Read Genesis 5:1-6:8 at Bible Gateway.
The teaching tools of scripture
Hebrew paragraph divisions
Gen 5:1-5 {s} Mortality of Adam
Gen 5:6-8 {s} Mortality of Seth
Gen 5:9-11 {s} Mortality of Enosh
Gen 5:12-14 {s} Mortality of Kenan
Gen 5:15-17 {s} Mortality of Mahalalel
Gen 5:18-20 {s} Mortality of Jared
Gen 5:21-24 {s} Enoch walked with God and did not die
Gen 5:25-27 {s} Mortality of Methuselah
Gen 5:28-31 {s} Mortality of Lamech
Gen 5:32-6:4 {p} Holy Spirit will not strive with flesh forever
Gen 6:5-8 {p} Exile from the earth is the consequence of sin, but Noah found grace in the eyes of YHVH
Gen 5-6, Enoch walked with God
Gen 5:1-5, the mortality of Adam
Gen 5:21-24, halak, “walk,” from the ancient Hebrew pictographs
Gen 5:32-6:5, the nephilim
Gen 6:5-8, “I will blot out man” and Noah’s grace
Strong themes of the parashah
Gen 3:22-6:4 {sx11+p} Exile and death follows from walking with flesh; but life follows from walking with YHVH
Gen 6:5-8 {p} Exile from the earth is the consequence of sin, but Noah found grace in the eyes of YHVH
The big picture of sefer toldot prophesies of the feast of unleavened bread
Gen 5:1-6:8 chiastic structure
1A) Gen 5:1-2 God created mankind in the likeness of Elohiym and blessed them;
1B) Gen 5:3-20 sx6 The seed of Adam in his own likeness and after his own image;
1C) Gen 5:21-24 {s} Enoch, the prophet of God who prophesied judgment;
CENTRAL AXIS) Gen 5:25-27 {s} All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years;
2C) Gen 5:28-31 {s} Noah, the savior-type of God through judgment;
2B) Gen 5:32-6:4 {p} The seed of the sons of God – mighty men of renown – the nephilim;
2A) Gen 6:5-8 {p} God will destroy what He had made for man’s wickedness grieved Him;
1a) Gen 6:5 God saw that the wickedness of man was great;
1b) Gen 6:6 God was sorry that He had made man on the earth;
central axis) Gen 6:7a God said, “I will destroy what I have created: man + beast + creeping thing + birds;”
2b) Gen 6:7b God said, “I am sorry that I have made them;”
2a) Gen 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of YHVH.
Why is the central axis, the detail about the length of Methuselah’s life? Enoch had prophesied that a judgment by water would come, and when Methuselah was born, he named so named him, because it means, “his death will bring.” In the year that Methuselah died, in other words, the judgment by water will come. Now Methuselah is the longest-lived person in the Scriptures. The judgment was delayed, in other words, because God has always been merciful and longsuffering, not wishing that any should perish!
Theme of the parashah
Sin = exile + death/ walking with YHVH = grace + life.
Additional readings for sefer toldot
Psa 4 (my notes) | Isa 29:22-30:18 (my notes) | Mat 23 (my notes)
Further study off-site
Did people like Adam and Noah really live over 900 years?
Are there gaps in the Genesis genealogies?
The genealogy to Noah reveals the gospel
Who were the Nephilim?
Sons of God, Giants, and the New World Order – Brad Scott
Nephilim and demons in the book of Enoch
Grace – Hebrew word study
Answers about Noah’s Ark
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