Genesis 5

THE SETHITE GENEALOGY FROM ADAM TO NOAH, Genesis 5:1-32 .

Having now recorded the main features in the development of the race of Cain, and having also informed us of the birth of Seth and his appointment to pious Abel’s place, the sacred writer proceeds in the present chapter to record a more detailed and complete genealogy of this child of hope and of prophecy. Names, dates, and ages are carefully given, for this is the record of a chosen seed, through which, in an age long subsequent, the evangelist will trace the human lineage of man’s adorable Redeemer. Comp. Luke 3:36-38. Cain’s race had no such future, but all perished by the flood . They were, therefore, more rapidly passed over by the sacred historian, as calling for no such details as the permanent historic line of the godly race .

There are strong resemblances and contrasts between the Sethitic and Cainitic lines. There is an obvious similarity and sometimes identity of names. The names Enoch, or Henoch, and Lamech occur in both; Adam and Enos both signify man; and the resemblance between Cain and Cainan, Irad and Jared, Methuselah and Methusael, and Mehujael and Mahalaleel is striking. But there is a marked contrast when we consider the signification of the names. The etymology of some of them is obscure, but we give the two lines in contrast, with the most probable meanings attached to the names:

Cainitic line, chap. 4. Sethitic line, chap. 5.

1. Adam, (man of the earth.) 1. Adam, (man of the earth.) 2. Cain, (begotten.) 2. Seth, (appointed.) 3. Henoch, (initiating, or initiated.) 3. Enos, (weak man.) 4. Irad, (city dweller.) 4. Cainan, (possession.) 5. Mehujael, (smitten of God.) 5. Mahalaleel, (praise of God.) 6. Methusael, (man of God.) 6. Jared, (condescension.) 7. Lamech, (the strong.) Adah, (ornament;) Zillah 7. Henoch, (initiated.) 8. Methuselah, (man of the dart, Naamah, (loveliness.) or man of growth.)÷Genesis 5:8