Genesis
Chapter 5
This is the record of Adam’s descendants. When God created Adam, he made him in the likeness of God;
male and female he created them; he blessed them and called them man on the day they were created.
Adam was a hundred and thirty years old when he became the father of a son born in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.
After the birth of Seth, Adam lived for eight hundred years and had other sons and daughters.
Altogether Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years; then he died.
When Seth was one hundred and five years old, he became the father of Enosh.
After Enosh’s birth, Seth lived for eight hundred and seven more years. He had other sons and daughters.
In total, Seth lived for nine hundred and twelve years; then he died.
When Enosh was ninety years old, he became the father of Kenan.
After Kenan was born, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years and had other sons and daughters.
In total, Enosh lived nine hundred and five years; then he died.
When Kenan was seventy years old, he became the father of Mahalalel.
After Mahalalel’s birth, Kenan lived for eight hundred and forty more years and had other sons and daughters.
In total, Kenan’s lifespan was nine hundred and ten years; then he died.
When Mahalalel was sixty-five years old, he became the father of Jared.
After that, Mahalalel lived for eight hundred and thirty years and had other sons and daughters.
All the days of Mahalalel totaled eight hundred and ninety-five years; then he died.
When Jared was one hundred and sixty-two years old, he became the father of Enoch.
After Enoch’s birth, Jared lived for eight hundred years and had other sons and daughters.
In total, Jared lived for nine hundred and sixty-two years; then he died.
When Enoch was sixty-five years old, he became the father of Methuselah.
After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God for three hundred years and had other sons and daughters.
In total, Enoch lived three hundred sixty-five years.
After walking with God, Enoch disappeared because God took him up.
When Methuselah was one hundred eighty-seven years old, he became the father of Lamech.
After Lamech’s birth, Methuselah lived seven hundred eighty-two more years and had other sons and daughters.
In total, Methuselah lived nine hundred sixty-nine years; then he died.
Lamech was one hundred eighty-two years old when he became the father of a son
and named him Noah, for he said:
“He will console us in the hard toil and suffering of our hands because of the soil that the Lord cursed.”
After Noah’s birth, Lamech lived five hundred ninety-five years and had other sons and daughters.
In total, Lamech lived seven hundred seventy-seven years; then he died.
When Noah was five hundred years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Commentaries
The Descendants of Seth.
The data presented in this passage must be aligned with the global plan that the writers establish regarding the meaning of history: they interpret it in terms of fidelity or infidelity to the divine plan. It is not, therefore, about characters who have achieved such longevity. The number of years serves as a means of quantifying the quality of life, but above all, it reflects the consistency of adherence to or rejection of the divine plan. Note the irregular variation in ages, whose true intention is to set the scene for the story that follows, the story of Noah and the flood. We can say that a characteristic of this list of characters, which derives from the trunk that replaced the murdered Abel, is that they represent the lineage of the “good,” in contrast to the lineage of Cain, who represents the “bad.” Yet, this good offspring is also the cause of the flood, as they were unable to maintain the high quality of life that follows from the divine plan.