Genesis 5

Genesis 5:1

It all begins with God An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Genesis www.easyenglish.info Marie Wetherill and Keith Simons This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 5 v1 This is the account about Adam and his family. On the day when God created Adam, he made Adam like God. v2 God created man and woman. God *blessed them. He called them Adam on the day when he created them.

v3 When Adam had lived for 130 years, he became the father of a son. The son was like Adam himself. The son was like Adam’s own image. Adam called his son Seth. v4 After Seth was born, Adam lived for 800 more years. Adam had other sons and daughters. v5 His whole life lasted 930 years, and then he died.

v6 When Seth had lived for 105 years, he became Enosh’s father. v7 After Enosh was born, Seth lived for 807 more years. Seth had other sons and daughters. v8 His whole life lasted 912 years. Then he died.

v9 When Enosh had lived for 90 years, he became Kenan’s father. v10 After Kenan was born, Enosh lived for 815 more years. Enosh had other sons and daughters. v11 His whole life lasted 905 years. Then he died.

v12 When Kenan had lived for 70 years, he became Mahalalel’s father. v13 After Mahalalel was born, Kenan lived for 840 more years. Kenan had other sons and daughters. v14 His whole life lasted 910 years. Then he died.

v15 When Mahalalel had lived for 65 years, he became Jared’s father. v16 After Jared was born, Mahalalel lived for 830 more years. Mahalalel had other sons and daughters. v17 His whole life lasted 895 years. Then he died.

v18 When Jared had lived for 162 years, he became Enoch’s father. v19 After Enoch was born, Jared lived for 800 more years. Jared had other sons and daughters. v20 His whole life lasted 962 years, and then he died.

v21 When Enoch had lived for 65 years, he became Methuselah’s father. v22 After Methuselah was born, Enoch lived for 300 more years. Enoch was walking with God. He had other sons and daughters. v23 His whole life lasted 365 years. v24 Then Enoch walked with God and Enoch disappeared. God took him away.

v25 When Methuselah had lived for 187 years, he became Lamech’s father. v26 After Lamech was born, Methuselah lived for 782 more years. Methuselah had other sons and daughters. v27 His whole life lasted for 969 years, and then he died.

v28 When Lamech had lived for 182 years, he became the father of a son. v29 Lamech called his son Noah. He said, ‘We pray that this son will bring rest to us from this hard work. It is hard work to farm the ground because God has *cursed the ground.’ v30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived for 595 more years. Lamech had other sons and daughters. v31 His whole life lasted for 777 years, and then he died. v32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

This chapter contrasts with Genesis 4:17-24. Chapter 4 contains a list of Cain’s *descendants. Cain’s *descendants had many skills, but they were very wicked. They became a very large family but they all died in the flood.

But Chapter 5 gives us a list of Adam’s *descendants by Seth. Among this large family were several people who really served God.

Especially, Enoch’s life interests us (verses 21-24). Enoch ‘walked with God’. This means that Enoch had a special relationship or friendship with God. In fact, his friendship was so special that God did not allow Enoch to die. Compare Elijah in 2 Kings 2:11-12. Notes on the verses Verse 1 The words in this verse show that it starts a new section in Genesis. (Look at Genesis 2:4; 6:9; 10:1.) It starts the account about Adam’s *descendants that came from his son Seth.

‘This is the account about Adam and his family.’ The *Hebrew text here actually means ‘the book about Adam’s family’.

Verses 3-32 It is possible that there are gaps in this account. A man in the list may have been the next person’s grandfather or *ancestor. He may not have been the actual father. However, it is likely that there are no gaps. That is because the writer gives exact ages. The earth might be a lot older than Genesis seems to show. Many people have that belief. However, scientists are not at all certain how old the earth is. It does not matter if days and years were a different length then. We know that God made the earth. And he made everything in it. If time was different then, it does not make God less wonderful. And it does not make man less wicked. We trust God.

At that time, people lived longer. Life was healthier. There were not so many illnesses.

Enoch (verse 18) and Lamech (verse 25) were also names of Cain’s *descendants.

In verse 22, Enoch ‘walked’ with God. The writer uses the same word here as when God was walking in Eden. You can read more about Enoch in Jude 14-15.

In verse 25, we read about ‘Methuselah’. We do not know what that name meant. Someone has said that it meant this: ‘When he dies, it will happen.’ (‘It’ here means the flood.) If so, Methuselah lived a long time because God gave extra time to wicked men. God gave them extra time so that they could change their behaviour. Also, the name may mean just ‘he dies’. That reminds us that we all die, even if we may live for a very long time.

In verse 29, Noah sounds like ‘rest’ in *Hebrew.

In verse 32, Noah’s sons were in fact born at different times.

© 2006, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

May 2006

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var w1 = new Array;w1[0]=’<b%3Ebless</b%3E ~ to give someone a blessing; or to be kind to someone; or to do good things for someone; or to promise good things to someone.