbreviated. The book is named after ADAM (Hebrew 'adam). The same Hebrew word is also translated in 5:1 by MAN and in 5:2 by MAN. This reflects the fact that Hebrew 'adam may function as a proper name, a common noun denoting a male individual, and a generic noun denoting male and female human beings (SEE 1:26; 1:27; 2:15__16). THE LIKENESS OF GOD (5:1) see 1:27.
5:3__5 _The linear list of descendants begins with ADAM and then proceeds to name his son SETH. As 4:25 records, Seth is Adam's third-born son. This line is clearly presented as offering an alternative to the line of seven generations linked to Cain in 4:17__18. But whereas Cain's line leads to a killer in the seventh generation, the comparable in Seth's line produces Enoch, who walked with God and did not die (See 5:22__24). FATHERED A SON IN HIS OWN LIKENESS, AFTER HIS IMAGE. From the normal pattern of the genealogy, the phrase "fathered Seth" would be expected here. The additional material introduces the idea that Seth resembles Adam. While this implies that Seth is made, like Adam, in the divine image, it also suggests that the images his father as well; Seth's line, however, is certainly portrayed more positively than that of Cain.
5:22__24 _The usual pattern of the genealogy (See 1__32) is altered with the substitution of the expression ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD. This is then developed further in verse 24 when the expected phrase "and he died" is replaced by the comment AND HE WAS NOT, FOR GOD TOOK HIM. In this passage, and in certain other contexts in GENESIS (3:8; 6:9; 17:1; 20:40; 48:15), the Hebrew verb for "walked" is a distinctive form that conveys the sense of an ongoing intimacy with God. Remarkably, because of this special relationship, Enoch does not die (ELIJAH, 2 KINGS 2:1__12). The narrators's desire to highlight this fact may explain why the present genealogy, unlike the one in GENESIS 11:10__26, REGULARLY MENTIONS THAT "X died."
5:27 _According to the dates given, it is possible to conclude that METHUSELAH died in the year of the flood.
5:28__31 _The genealogical pattern is disrupted by the inclusion of Lamech's explanation for the name NOAH. Lamech's comment on the name "Noah" (Hebrew nuakh), introduces the related concept of "comfort" (Hebrew nakham). Lamech expects that Noah will bring both rest and comfort from the PAINFUL TOIL of working the soil (See 3:17__19). Lamech's 777 YEARS provides an interesting point of contact with his namesake in 4:18__24 and seventy-sevenfold vengeance.
5:32 _Although this verse gives the impression of continuing thr genealogical pettern used in verses 3__31, the naming of three sons, SHEM, HAM, AND JAPHETH, brings the list to an end. A similar ending draws to a conclusion the genealogy of Shem in 11:10__26.
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