CHAPTER 5 Jan. 3 
The Descendants of Adam 
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in God’s likeness. 2He created them male and female, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 3Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he became the father of sons and daughters. 5All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, then he died. 6Seth lived one hundred and five years, and became the father of Enosh. 7Seth lived after he became the father of Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 8All the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, then he died. 9Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. 10Enosh lived after he became the father of Kenan, eight hundred and fifteen years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 11All the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, then he died. 12Kenan lived seventy years, and became the father of Mahalalel. 13Kenan lived after he became the father of Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and became the father of sons and daughters; 14and all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, then he died. 15Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Jared. 16Mahalalel lived after he became the father of Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 17All the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, then he died. 18Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and became the father of Enoch. 19Jared lived after he became the father of Enoch eight hundred years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 20All the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, then he died. 21Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. 22Enoch walked with God after he became the father of Methuselah for three hundred years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 23All the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God snatched him away. 25Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and became the father of Lamech. 26Methuselah lived after he became the father of Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 27All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, then he died. 28Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son, 29and he named him Noah, saying, This same will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, because of the ground which Yahweh has cursed. 30Lamech lived after he became the father of Noah five hundred and ninety-five years, and became the father of sons and daughters. 31All the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, then he died. 32Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Commentary

5:29 Shall comfort us- did Noah's parents expect Noah to be the child who would do all the hard menial work for them, so that they would suffer less from the curse placed upon the ground in Eden? This might explain why Noah had children when he was 500, far older than others of his time (Gen. 5:32- Noah's father had had his first children at 182, Gen. 5:28; Seth had his first child at 105, Gen. 5:6; Enos at 95, Gen. 5:9; Cainan at 70, Gen. 5:12; Mahaleel at 65, Gen. 5:15; Jared at 162, Gen. 5:18; Enoch at 65, Gen. 5:21; Methuselah at 187, Gen. 5:25); Gen. 6:18 implies that Noah only had three sons, whereas for people with such long life spans we'd have expected him to have had far more than that. He only had three children- for he prepared the ark to save “his house” (Heb. 11:7) and Gen. 7:1 is quite clear: “Go into the ark, you and all your household”- his whole household was his wife, three sons and their wives. Period . Perhaps we get the picture of a man who was the underdog, the farm worker, the sidekick of the family, whose own family life was delayed and limited by this background. Perhaps he turned to alcohol for comfort (hence Gen. 9:21). But it was he whom God chose to save, he alone who was righteous in that generation which perished. It was the quiet, broken man who was saved. The Hebrew word for “Comfort” occurs later, when we read how God “repented” that He had made man (Gen. 6:6,7). Lamech's desire for 'comfort' was fulfilled but not as he imagined; not through his son being his personal slave, but rather in God changing His mind about humanity and making a new start. We get what we desire, in essence; and so we need to desire the right things.
5:32 500 years old- the flood came when Noah was 600 (Gen. 7:11), yet he spent 120 years preparing it (Gen. 6:3). So it's possible that he wasn't married when the call came to build the ark; he'd have explained his life mission to his wife, and she'd have been his first convert. Alternatively, if he were already married at 480, they had many years of barrenness in their marriage. Given the long lifespans in those days, this would've been very hard to take. Yet he didn't take another wife. He was “moved with fear”, 'reverently apprehensive' at what God told him, and prepared the ark in order to save his family (Heb. 11:7). Yet he began doing this before he had any children, and perhaps before he was married. He had faith that he would one day have a family, in accordance with God's invitation to make an ark in which to save his family.