Commentary - Genesis 5:3-5

Bird's-eye view

In Genesis 5, we come to the first formal genealogy after the Fall, the book of the generations of Adam. This is not just a dusty list of names and dates for the historically curious. This is theology, written down in the form of a family tree. After the catastrophic rupture of Genesis 3 and the murderous fruit of that rebellion in Genesis 4, this chapter traces the thin, golden line of God's promise. It is the story of the seed of the woman, preserved and carried forth in the line of Seth. The structure is methodical, almost monotonous, with a repeating formula that drives home a terrible point: "and he died." The curse is working. Sin pays its wages, and the wage is death. Yet, in the midst of this drumbeat of mortality, there is the steady rhythm of procreation. Life continues, sons are born, and the covenant line advances toward the one who would ultimately conquer death itself.

This passage, focusing on Adam and Seth, establishes a crucial pattern. Adam, who was made in God's likeness, now fathers a son in his own fallen likeness. This is the doctrine of original sin in narrative form. We are not just sinners by choice; we are born into a state of sin, inheriting a corrupt nature from our federal head. Seth is the replacement for righteous Abel, whom Cain murdered, showing God's sovereign grace in preserving a remnant for Himself. The long lifespans are not mythical exaggerations but a testimony to the lingering strength of a creation not yet fully given over to the decay of the curse. But make no mistake, the decay is present, and every verse that ends with "and he died" is a tombstone, a reminder of our desperate need for a second Adam.

Outline

Context In Genesis

Chapter 5 stands in stark contrast to chapter 4. In the previous chapter, we saw the line of Cain, a line marked by rebellion, worldly achievement, and violence. It is the line of the city of man. Now, Moses shifts the camera, as it were, to the line of Seth, the line of the city of God. This is the line through which the promised seed of the woman (Gen 3:15) will come. The placement is deliberate. After showing the full flowering of sin in Cain's lineage, culminating in Lamech's arrogant boast, Scripture now shows us God's faithful preservation of a people for Himself. This genealogy bridges the vast expanse of time between the creation of man and the judgment of the Flood, connecting Adam to Noah. It is the spine of the story, ensuring we understand that God's redemptive plan is not an abstraction but is worked out through real people in actual history.

Verse by Verse Commentary

Genesis 5:3

3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.

When Adam had lived 130 years, he became the father of a son... The numbers in these genealogies are not incidental. They are there to be taken straightforwardly, and if you get out your calculators, you can chart a direct line from Adam to Noah, and from Noah to Abraham. This is real history, not mythology. Adam lived for over a century before the birth of this crucial son. We can only imagine the grief and sorrow of those years, having seen one son murder another, and having been cast out of the Garden. But in the fullness of time, God provides.

...in his own likeness, according to his image... Now this is the heart of the matter. This language deliberately echoes Genesis 1:27, where God made man in His own image and likeness. But there is a tragic difference. Adam was created in the image of God, upright and innocent. Seth is begotten in the image of Adam, a fallen man. This is a clear biblical statement on the nature of inherited sin. Adam, as our federal head, sinned, and in his sin, the image of God in man was not obliterated, but it was profoundly marred, twisted, and corrupted. He now passes on this corrupted nature to his children. Just as a son naturally resembles his father, so all of Adam's posterity resemble him in his fallenness. We are not born as neutral blank slates; we are born sinners, inclined toward rebellion, because we are born in Adam's likeness. This is why we need to be born again, to be remade into the image of the Second Adam, Jesus Christ.

...and named him Seth. The name itself is significant. Back in chapter 4, Eve said, "God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him." Seth means "appointed." He is the appointed seed, the replacement for the righteous Abel. This is an act of sheer grace. Where sin abounded in the murder of Abel, God's grace did much more abound in the provision of Seth. The line of promise, which looked to be extinguished, is sovereignly and graciously continued.

Genesis 5:4

4 Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were 800 years, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were 800 years... The sheer length of these lives is staggering to us moderns. We should not try to explain it away as symbolic or as representing dynasties. The text presents it as a historical fact. These long lifespans are a testimony to the goodness of God's original creation. Even after the curse, the world was still robust. Man was made to live, and the effects of the curse took time to fully accumulate and degrade human longevity. Adam lived for eight centuries after Seth's birth, a witness to the world before the flood, a living link back to the Garden and to a world without sin.

...and he became the father of other sons and daughters. This is a simple but important detail. The world was being filled. The cultural mandate given in Genesis 1, to be fruitful and multiply, was still in effect, even in a fallen world. The genealogy only traces the one promised line through Seth, but we are reminded that Adam's family was extensive. Humanity was spreading across the face of the earth, just as God had commanded.

Genesis 5:5

5 So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years... Nearly a millennium. He saw generations of his descendants come and go. He saw the world descend into the wickedness that would eventually provoke the Flood. He lived long enough to be a contemporary of Lamech, Noah's father. Think of it. The man who walked with God in the Garden in the cool of the day was still walking the earth just one generation shy of the man who would build the ark.

...and he died. Here is the tolling of the bell. This is the refrain of Genesis 5. For all his long life, for all his strength, for all his progeny, the final word is death. God's warning in Genesis 2:17 was not an idle threat: "in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Adam began to die spiritually that very day, and here we see the culmination of that curse in his physical death. Every entry in this chapter, with one glorious exception, ends with this stark finality. It is a drumbeat of judgment. Sin leads to death. This is the bad news that sets the stage for the good news. This litany of death is meant to make us long for a savior, for one who could live a perfect life and die a substitutionary death, so that the final word over us would not be "...and he died," but rather, "he is risen."

Application

First, we must reckon with the reality of our inherited sin. The phrase "in his own likeness" is not just about Adam; it is about us. We are born with a sinful nature, not because God is unfair, but because we were represented by our father, Adam. To deny this is to misunderstand the gravity of our condition and the necessity of the new birth. You cannot fix yourself with a little moral effort because the problem is not what you do, but what you are. You need a radical solution, a supernatural intervention. You need to be born from above and brought into the family of the Second Adam.

Second, we should see the faithfulness of God in the midst of judgment. Even as the curse of death works its way through humanity, God faithfully preserves a remnant. He appoints Seth. He keeps the line of promise alive. In a world spiraling into chaos, God's plan is not thwarted. This should give us great comfort. No matter how dark the culture gets, no matter how bleak things may seem, God is always preserving His people and advancing His kingdom. His purposes cannot fail.

Finally, the constant refrain "and he died" should drive us to the cross. This chapter is a graveyard, pointing to the universal reign of death because of sin. But this is not the end of the story. One man, Enoch, "was not, for God took him," a picture of hope and a foretaste of the resurrection. This exception proves the rule but also points beyond it. The death that reigns in Genesis 5 is finally and decisively defeated by the Lord Jesus Christ, who entered into death and came out the other side, victorious. Because He lives, the final word for all who are in Him is not death, but life everlasting.