Chapter 5 – Genealogy
Preface.
“The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters.” This is a great clue regarding the Bible’s strategy and purpose. If the purpose of the Bible were to create a family tree of humanity—like people today would research their ancestry—we would here be saying, “Woah! We need to know who those other sons and daughters were!” The Bible’s purpose is not to create a general record of humanity’s ancestry. Rather, it is to move us along a particular intergenerational narrative in which God’s works to redeem creation.
This helps us prepare for the text ahead of us. There are, we might say, high points (or people) in the ongoing story of the Bible. We started with Adam and Eve. While others get added attention, the next high point (person) will be Noah. The genealogy’s purpose is to move us from one high point to the next.
“Biblical faith…gives a view of history and of time, which has a beginning and an end. Within such a time-line, the activities of individual people do have purpose, direction, achievement. What we do matters and makes a difference to the world. For each individual is an unrepeatable event, and each action unique: neither has precisely happened before, nor will again. That is part of the reason why the Bible bothers with genealogies: we are people who belong within a significant history. There is no cosmic fatalism here. Our actions of creativity express the blessing of God. Our wrongdoings—as we shall see more clearly in chapter 6—bring us under divine judgment.”1
The generations from Adam to Noah: Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah. These are considered the ten antediluvian patriarchs. With the slight exception of Enoch, the men named between Seth and Noah are not given comment by the writer. We move from the high point of Adam (through Seth) to the high point of Noah.
Regarding Enoch, he is mentioned in two NT writings: Hebrews 11:5-6 and Jude 14-15. Jude quotes a prophesy of Enoch that must come from an extra-canonical source.
The name Noah means “rest.” It can also mean “comfort” or “relief.” This may give us a picture—even if slightly ironic—of the role Noah will play in the redemptive story.
Chapter 6 – Noah
In much of the narrative of Genesis 6-9 are parallels with flood stories in other ancient Near Eastern texts. There is a Babylonian story in the famous Epic of Gilgamesh in which the hero gains immortality by passing through the waters of a flood. After being warned by God in a dream, Utnapishtim, with all kinds of animals, is rescued from the deluge in a huge ship. The ship grounds on a mountain, and Utnapishtim sends out a dove, a swallow and a raven. The hero offers a sacrifice to the gods, who grant immortality to Utnapishtim and his wife. A necklace of lapis lazuli is given as a sign of remembrance.
There is a Sumerian flood story also, illustrating many of the same themes. Certainly, there seem to have been floods at very early dates from the evidence of excavations in Ur of the Chaldees, and in other Mesopotamian cities. The dates do not all correspond, however. There is no flood story, though, in the ancient literature of, for example, Egypt, and certainly no widely agreed archeological evidence for a universal global flood.
“What does seem certain is that between the Tigris and the Euphrates there was a history of severe flooding, and that these traumatic events were taken into the self-understanding of the peoples, and interpreted as having particular religious significance. The simplicity of the biblical story in comparison with the Babylonian one suggests that the people of Yahweh had kept their account free from some of the embellishments found in the Gilgamesh Epic. In the biblical version, the people’s self-understanding comes from their knowledge that they were the people of Yahweh. Their interpretation of their flood stressed the significance that God himself attached to this experience.”2
Vs. 1-4 (the Nephilim)
(The following notes are from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
The etymology of the word Nephilim is uncertain. It may be derived from the verb meaning “to be extraordinary.” Alternatively, it may derive from the verb “to fall,” making it a reference to “fallen ones.” Some scholars consider the reference to be an unexplainable relic from an ancient, now-forgotten language.
The Nephilim were apparently people of imposing physical stature. Numbers 13:33 makes this implication, and also connects the Nephilim with the offspring of Anak in Canaan. The Anakim were a tall people (Deuteronomy 2:21). The large stature of the individuals composing these groups suggests a condition such as hypertrophy of the long bones of the skeleton, or some other disorder of a genetic variety.
Genesis 6:1-4, while meaningful to the original recipients, has become obscure with the passing of time. It is impossible to be certain whether the Nephilim were the same as the “mighty men” at the end of v. 4, or a separate group that overlapped chronologically.3
Verses 1-4 offer what we could call a “contributing factor” as to why humanity had become so corrupt. This corruption is so extensive that it grieves God’s heart. Verse three is usually seen as a limit God chooses to place on the lifespan of men and women. It is true that the long lifespans become reduced pretty quickly in the subsequent biblical narrative. Even so, we don’t have to look far to see examples of people whose lifespans far exceed 120 years. Noah himself lived 950 years (Genesis 9:29), and several recorded in chapter 11 are said to have lived multiple centuries.
Through a slightly different lens, Genesis 6:3 maintains an emphasis on God’s limited patience for sinful humanity. “My Spirit will not strive with man forever.” The 120 days may be representative of the grace period humanity would be afforded at that time before the judgment of flood waters came upon the earth.
Vs. 5-8 (The Grief of God)
Verse 6 introduces us to a personality characteristic that we may not have expected to find in God: regret. The Bible does not portray God as unemotional. Through the pages of scripture we will see God expressing joy, anger, jealousy, and probably several other nuanced expressions of personhood. None of this takes away from his omniscience (ability to know all things) nor his holiness. These qualities only affirm that God is personal, that God is capable of real relationship.
Verse 7 reinforces the reality that humanity’s sin has cosmic effects. All of the created order will suffer the consequences of our rebellion.
Why did Noah find favor (grace) in the eyes of the Lord? The Bible does not say. The implication is that, among all of the people of the earth, Noah’s life was to some extent acceptable to God. It is obvious that Noah was at least open to hear God’s voice and obey God’s will. Otherwise he would not have taken on the task of ark-building.
Vs. 9-22 (Noah’s instructions)
Notice in verse 18 we are introduced to the idea of covenant. The idea of covenant is already present in Eden, although the word is not used. The parameters given to Adam and Eve are much like covenant language. Noah becomes the next person through whom God makes covenant with humankind.
The ark’s measurements are given to us using a measurement typical of ancient cultures. A cubit was commonly understood to be the length between an adult’s elbow and tip of the middle finger. It was therefore not an exact measurement, although pretty consistent. If we take a cubit to be about 18”, the ark would have been 450’ in length, 75’ wide, and 45’ high.
- Atkinson, D. (1990). The Message of Genesis 1–11: The Dawn of Creation (J. A. Motyer & D. Tidball, Eds.; p. 125). Inter-Varsity Press. ↩︎
- Atkinson, D. (1990). The Message of Genesis 1–11: The Dawn of Creation (J. A. Motyer & D. Tidball, Eds.; pp. 120–121). Inter-Varsity Press. ↩︎
- Bromiley, G, ed. (1986). The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume 3; pp. 518-519. Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing Co. ↩︎
The Winding Path 