Genesis 5:3
in Genesis 5When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son in his own likeness, after his own image; and he named him Seth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
KJV
And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
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This verse in Genesis 5
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 3.) Adam lived for two hundred and thirty years, and he begot in his own image and likeness, and he called his name Seth. It should be known that until the Flood, where it is said that somebody is said to have begotten two hundred and something years in our codices, in the Hebrew it has one hundred years and the rest that follow.
This site's exposition
in his own likeness
Adam was made in God's likeness. His son is in Adam's own likeness and image, and Henry read the shift in wording between verse 1 and verse 3 as the fall passing down through the family. The register passes over Cain and Abel and carries the line through Seth.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
This is the book of the generation of mankind. In the day that God created Adam, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them.
Of these the first was Alorus, that is, Adam; the second Alaaprus, Seth; the third, Almêdôn, Enoch; the fourth, Ammeôn, Cainân: the fifth, Ammegalaros, Mahalaleel; the sixth, Daonus, a keeper of sheep, Jared; the seventh, Euedôrachos, Enoch; the eighth, Amempsinachus, Methuselah; the ninth, Otiortes, Lamech; …
Christ is the invisible image of the invisible God, just as according to the Scripture narrative we say that the image of Adam was his son Seth. It is written thus: "And Adam begot Seth after his own image and after his own kind." This image preserves the unity of nature and substance common to a father and a son. For "whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise." In this very fact—that the Son does all things just as the Father does—the Father's image is reproduced in the Son, whose birth from the Father is as it were an act of his will proceeding from the mind.
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 …
Adam lived for one hundred and thirty years, and he begot a son in his own likeness and image, and he named him Seth. Adam indeed was created in the likeness and image of God, because he was made immortal in both soul and body.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
This was Adam's own likeness, the reverse of that divine likeness in which Adam was made; but, having lost it himself, he could not convey it to his seed. Note, Grace does not run in the blood, but corruption does. A sinner begets a sinner, but a saint does not beget a saint.
And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, etc. - 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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
This means that He gave them the power of procreation, to be blessed forever with very many sons and daughters.
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
12 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 |
| אָדָ֗ם | ʾadam | Adam | H121 → | 12 times |
| שְׁלֹשִׁ֤ים | sheloshim | thirty | H7970 → | 172 times |
| וּמְאַת֙ | umeat | and one hundred | H3967 → | 581 times |
| שָׁנָ֔ה | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
| וַיּ֥וֹלֶד | vaiyoled | and he became a father | H3205 → | 496 times |
| בִּדְמוּת֖וֹ | bidmuto | in own likeness his | H1823 → | 25 times |
| כְּצַלְמ֑וֹ | ketzalmo | according to image his | H6754 → | 17 times |
| וַיִּקְרָ֥א | vaiyikra' | and he called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁמ֖וֹ | shemo | name his | H8034 → | 864 times |
| שֵֽׁת׃ | shet | Seth | H8352 → | 9 times |
וַֽיְחִ֣יand he lived
vaychiH2421 →282 times
אָדָ֗םAdam
ʾadamH121 →12 times
שְׁלֹשִׁ֤יםthirty
sheloshimH7970 →172 times
וּמְאַת֙and one hundred
umeatH3967 →581 times
שָׁנָ֔הyear[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
וַיּ֥וֹלֶדand he became a father
vaiyoledH3205 →496 times
בִּדְמוּת֖וֹin own likeness his
bidmutoH1823 →25 times
כְּצַלְמ֑וֹaccording to image his
ketzalmoH6754 →17 times
וַיִּקְרָ֥אand he called
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁמ֖וֹname his
shemoH8034 →864 times
שֵֽׁת׃Seth
shetH8352 →9 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Ephesians 2:3All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.
it leads to
- Titus 3:3
For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
- Galatians 5:16–24
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
- Ephesians 4:22
to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- 1 Peter 1:14
As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.
- Romans 13:14
Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.
- Titus 3:3
Through
Job 25:4How then can a man be just before God? How can one born of woman be pure?
it leads to
- Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
- Psalms 130:3
If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?
- Job 9:2
“Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?
- Romans 5:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Genesis
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 5; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 12; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1.2.6.