I'm continuing my informal study of the Bible's numerous genealogies. Here is the second genealogy in Genesis: the family of Seth, leading to Noah and his sons. This translation is KJV, in the public domain.
Genesis 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.
5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:
4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
6 And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:
7 And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.
9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan [Kenan]:
10 And Enos lived after he begat Cainan [Kenan] eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
11 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
12 And Cainan [Kenan] lived seventy years and begat Mahalaleel:
13 And Cainan [Kenan] lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
14 And all the days of Cainan [Kenan] were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.
15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
16 And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.
18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:
19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
25 And Methuselah lived a hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech.
26 And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:
27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
28 And Lamech lived a hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
29 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.
30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.
32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
1 Chronicles chapter 1 records the lineage this way.
1 Adam, Sheth, Enosh,
2 Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jered,
3 Henoch, Methuselah, Lamech,
4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
And the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3 gives the lineage in reverse order.
son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech, son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalaleel, son of Cainan, son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.
I found a wonderful, 1629 prayer book that has genealogies of the Old Testament. Here is the incomplete title page, and the chart from Adam, Cain and his family, and Seth and his family to Noah.
This week, I studied the New Interpreter’s Bible commentary on Genesis. That author indicates that this genealogy is from the Priestly Source, with the addition of verse 29 which is the Yahwist Source. Thus, the genealogy of Genesis 4:25-5:32 is of the same source as Genesis 1:1-2:4a. The fact that Genesis 4 and 5 give similar names—Cain and Kenan, Irad and Jared, Mehujael and Mahalaleel, Methushael and Methuselah, Lamech and Lamech, Enoch and Enos—implies that the genealogies have a common ancient source but, as recorded in Genesis, are distinct families---cousins descended from the brothers Cain and Seth.
Enoch has a notable place in this lineage. He walked with God, a euphemism for closeness to God (also used in 17:1 and 48:15). I've always found this a lovely image to take to heart. The expression God took him might mean that he died after an honored life, or that God brought him to Heaven similar to Elijah in 2 Kings 2. The passage may also explain why non-canonical, pseudopigraphical works of divine revelation were attributed to Enoch. (The short New Testament book of Jude quotes one of them.) He was uniquely close to God.
Enoch’s son Methuselah gained biblical fame for having the longest life: 969 years. "He's old as Methuselah," my mom sometimes said about some really old person. The NIB commentary suggests that the long lives of people in this period can remind us of the long lifespans of kings in Mesopotamian epics, although those men supposedly lived for thousands of years. The point may be that these are persons of the ancient, unrecoverable past.
Something I read in the past (I don’t know what or when) made the perhaps chiding point that Enoch is known for his close relationship with God, but his son Methuselah is known only for his long life.
Years ago, a pastor friend calculated that Methuselah died in the year of the flood. It’s an intriguing question whether he died in the flood or not.
Of course, the lineage reaches Noah and his sons. “Noah” is a play on the word niham, comfort or relief. Noah’s father Lamech (in contrast to the avenging Lamech of 4:23-24) expresses hope that his son will play a role in the healing of the earth. The reference to the curse of the ground refers us back to Genesis 3:17-19, also of the Yahwist’s source.
The Torah is read in a yearly cycle in synagogue worship (the weekly portion or parshah), accompanied by a related reading from the Prophets (the haftarah). I’ve a wonderful book with those readings: W. Gunther Plaut, The Haftarah Commentary (Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1996). In the Ashkenazic tradition, Genesis 1:1-6:8 (Parshah Bereshit) is accompanied Isaiah 42:5-43:11: the creation of Israel is linked to creation of the universe.
No comments:
Post a Comment