Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 5:3

And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot [a son] in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

3. in his own likeness, after his image ] Cf. Gen 1:26. Man was made in God’s image, after His likeness; he begets a son, in his own likeness, after his image. Many Heb. MSS., however, only read “in his image.” On the words “image” and “likeness,” see note on Gen 1:26. The phrase here is evidently intended to shew that the elements of resemblance to the Divine image, which at the first were implanted in man’s nature, were communicated from father to son.

That the priestly document contained any tradition respecting the Fall, or the murder of Abel, seems improbable.

Seth ] See note on Gen 4:25. The father here gives the name; the mother’s name is not mentioned in this genealogy.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Gen 5:3

And Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his image

Human depravity

THAT HUMAN DEPRAVITY IS TOTAL AS TO ITS INFLUENCE OVER THE HUMAN MIND. By the phrase, human depravity, we mean that corruption of our nature, whereby we are inclined to sin rather than to holiness. The seat of this depravity is within; external forms of wickedness, in words and actions, are only the results and expressions of it, etc. By the heart, we mean the mind and all its faculties and powers; and by the depravity of the heart, we mean that principle within it, call it disposition, energy, or cause, whence those powers receive their inclination and bias, and from the quality of which, they, and the actions resulting from them, derive their character.

II. I now proceed to prove, that THIS DEPRAVITY IS UNIVERSAL IN ITS PREVALENCE AMONGST MANKIND.

1. It exists in all ages. Our proof of this is in universal history.

2. It exists in all countries.

3. In all communities.

4. In all families.

5. In all individuals.

III. IT IS INHERENT IN OUR NATURE, IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE FALL OF ADAM. (T. Raffles, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 3. And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, c.] The Scripture chronology especially in the ages of some of the antediluvian and postdiluvian patriarchs, has exceedingly puzzled chronologists, critics, and divines. The printed Hebrew text, the Samaritan, the Septuagint, and Josephus, are all different, and have their respective vouchers and defenders. The following tables of the genealogies of the patriarchs before and after the flood, according to the Hebrew, Samaritan, and Septuagint, will at once exhibit the discordances.

ANTEDILUVIAN PATRIARCHS LIVED BEFORE THEIR SONS’ BIRTH
	Heb.	Samar.	Sept.
Adam, Gen. v. 3.	130	130	230
Seth, —- 6.	105	105	205
Enos, —- 9.	90	90	190
Cainan, —- 12.	70	70	170
Mahalaleel, —- 15.	65	65	165
Jared, —- 18.	162	62	162
Enoch, —- 21.	65	65	165
Methuselah, —- 25.	187	67	167
Lamech —- 28.	182	53	188
Noah, at the flood, Gen. vii. 6.	600	600	600
Total before the flood,	1656	1307	2242*
In this first period the sum in Josephus is 2256, which is also adopted by Dr. Hales in his New Analysis of Chronology.

POSTDILUVIAN PATRIARCHS LIVED BEFORE THEIR SONS’ BIRTH
	Heb.	Samar.	Sept.
Shem begot Arphaxad after the flood, Gen xi.10.	2	2	2
Arphaxad, Gen xi.12.	35	135	135
Cainan (2d) mentioned only by the LXX. and Luke iii.36.	0	0	130
Salah, Gen. xi. 14.	30	130	130
Eber, —– 16.	34	134	134
Peleg, —– 18.	30	130	130
Reu, —– 20.	32	132	132
Serug, —– 22.	30	130	130
Nahor, —– 24.	29	79	179
Terah, —– 26.	70	70	70
Total to the 70th year of Terah,	292	942	1172*
In this second period the sum in Josephus is 1002.

* The Septuagint account of the ages of the antediluvian and postdiluvian patriarchs in the above tables, is taken from the VATICAN copy, but if we follow the ALEXANDRIAN MS., we shall have in the first period the whole sum of 2262 instead of 2242 and in the second period, 1072 instead of 1172. On this subject the different MSS. of the Septuagint abound with various readings.

For much satisfactory information on this subject I must refer to A New Analysis of Chronology, by the Rev. William Hales, D.D., 3 vols. 4to., London, 1809.

And begat a son in his own likeness, after his image] Words nearly the same with those Ge 1:26: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. What this image and likeness of God were, we have already seen, and we may rest assured that the same image and likeness are not meant here. The body of Adam was created provisionally immortal, i.e. while he continued obedient he could not die; but his obedience was voluntary, and his state a probationary one. The soul of Adam was created in the moral image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. He had now sinned, and consequently had lost his moral resemblance to his Maker; he had also become mortal through his breach of the law. His image and likeness were therefore widely different at this time from what they were before; and his begetting children in this image and likeness plainly implies that they were imperfect like himself, mortal like himself, sinful and corrupt like himself. For it is impossible that he, being impure, fallen from the Divine image, could beget a pure and holy offspring, unless we could suppose it possible that a bitter fountain could send forth sweet waters, or that a cause could produce effects totally dissimilar from itself. What is said here of Seth might have been said of all the other children of Adam, as they were all begotten after his fall; but the sacred writer has thought proper to mark it only in this instance.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Adam lived an hundred and thirty years after he was created, in which time he begat other sons and daughters, as appears from what was said before.

After his image; either,

1. In regard of the natural frame of his body and soul; but this was so evident of itself, that the mention of it had been frivolous. Nor is there any reason why that should be said of Seth, rather than of Cain or Abel. Or,

2. In regard of his corruption, q.d. a weak, sinful, mortal man, like himself; for Adam’s image is here plainly opposed to the likeness of God, wherein Adam is said to be created, Gen 5:1. And this is fitly said of Seth to signify, that although he was a worthy and good man, and, Adam excepted, the most eminent person of the whole church of God; yet he, no less than wicked Cain, was begotten and born in sin; and that all the difference which was between him, and consequently between other good men, and the wicked progeny of Cain, was not from the nature which they received from Adam, but from the grace infused into them by God.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years,…. The Septuagint version, through mistaken, gives the number two hundred and thirty years:

and begat [a son]; not that he had no other children during this time than Cain and Abel; this is only observed to show how old he was when Seth was born, the son here meant; who was begotten

in his own likeness, after his image; not in the likeness, and after the image of God, in which Adam was created; for having sinned, he lost that image, at least it was greatly defaced, and he came short of that glory of God, and could not convey it to his posterity; who are, and ever have been conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity; are polluted and unclean, foolish and disobedient; averse to all that is good, and prone to all that is evil: the sinfulness of nature is conveyed by natural generation, but not holiness and grace; that is not of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the flesh, but of God, and produced of his own will, by his mighty power impressing the image of his Son in regeneration on his people; which by beholding his glory they are more and more changed into by the Spirit of God. The Jewish writers understand this in a good sense, of Seth being like to Adam in goodness, when Cain was not: so the Targum of Jonathan,

“and he begat Seth, who was like to his image and similitude; for before Eve had brought forth Cain, who was not like unto him—but afterwards she brought forth him who was like unto him, and called his name Seth.”

So they say z Cain was not of the seed, nor of the image of Adam, nor his works like Abel his brother; but Seth was of the seed and image of Adam, and his works were like the works of his brother Abel; according to that, “he begat (a son) in his own likeness”. And they assert a, that Adam delivered all his wisdom to Seth his son, who was born after his image and likeness; and particularly Maimonides b observes, that all the sons of Adam before Seth were rather beasts than men, and had not the true human form, not the form and image of men; but Seth, after Adam had taught and instructed him, was in human perfection, as it is said of him, “and he begat in his likeness”: but the text speaks not of the education of Seth, and of what he was through that, but of his birth, and what he was in consequence of it; and we are told by good authority, that “that which is born of the flesh is flesh”, carnal and corrupt, and such are all the sons of Adam by natural generation; see

Job 14:4.

z Pirke Eliezer, c. 22. a Shalshalet Hakabala, apud Hottinger. Smegma, p. 212. b More Nevochim, par. 1. c. 7.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

As Adam was created in the image of God, so did he beget “ in his own likeness, after his image; ” that is to say, he transmitted the image of God in which he was created, not in the purity in which it came direct from God, but in the form given to it by his own self-determination, modified and corrupted by sin. The begetting of the son by whom the line was perpetuated (no doubt in every case the first-born), is followed by an account of the number of years that Adam and the other fathers lived after that, by the statement that each one begat (other) sons and daughters, by the number of years that he lived altogether, and lastly, by the assertion “ and he died.” This apparently superfluous announcement is “intended to indicate by its constant recurrence that death reigned from Adam downwards as an unchangeable law (vid., Rom 5:14). But against this background of universal death, the power of life was still more conspicuous. For the man did not die till he had propagated life, so that in the midst of the death of individuals the life of the race was preserved, and the hope of the seed sustained, by which the author of death should be overcome.” In the case of one of the fathers indeed, viz., Enoch (Gen 5:21.), life had not only a different issue, but also a different form. Instead of the expression “and he lived,” which introduces in every other instance the length of life after the birth of the first-born, we find in the case of Enoch this statement, “ he walked with God ( Elohim) ; ” and instead of the expression “ and he died, ” the announcement, “ and he was not, for God ( Elohim) took him.” The phrase “walked with God,” which is only applied to Enoch and Noah (Gen 6:9), denotes the most confidential intercourse, the closest communion with the personal God, a walking as it were by the side of God, who still continued His visible intercourse with men (vid., Gen 3:8). It must be distinguished from “walking before God” (Gen 17:1; Gen 24:40, etc.), and “walking after God” (Deu 13:4), both which phrases are used to indicate a pious, moral, blameless life under the law according to the directions of the divine commands. The only other passage in which this expression “walk with God” occurs is Mal 2:6, where it denotes not the piety of the godly Israelites generally, but the conduct of the priests, who stood in a closer relation to Jehovah under the Old Testament than the rest of the faithful, being permitted to enter the Holy Place, and hold direct intercourse with Him there, which the rest of the people could not do. The article in gives prominence to the personality of Elohim, and shows that the expression cannot refer to intercourse with the spiritual world.

In Enoch, the seventh from Adam through Seth, godliness attained its highest point; whilst ungodliness culminated in Lamech, the seventh from Adam through Cain, who made his sword his god. Enoch, therefore, like Elijah, was taken away by God, and carried into the heavenly paradise, so that he did not see (experience) death (Heb 11:5); i.e., he was taken up from this temporal life and transfigured into life eternal, being exempted by God from the law of death and of return to the dust, as those of the faithful will be, who shall be alive at the coming of Christ to judgment, and who in like manner shall not taste of death and corruption, but be changed in a moment. There is no foundation for the opinion, that Enoch did not participate at his translation in the glorification which awaits the righteous at the resurrection. For, according to 1Co 15:20, 1Co 15:23, it is not in glorification, but in the resurrection, that Christ is the first-fruits. Now the latter presupposes death. Whoever, therefore, through the grace of God is exempted from death, cannot rise from the dead, but reaches , or the glorified state of perfection, through being “changed” or “clothed upon” (2Co 5:4). This does not at all affect the truth of the statement in Rom 5:12, Rom 5:14. For the same God who has appointed death as the wages of sin, and given us, through Christ, the victory over death, possesses the power to glorify into eternal life an Enoch and an Elijah, and all who shall be alive at the coming of the Lord without chaining their glorification to death and resurrection. Enoch and Elijah were translated into eternal life with God without passing through disease, death, and corruption, for the consolation of believers, and to awaken the hope of a life after death. Enoch’s translation stands about half way between Adam and the flood, in the 987th year after the creation of Adam. Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, and Jared were still alive. His son Methuselah and his grandson Lamech were also living, the latter being 113 years old. Noah was not yet born, and Adam was dead. His translation, in consequence of his walking with God, was “an example of repentance to all generations,” as the son of Sirach says (Ecclus. 44:16); and the apocryphal legend in the book of Enoch Gen 1:9 represents him as prophesying of the coming of the Lord, to execute judgment upon the ungodly (Jud 1:14-15). In comparison with the longevity of the other fathers, Enoch was taken away young, before he had reached half the ordinary age, as a sign that whilst long life, viewed as a time for repentance and grace, is indeed a blessing from God, when the ills which have entered the world through sin are considered, it is also a burden and trouble which God shortens for His chosen. That the patriarchs of the old world felt the ills of this earthly life in all their severity, was attested by Lamech (Gen 5:28, Gen 5:29), when he gave his son, who was born 69 years after Enoch’s translation, the name of Noah, saying, “ This same shall comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.” Noah, from to rest and to bring rest, is explained by to comfort, in the sense of helpful and remedial consolation. Lamech not only felt the burden of his work upon the ground which God had cursed, but looked forward with a prophetic presentiment to the time when the existing misery and corruption would terminate, and a change for the better, a redemption from the curse, would come. This presentiment assumed the form of hope when his son was born; he therefore gave expression to it in his name. But his hope was not realized, at least not in the way that he desired. A change did indeed take place in the lifetime of Noah. By the judgment of the flood the corrupt race was exterminated, and in Noah, who was preserved because of his blameless walk with God, the restoration of the human race was secured; but the effects of the curse, though mitigated, were not removed; whilst a covenant sign guaranteed the preservation of the human race, and therewith, by implication, his hope of the eventual removal of the curse (Gen 9:8-17).

The genealogical table breaks off with Noah; all that is mentioned with reference to him being the birth of his three sons, when he was 500 years old (Gen 5:32; see Gen 11:10), without any allusion to the remaining years of his life-an indication of a later hand. “The mention of three sons leads to the expectation, that whereas hitherto the line has been perpetuated through one member alone, in the future each of the three sons will form a new beginning (vid., Gen 9:18-19; Gen 10:1).” – M. Baumgarten.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

3. And begat a son in his own likeness. We have lately said that Moses traces the offspring of Adam only through the line of Seth, to propose for our consideration the succession of the Church. In saying that Seth begat a son after his own image, he refers in part to the first origin of our nature: at the same time its corruption and pollution is to be noticed, which having been contracted by Adam through the fall, has flowed down to all his posterity. If he had remained upright, he would have transmitted to all his children what he had received: but now we read that Seth, as well as the rest, was defiled; because Adams who had fallen from his original state, could beget none but such as were like himself. If any one should object that Seth with his family had been elected by the special grace of God: the answer is easy and obvious; namely, that a supernatural remedy does not prevent carnal generation from participating in the corruption of sin. Therefore, according to the flesh, Seth was born a sinner; but afterwards he was renewed by the grace of the Spirit. This sad instance of the holy patriarch furnishes us with ample occasion to deplore our own wretchedness.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(3) In his own likeness, after his image.That is, Adam handed down to his posterity that Divine likeness which he had himself received.

Seth.See on Gen. 4:25.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

‘When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.’

This is the pattern for the whole genealogy with the partial exception of Enoch. We have here, repeated again and again, the formula ‘became the father of, lived after, had other sons and daughters, total number of years, died’. So each is fruitful, each lives a long life, and each dies.

It is stressed that Seth is in the image and likeness of Adam. Thus he shares the likeness with the heavenly court (see on Gen 5:1 b). He too is more than just an earthly creature. Yet because man is now a fallen creature the writer deliberately does not say he is in the image and likeness of God. He is in the image and likeness of Adam, for like Adam he must die. (In Gen 9:6, however, God can still describe man as made in His image).

Adam’s death at nine hundred and thirty years, which is seventy short of a thousand is significant. Certainly in later times a thousand years represented a full and perfect period, the ideal. But Adam does not reach the ideal for he has sinned. Thus he is a God appointed time short of it, seventy years (intensified seven). The message is that God controls all things, even this.

We note again that the list does not necessarily list the first born. In Gen 11:12 Arpachshad is mentioned, but he is probably only the third son (Gen 10:22).

The names of the patriarchs are interesting, although it is too easy to translate them to suit a theory and we must beware of doing so. The present names are Hebrew renderings of an unknown primitive original and are probably renderings on the basis of sound rather than meaning. ‘Seth’ means ‘the appointer’, or, if a substantive, ‘foundation’. Enosh means ‘man’ in his frailty, no longer the strong ‘adam’ but the weak ‘enosh’. Kenan (qaynan) is closely related to the name Cain (qayin). Attempts have therefore been made to suggest that this is a duplicate line to that of Cain. But far more likely does it bring out the primitive nature of the names and that there was a tendency to keep to familiar names with familiar ideas. We would not expect great inventiveness in the early use of names. The point is that they are different names but similar in meaning and idea. There may well also have been the deliberate intention of demonstrating that Seth’s line have replaced that of Adam-Cain.

Mahalal-el means ‘praise of God’. Yared means ‘descent’. Enoch means ‘dedication’ or ‘beginning’.

Gen 5:21

‘When Enoch had lived sixty five years he became the father of Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty five years, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.’

Like Noah (Gen 6:9), Enoch is said to have ‘walked with God’. This is clearly an indication of extreme godliness, and of a close relationship with God. We can compare Mal 2:6 – (spoken of Levi) ‘he walked with me in peace and uprightness and turned many from iniquity’. In contrast Abraham only walked ‘before God’ (Gen 17:1; Gen 24:40). There is a possible deliberate contrast between Enoch’s walk with God and the activities of Lamech and his sons, seventh in the line of Cain.

His walk with God is mentioned as occurring ‘after the birth of Methuselah’. This may just arise from following the regular pattern of the descriptions or may signify a deep spiritual experience some time following that event. The name of his son may mean ‘man of Lach (a god)’ indicating idolatry. This is in interesting contrast with Methusha-el (Gen 4:18) ‘who is of El’. Enoch seemingly began his walk with God after the birth of Methuselah.

But of Enoch alone is it said that ‘he was not, for God took him’, rather than that he died. The phrase is enigmatic. While as a result of later revelation we may see in this phrase the thought that he was taken up to God the Pentateuch mentions nothing of an afterlife. A man was seen as living on in his sons. Yet it was clearly felt that Enoch’s demise was somehow different.

This may not, however, mean that he did not die. If we take his age even partly literally Enoch, in fact, departed this life relatively young, and we have to consider the possibility that what happened to him was that he met a violent end, a martyrdom (the earth was filled with violence – Gen 6:11). As one who walked with God he may well have been the target of evil men. Perhaps one day he left his family home and was never heard of again. As time passed and he did not return, his family recognised that he was no longer on earth and they therefore thought in terms of God having ‘taken him’, how they knew not. One moment he was there, the next he was gone. And they would find comfort in the thought that he was ‘taken’.

It may be said, on the other hand, that Heb 11:5 does say ‘by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, and he was not found, for God translated him’. But this may only be signifying his unique departure in the context. It may be saying that he was not one of those who died a lingering death and of whom it was said, ‘and he died’. Was he also there seen as ‘translated’ through martyrdom which was seen as God taking him? The context is one of martyrdom.

However, if we see the ten patriarchs as representative of a whole line stretching over thousands of years, with the specific ages being symbolic, then the deliberate positioning of Enoch as seventh (the number of divine perfection) in contrast with the sons of Lamech (who were also placed seventh) may be seen as contrasting the holiness and godliness of Enoch with the ‘worldliness of either Lamech (the seventh from Adam) or the sons of Lamech (the seventh in their genealogy), and show him uniquely as ‘the heavenly man’.

The age of Enoch, 365 years, was the number of days in a year, almost certainly intended (if not literal) to indicate his connection with the heavens through his especially godly life. Once we see Enoch like this the phrase ‘he was not, because God took him’ may be seen as taking on a new meaning. It may now become a positive affirmation of a unique experience, a claim that for those very few who ‘walk with God’ a further life awaits with God in contrast with the shadowy world of the grave, because they are so special. Of all the other patriarchs it is said, ominously, that they died. Is there here the suggestion that death may be counteracted? If so it is only a hint not taken up further until much later on. Nor was it seen to contradict the standard belief in Sheol.

But the fact is that his ‘early’ cessation could be seen as indicating a short life, which might have suggested the displeasure of God. To speak of an early death could point to failure and weakness on his part. Thus the description may be deliberately counteracting that idea. The extreme age given for Methuselah might then also have arisen because the writer is seeking to make up for this by making his son ‘live’ the maximum age possible (up to the flood) so that he is the longest living man. It may be that this, at least partly, was seen as counteracting the ‘shortness’ of Enoch’s life.

Gen 5:28

‘When Lamech had lived one hundred and eighty two years he became the father of a son, and called his name Noah (noach = to rest), saying, “Out of the ground which Yahweh has cursed this one shall bring us relief (nacham) from our work, and from the toil of our hands”. Lamech lived after the birth of Noah five hundred and ninety five years, and had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy seven years, and he died.’

Lamech lives for seven hundred and seventy seven years. This threefold seven must be seen as in indication of the ‘perfect’ life and contrasts with the seventy and seven of Lamech in Gen 4:24, showing the superiority of the line of Seth both in holiness and prestige.

Lamech’s statement about his son demonstrates a knowledge of the fall, and the curse and covenant which ensued. The ground is cursed by Yahweh and yields its fruits reluctantly. Noah will thus be a comfort to them because he can help with the work of survival. The birth of a man child is always looked on as a special blessing in the East because he will be a major producer. Note the play on words of two similar roots, which is typical of namings as we have seen (when looking at the roots it is the consonants that we must consider. The vowels were mainly not part of the text).

It is possibly noteworthy that just as the son of Lamech the Cainite reintroduced domestication of animals among the Cainites (see Gen 4:20), a sign of a new beginning and a claim that the curse on Cain was over, so the son of Lamech of the line of Seth is indicated to have similar potential with regard to the curse on the ground. After the flood God will promise the reliability of the seasons in order to take away the uncertainties of agriculture. So Lamech’s words can be seen as prophetic.

Some see in the words a reference to the fact that Noah would become a vine dresser and wine producer (Gen 9:20).

Some try to suggest that Gen 5:29 is an interpolation. This is solely in the interests of the Documentary Theory (making the verse so-called J rather than so-called P). But similar brief comments in a genealogy were commonplace where they were an integral part of the narrative (see the king lists) and there are no grounds for the suggestion apart from the interests of a Theory. The suggestion must therefore be rejected.

Gen 5:32

‘And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begat Shem, Ham and Japheth’.

As with Lamech at the end of Cain’s line, Noah begets three sons, a sign of complete fulfilment.

We notice that while Noah’s end is later mentioned (Gen 9:28-29) no mention is made of ‘sons and daughters’. It is, of course, possible that he had no other sons and daughters, but in view of what has preceded it seems very unlikely. Thus the omission of a mention of sons and daughters is probably so that no suggestion might be seen in 6:1 that the daughters there might include Noah’s. The writer wishes him to be kept free from the disgrace that would come with such an idea. Only the sons who were faithful and came through the flood are mentioned.

Note that what might be described as the ‘usual’ ending comes in Gen 9:28-29, and also refers back to the flood. Both these factors demonstrate the interconnection of the stories and genealogies so that all are part of one whole.

The unusual age of begetting must have some significance. Five is the number of the covenant, thus five hundred is five intensified, and it may be that this is stressing that these sons will all participate in the coming covenant.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Gen 5:3. Lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son, &c. As the whole beginning of this chapter is a recapitulation only to introduce an account of the descendants of Adam by Seth, we can conclude nothing respecting any other children of Adam, though there seems no reason to doubt that he had several, who are not mentioned: and probably the words, he begat sons and daughters, at the end of the fourth verse, may refer as well to the children born before as after the period there mentioned.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Gen 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat [a son] in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

Ver. 3. Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begat. ] This was a great trial to his faith, to wait so long for a better issue, when the Cainites spread abroad, erected cities, and perhaps meditated monarchies.

After his own image. ] Corruptus corruptum . For “who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?” says Job. Job 14:4 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh,” Joh 3:6 saith our Saviour, and we can say no better of it. This is hard to persuade men to; for each one is apt to think his own penny as good silver: and a dead woman will have four to carry her forth, as the proverb has it. The Pharisee, bad enough though he be, yet is very braggardly of his good estate to Godward: And Novatus cries out, Non habeo, Domine, quod mihi ignoscas . How much better St Augustine, Ego admisi, Domine, unde tu damnare potes me; sed non amisisti, unde tu salvare potes me . One has destroyed me, but from you is my help – my safety here, and salvation hereafter. Lord I am hell, but you are heaven, as that martyr a once said, &c. “One depth called upon another”; Psa 42:7 the depth of my misery, the depth of thy mercy. Heaven denies me; earth groans under me; hell gapes for me: help, Lord, or your servant perishes. “Wash me throughly from my iniquity, and purge me from my sin”; Psa 51:2 whether that imputed to me, inherent in me, or issuing from me.

a Bp. Hooper.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 5:3-5

3When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. 4Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. 5So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

Gen 5:3 Adam . . . became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image There are two possible interpretations of this phrase: (1) like other earthly animals, Adam produced offspring after his own kind (cf. Gen 1:11) or (2) this shows that God’s image (cf. Gen 1:26-27) is still in mankind even after the fall.

Gen 5:5 all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years There has been much discussion about the length of human life before and immediately after the great flood (i.e. the antediluvian period). Some have asserted that

1. it is figurative;

2. they calculated years differently;

3. sin had simply not pervaded the earth as it has today; or

4. the large numbers were used to show honor for previous leaders as in the Sumerian lists of ten ancient kings. In that list, the kings before the flood lived much longer than the kings after the flood, much as in the genealogies of the Bible.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

own. Adam created in God’s likeness. All his descendants begotten in Adam’s likeness, after his Fall. See Psa 51:5. Rom 5:12-19.

Seth. Refers back to Gen 4:25, and develops his line.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

am 130, bc 3874

hundred: The chronology differs in the Hebrew Text, the Samaritan, the LXX, and Josephus. The LXX adds 100 years to each of the patriarchs Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, and Enoch, before the birth of their sons; while they take 20 from the age of Methuselah, and add 6 to that of Lamech Thus the space from the creation to the deluge is made 2,242 years, according to the Vatican copy, but 2,262 by the Alexandrine; and the sum total by Josephus is 2,265, by the Samaritan 1,307, and the Hebrew Text, 1,656. The sum total from the Deluge to the 70th year of Terah, according to these authorities, is, Heb. 292; Sam. 942; Sept. Vat. 1,172; Alex. 1,072, and Josephus 1,002.

in his: Job 14:4, Job 15:14-16, Job 25:4, Psa 14:2, Psa 14:3, Psa 51:5, Luk 1:35, Joh 3:6, Rom 5:12, 1Co 15:39, Eph 2:3

called: Gen 4:25

Reciprocal: Num 24:17 – all the children Num 32:14 – an increase 1Ch 1:1 – Sheth Ecc 1:4 – One generation Luk 3:38 – which was the son of Adam 1Co 15:48 – such are they also that are earthy 1Co 15:49 – as

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Gen 5:3. Seth was born in the one hundred and thirtieth year of Adams life, and probably the murder of Abel was not long before. Many other sons and daughters were born to Adam besides Cain and Abel, before this; but no notice is taken of them, because an honourable mention must be made of his name only, in whose loins Christ and the church were: but that which is most observable here concerning Seth, is, that Adam begat him in his own likeness, after his image. Adam was made in the image of God; but when he was fallen and corrupted, he begat a son in his own image, sinful and defiled, frail and mortal, and miserable like himself; not only a man like himself, consisting of body and soul; but a sinner like himself, guilty and obnoxious, degenerate and corrupt. This was Adams own likeness, the reverse of that divine likeness in which he was made, and which, having lost it himself, he could not convey to his seed.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat [a son] in his own {c} likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: