Genesis 5

From Adam to Noah

(The People’s Bible, Genesis, pages 68-73)

Look

Verse 1 “Written account”—The line of Adam is the second of the ten genealogies in the book of Genesis. The NIV calls them written accounts.

“Man”—Here the writer means mankind, that is, all people, male and female.

Verse 3 “In his own likeness, in his own image”—God had created Adam and Eve in his image. They had been holy and perfect. But things had changed. The image of God had been lost, and now children were being born in the image and likeness of their sinful, mortal parents.

Verse 5 “And then he died.” Like the tolling of a mournful bell, “And then he died” is what we read about them all.

Verse 24 Enoch and Elijah were both taken from this life without experiencing death. (See 2 Kings 2:11.)

Verse 28 “Lamech”—He died in the year of the flood. About 1,600 years passed between creation and the flood. Yet Lamech could have been taught God’s Word by someone who learned it from Adam. Noah was born 1,056 years after creation, just 126 years after Adam died.

Verse 29 “Noah”—Noah’s name sounds like the Hebrew word for comfort. Lamech saw that Noah would be the tool God would use to comfort the world. He expressly mentioned the curse God placed on the earth.

Verse 32 “Shem, Ham and Japheth”—These three men would be the patriarchs from whom would come the major divisions of mankind.

Discuss

1. What theme or refrain comes up again and again as you read through verses 1-27?

2. What is one reason why the Lord allowed the preflood people to live so long? (Hint: Think about the manner in which God’s plan of salvation was relayed during those days.)

Apply

3. Methuselah lived the longest of all known biblical people. Can we understand the length of his life as recorded in Scripture literally?