Genesis 5:1-32

From Adam to Noah

5:1 This is the record ¹  of the family line ²  of Adam.

When God created humankind, ³  he made them ⁴  in the likeness of God. 5:2 He created them male and female; when they were created, he blessed them and named them “humankind.” ⁵ 

5:3 When ⁶  Adam had lived 130 years he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and he named him Seth. 5:4 The length of time Adam lived ⁷  after he became the father of Seth was 800 years; during this time he had ⁸  other ⁹  sons and daughters. 5:5 The entire lifetime ¹⁰  of Adam was 930 years, and then he died. ¹¹ 

5:6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father ¹²  of Enosh. 5:7 Seth lived 807 years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had ¹³  other ¹⁴  sons and daughters. 5:8 The entire lifetime of Seth was 912 years, and then he died.

5:9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. 5:10 Enosh lived 815 years after he became the father of Kenan, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:11 The entire lifetime of Enosh was 905 years, and then he died.

5:12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. 5:13 Kenan lived 840 years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:14 The entire lifetime of Kenan was 910 years, and then he died.

5:15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared. 5:16 Mahalalel lived 830 years after he became the father of Jared, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:17 The entire lifetime of Mahalalel was 895 years, and then he died.

5:18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. 5:19 Jared lived 800 years after he became the father of Enoch, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:20 The entire lifetime of Jared was 962 years, and then he died.

5:21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 5:22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God ¹⁵  for 300 years, ¹⁶  and he had other ¹⁷  sons and daughters. 5:23 The entire lifetime of Enoch was 365 years. 5:24 Enoch walked with God, and then he disappeared ¹⁸  because God took ¹⁹  him away.

5:25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. 5:26 Methuselah lived 782 years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other ²⁰  sons and daughters. 5:27 The entire lifetime of Methuselah was 969 years, and then he died.

5:28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 5:29 He named him Noah, ²¹  saying, “This one will bring us comfort ²²  from our labor and from the painful toil of our hands because of the ground that the Lord has cursed.” 5:30 Lamech lived 595 years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other ²³  sons and daughters. 5:31 The entire lifetime of Lamech was 777 years, and then he died.

5:32 After Noah was 500 years old, he ²⁴  became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 24:47

24:47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.’ ²⁵  I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.

Matthew 3:2

3:2 “Repent, ²⁶  for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Matthew 3:10-12

3:10 Even now the ax is laid at ²⁷  the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

3:11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy ²⁸  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ²⁹  3:12 His winnowing fork ³⁰  is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, ³¹  but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.” ³² 

Acts 2:38-40

2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized ³³  in the name of Jesus Christ ³⁴  for ³⁵  the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁶  2:39 For the promise ³⁷  is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” 2:40 With many other words he testified ³⁸  and exhorted them saying, “Save yourselves from this perverse ³⁹  generation!”

Acts 3:19

3:19 Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out,

Revelation 2:21-22

2:21 I ⁴⁰  have given her time to repent, but ⁴¹  she is not willing to repent of her sexual immorality. 2:22 Look! I am throwing her onto a bed of violent illness, ⁴²  and those who commit adultery with her into terrible suffering, ⁴³  unless they repent of her deeds.

[5:1]  ¹ tn Heb “book” or “roll.” Cf. NIV “written account”; NRSV “list.”

[5:1]  ² tn Heb “generations.” See the note on the phrase “this is the account of” in 2:4.

[5:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has אָדָם (’adam).

[5:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “him.” The Hebrew text uses the third masculine singular pronominal suffix on the accusative sign. The pronoun agrees grammatically with its antecedent אָדָם (’adam). However, the next verse makes it clear that אָדָם is collective here and refers to “humankind,” so it is preferable to translate the pronoun with the English plural.

[5:2]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew word used here is אָדָם (’adam).

[5:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “and Adam lived 130 years.” In the translation the verb is subordinated to the following verb, “and he fathered,” and rendered as a temporal clause.

[5:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “The days of Adam.”

[5:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “he fathered.”

[5:4]  ⁹ tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[5:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all the days of Adam which he lived”

[5:5]  ¹¹ sn The genealogy traces the line from Adam to Noah and forms a bridge between the earlier accounts and the flood story. Its constant theme of the reign of death in the human race is broken once with the account of Enoch, but the genealogy ends with hope for the future through Noah. See further G. F. Hasel, “The Genealogies of Gen. 5 and 11 and their Alleged Babylonian Background,” AUSS 16 (1978): 361-74; idem, “Genesis 5 and 11,” Origins 7 (1980): 23-37.

[5:6]  ¹² tn Heb “he fathered.”

[5:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “he fathered.”

[5:7]  ¹⁴ tn Here and in vv. 10, 13, 16, 19 the word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[5:22]  ¹⁵ sn With the seventh panel there is a digression from the pattern. Instead of simply saying that Enoch lived, the text observes that he “walked with God.” The rare expression “walked with” (the Hitpael form of the verb הָלָךְ, halakh, “to walk” collocated with the preposition אֶת, ’et, “with”) is used in 1 Sam 25:15 to describe how David’s men maintained a cordial and cooperative relationship with Nabal’s men as they worked and lived side by side in the fields. In Gen 5:22 the phrase suggests that Enoch and God “got along.” This may imply that Enoch lived in close fellowship with God, leading a life of devotion and piety. An early Jewish tradition, preserved in 1 En. 1:9 and alluded to in Jude 14, says that Enoch preached about the coming judgment. See F. S. Parnham, “Walking with God,” EvQ 46 (1974): 117-18.

[5:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and Enoch walked with God, after he became the father of Methuselah, [for] 300 years.”

[5:22]  ¹⁷ tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[5:24]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew construction has the negative particle אֵין (’en, “there is not,” “there was not”) with a pronominal suffix, “he was not.” Instead of saying that Enoch died, the text says he no longer was present.

[5:24]  ¹⁹ sn The text simply states that God took Enoch. Similar language is used of Elijah’s departure from this world (see 2 Kgs 2:10). The text implies that God overruled death for this man who walked with him.

[5:26]  ²⁰ tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[5:29]  ²¹ sn The name Noah appears to be related to the Hebrew word נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”). There are several wordplays on the name “Noah” in the story of the flood.

[5:29]  ²² tn The Hebrew verb יְנַחֲמֵנוּ (yÿnakhamenu) is from the root נָחָם (nakham), which means “to comfort” in the Piel verbal stem. The letters נ (nun) and ח (heth) pick up the sounds in the name “Noah,” forming a paronomasia on the name. They are not from the same verbal root, and so the connection is only by sound. Lamech’s sentiment reflects the oppression of living under the curse on the ground, but also expresses the hope for relief in some way through the birth of Noah. His words proved to be ironic but prophetic. The relief would come with a new beginning after the flood. See E. G. Kraeling, “The Interpretations of the Name Noah in Genesis 5:29,” JBL 48 (1929): 138-43.

[5:30]  ²³ tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[5:32]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Noah.” The pronoun (“he”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:47]  ²⁵ tn Heb “whom Milcah bore to him.” The referent (Nahor) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ²⁶ tn Grk “and saying, ‘Repent.’” The participle λέγων (legwn) at the beginning of v. 2 is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[3:10]  ²⁷ sn Laid at the root. That is, placed and aimed, ready to begin cutting.

[3:11]  ²⁸ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:11]  ²⁹ sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

[3:12]  ³⁰ sn A winnowing fork was a pitchfork-like tool used to toss threshed grain in the air so that the wind blew away the chaff, leaving the grain to fall to the ground. The note of purging is highlighted by the use of imagery involving sifting though threshed grain for the useful kernels.

[3:12]  ³¹ tn Or “granary,” “barn” (referring to a building used to store a farm’s produce rather than a building to house livestock).

[3:12]  ³² sn The image of fire that cannot be extinguished is from the OT: Job 20:26; Isa 34:8-10; 66:24.

[2:38]  ³³ tn The verb is a third person imperative, but the common translation “let each of you be baptized” obscures the imperative force in English, since it sounds more like a permissive (“each of you may be baptized”) to the average English reader.

[2:38]  ³⁴ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:38]  ³⁵ tn There is debate over the meaning of εἰς in the prepositional phrase εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν (eis afesin twn Jamartiwn Jumwn, “for/because of/with reference to the forgiveness of your sins”). Although a causal sense has been argued, it is difficult to maintain here. ExSyn 369-71 discusses at least four other ways of dealing with the passage: (1) The baptism referred to here is physical only, and εἰς has the meaning of “for” or “unto.” Such a view suggests that salvation is based on works – an idea that runs counter to the theology of Acts, namely: (a) repentance often precedes baptism (cf. Acts 3:19; 26:20), and (b) salvation is entirely a gift of God, not procured via water baptism (Acts 10:43 [cf. v. 47]; 13:38-39, 48; 15:11; 16:30-31; 20:21; 26:18); (2) The baptism referred to here is spiritual only. Although such a view fits well with the theology of Acts, it does not fit well with the obvious meaning of “baptism” in Acts – especially in this text (cf. 2:41); (3) The text should be repunctuated in light of the shift from second person plural to third person singular back to second person plural again. The idea then would be, “Repent for/with reference to your sins, and let each one of you be baptized…” Such a view is an acceptable way of handling εἰς, but its subtlety and awkwardness count against it; (4) Finally, it is possible that to a first-century Jewish audience (as well as to Peter), the idea of baptism might incorporate both the spiritual reality and the physical symbol. That Peter connects both closely in his thinking is clear from other passages such as Acts 10:47 and 11:15-16. If this interpretation is correct, then Acts 2:38 is saying very little about the specific theological relationship between the symbol and the reality, only that historically they were viewed together. One must look in other places for a theological analysis. For further discussion see R. N. Longenecker, “Acts,” EBC 9:283-85; B. Witherington, Acts, 154-55; F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary, 129-30; BDAG 290 s.v. εἰς 4.f.

[2:38]  ³⁶ tn Here the genitive τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος (tou Jagiou pneumato") is a genitive of apposition; the gift consists of the Holy Spirit.

[2:39]  ³⁷ sn The promise refers to the promise of the Holy Spirit that Jesus received from the Father in 2:33 and which he now pours out on others. The promise consists of the Holy Spirit (see note in 2:33). Jesus is the active mediator of God’s blessing.

[2:40]  ³⁸ tn Or “warned.”

[2:40]  ³⁹ tn Or “crooked” (in a moral or ethical sense). See Luke 3:5.

[2:21]  ⁴⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and contemporary English style.

[2:21]  ⁴¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to bring out the contrast present in this woman’s obstinate refusal to repent.

[2:22]  ⁴² tn Grk “onto a bed,” in this context an idiom for severe illness (L&N 23.152).

[2:22]  ⁴³ tn Or “into great distress.” The suffering here is not specified as physical or emotional, and could involve persecution.