Genesis 5:21
in Genesis 5When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
KJV
And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
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This verse in Genesis 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1307: “Enoch” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1876)
THE three passages of Scripture which I have read are all the authentic information we have concerning Enoch. It would be idle to supplement it with the fictions of ancient commentators. Enoch is called the seventh from Adam, to distinguish him from the other Enoch of the line of Cain, who was the third from Adam. In the first Patriarchs God was pleased to manifest to men portions of His Truth in reference to true religion.
This site's exposition
When Enoch was 65 years old
on Genesis 5:21-24
The pattern breaks once. Enoch walked with God is said twice, at verse 22 and again at verse 24, and Genesis 41:32 says a doubled word is established by God. Hebrews 11:5 says he was taken so that he never died.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
It should be noted that where our Codices, translated from the Hebrew source, say Adam lived for one hundred and thirty years and begot Seth, the ancient translation has, instead of one hundred and thirty, two hundred and thirty; where our Codices continue, "And the …
Furthermore, Enoch lived sixty-five years and begot Methuselah, and walked with God. After he begot Methuselah, he lived for three hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters. It is said that he walked with God.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah. Here the Septuagint version adds again an hundred years; and that Enoch had a son, whose name was Methuselah, is affirmed by Eupolemus (r), an Heathen writer; and Enoch being a prophet gave him this name under a spirit of prophecy, foretelling by it when the flood should be; for his name, according to Bochart (s), signifies, "when he dies there shall be an emission", or sending forth of waters upon the earth, to destroy it, (r) Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 17. p. 419. (s) Thaleg. l.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Enoch . . . begat Methuselah--This name signifies, "He dieth, and the sending forth," so that Enoch gave it as prophetical of the flood. It is computed that Methuselah died in the year of that catastrophe.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Enoch . . . begat Methuselah--This name signifies, "He dieth, and the sending forth," so that Enoch gave it as prophetical of the flood. It is computed that Methuselah died in the year of that catastrophe.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1307: “Enoch” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1876)
proposed
THE three passages of Scripture which I have read are all the authentic information we have concerning Enoch. It would be idle to supplement it with the fictions of ancient commentators. Enoch is called the seventh from Adam, to distinguish him from the other Enoch of the line of Cain, who was the third from Adam. In the first Patriarchs God was pleased to manifest to men portions of His Truth in reference to true religion. These men of the olden times were not only, themselves, taught of God, but they were also teachers of their age and types in whom great Truths of God were exhibited. Abel taught the need of approaching the Lord with sacrifice, the need of the Atonement by blood—he laid the lamb upon the altar and sealed his testimony with his own blood. Atonement is so precious a Truth of God that to die for its defense is a worthy deed and from the very first it is a doctrine which has secured its martyrs, who being dead yet speak. Then Seth and Enos taught men the necessity of a distinct avowal of their faith in the Lord and the need of assembling for His worship, for we read concerning the days of Enos and Seth, "Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord." Those who worshipped through the atoning Sacrifice separated themselves from the rest of men, assembled a Church in the name of the Lord and worshipped, calling upon the name of Jehovah. The heart must first believe in the great sacrifice with Abel and then the mouth must confess the same with Seth. Then came Enoch whose life went beyond the reception and confession of the Atonement, for he set before men the great Truth of communion with God. He displayed in his life the relation of the Believer to the Most High and showed how near the living God condescends to be to His own children.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
ENOCH. Son of Jared. Scripture says about Enoch, And Enoch walked with God.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיְחִ֣י | vaychi | and he lived | H2421 → | 282 times |
| חֲנ֔וֹךְ | chanokh | Enoch | H2585 → | 16 times |
| חָמֵ֥שׁ | chamesh | five | H2568 → | 343 times |
| וְשִׁשִּׁ֖ים | veshishim | and sixty | H8346 → | 59 times |
| שָׁנָ֑ה | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
| וַיּ֖וֹלֶד | vaiyoled | and he fathered | H3205 → | 496 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מְתוּשָֽׁלַח׃ | metushalach | Methuselah | H4968 → | 6 times |
וַֽיְחִ֣יand he lived
vaychiH2421 →282 times
חֲנ֔וֹךְEnoch
chanokhH2585 →16 times
חָמֵ֥שׁfive
chameshH2568 →343 times
וְשִׁשִּׁ֖יםand sixty
veshishimH8346 →59 times
שָׁנָ֑הyear[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
וַיּ֖וֹלֶדand he fathered
vaiyoledH3205 →496 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מְתוּשָֽׁלַח׃Methuselah
metushalachH4968 →6 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
2 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 3:37the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan,
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 1:1–3
Adam, Seth, Enosh,
- Genesis 5:6–28
When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of Enosh.
- 1 Chronicles 1:1–3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1307: “Enoch” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1307: Enoch; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.