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;
5:2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
- “Called their name Adam…” – God called both the man and the woman “Adam”? That doesn’t make much sense, since it clearly states in 3:20 that the woman’s name was Eve, and that it was Adam that named the woman, not God. This actually fits in more with the first creation story instead of the second.
5:3 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:
5:4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
5:5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
This is the first of many excruciatingly boring genealogies found throughout the Bible. Of course, the genealogies have a “profound” use for apologists, since they make it possible to calculate the age of certain events as described in the Bible, most notably the creation of the Earth, and the Universe, too. Based on these calculations, many individuals have been able to predict when the end of the world will occur. Of the hundreds of end-of-world predictions ever made, none seem to have been correct (to my knowledge).
There are two problems with the genealogies. The first is that the genealogies only specify the number of years a certain person lived, not the exact date of birth or death. For the purpose of any calculation, this would introduce an error of at least six months per generation, and can throw off such calculations significantly.
The second problem is the absurd length of the life spans described in these genealogies. We have no evidence that, several thousand years ago, humans had life spans to the tune of 900 years. In fact, the evidence shows quite the opposite, that the human life span has generally increased over the past several centuries, due largely to modern medicine. Thousands of years ago, living past 40 would have been considered old age. And all available medical evidence shows that the human body is simply physically incapable of living much past 100 years.
5:6 And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:
5:7 And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.
5:9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:
5:10 And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:11 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
5:12 And Cainan lived seventy years and begat Mahalaleel:
5:13 And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.
5:15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
5:16 And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.
5:18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:
5:19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
5:21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
5:22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
5:25 And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech.
5:26 And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
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When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not, hmm?!
5:28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
5:29 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.
5:30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.
5:32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.