How does the account of Henoch differ from the repeated endings in the family line from Adam to Noe?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

The entries for the other named ancestors end with death, but Henoch’s says that he walked with God and was seen no more because God took him. The chapter then continues the line to Noe and his three sons.

Chapter breakdown

The chapter records the family line from Adam to Noe, with the ancestors’ ages and deaths. It recalls that God made man in his likeness, created male and female, blessed them, and called their name Adam. At 130 years Adam fathers Seth in his own image and likeness. He lives another 800 years and has sons and daughters. His total life is 930 years, and he dies.

Seth is 105 when he fathers Enos. He lives another 807 years and has sons and daughters; his total is 912 years, and he dies. Enos is 90 when he fathers Cainan. He lives another 815 years and has sons and daughters; his total is 905 years, and he dies.

Cainan is 70 when he fathers Malaleel. He lives another 840 years and has sons and daughters; his total is 910 years, and he dies. Malaleel is 65 when he fathers Jared. He lives another 830 years and has sons and daughters; his total is 895 years, and he dies.

Jared is 162 when he fathers Henoch. He lives another 800 years and has sons and daughters. His total life is 962 years, and he dies.

Henoch is 65 when he fathers Mathusala. He walks with God and lives another 300 years, having sons and daughters. His total is 365 years. The account says that he walks with God and is seen no more because God takes him. Unlike the surrounding entries, this one does not end by saying that he dies.

Mathusala is 187 when he fathers Lamech. He lives another 782 years and has sons and daughters. His total life is 969 years, and he dies.

Lamech is 182 when he fathers a son and names him Noe. He says this son will comfort them from the works and labours of their hands on the earth the Lord has cursed. Lamech lives another 595 years and has sons and daughters. His total is 777 years, and he dies. At 500 years Noe fathers Sem, Cham and Japheth.

The story inside

A repeated form organizes the family record: age at a named son’s birth, years lived afterward, other sons and daughters, and total lifespan ending in death. Henoch’s entry keeps the age and family details but changes the ending. It says he walked with God and was seen no more because God took him. This distinction can be seen without inventing the place to which he was taken or an explanation of how it happened. The final entry also changes emphasis: Lamech explains Noe’s name in terms of comfort from work on cursed earth, and the record closes with Noe’s three sons rather than an account of Noe’s death.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The genealogy preserves both a named line and wider families. The line runs through Seth to Noe, but the entries also record sons and daughters. The named succession therefore does not imply that each father had only the son named in that succession (5:3–31).
2
Long life does not erase the stated deaths. The totals range across many centuries, including Mathusala’s 969 years, yet the ordinary entries end in death. Henoch’s different ending is made conspicuous by this repeated form (5:5–27).
3
Lamech gives a reason for Noe’s name. He says this son will comfort them from their work on the earth the Lord has cursed. The chapter records that expectation and Noe’s fatherhood, but does not yet narrate the fulfilment of the expected comfort (5:28–31).

Test your recall

Which parts of the usual genealogical entry remain in Henoch’s account, which ending changes, and how does the chapter’s final statement about Noe differ from an ordinary death entry?

Show answer

Henoch’s entry still gives his age when Mathusala was born, his later years, other sons and daughters, and a total of 365 years. Its ending changes: he walked with God and was seen no more because God took him, rather than the usual statement that he died. Noe’s closing entry says that at 500 years he had Sem, Cham, and Japheth; it does not report his death.

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 634–653
Genesis Chapter 5 The genealogy, age, and death of the Patriarchs, from Adam to Noe. The translation of Henoch. 5:1. This is the book of the generation of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him to the likeness of God. 5:2. He created them male and female; and blessed them: and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 5:3. And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son to his own image and likeness, and called his name Seth. 5:4. And the days of Adam, after he begot Seth, were eight hundred years: and he begot sons and daughters. 5:5. And all the time that Adam lived, came to nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.
Lines 654–669
5:6. Seth also lived a hundred and five years, and begot Enos. 5:7. And Seth lived after he begot Enos, eight hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. 5:8. And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died. 5:9. And Enos lived ninety years, and begot Cainan. 5:10. After whose birth he lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and begot sons and daughters. 5:11. And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died.
Lines 670–685
5:12. And Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Malaleel. 5:13. And Cainan lived after he begot Malaleel, eight hundred and forty years, and begot sons and daughters. 5:14. And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died. 5:15. And Malaleel lived sixty-five years and begot Jared. 5:16. And Malaleel lived after he begot Jared, eight hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. 5:17. And all the days of Malaleel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.
Lines 686–693
5:18. And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Henoch. 5:19. And Jared lived after he begot Henoch, eight hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 5:20. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.
Lines 694–704
5:21. And Henoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Mathusala. 5:22. And Henoch walked with God: and lived after he begot Mathusala, three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 5:23. And all the days of Henoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 5:24. And he walked with God, and was seen no more: because God took him.
Lines 705–713
5:25. And Mathusala lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. 5:26. And Mathlusala lived after he begot Lamech, seven hundred and eighty-two years, and begot sons and daughters. 5:27. And all the days of Mathusala were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.
Lines 714–727
5:28. And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and begot a son. 5:29. And he called his name Noe, saying: This same shall comfort us from the works and labours of our hands on the earth, which the Lord hath cursed. 5:30. And Lamech lived after he begot Noe, five hundred and ninety-five years, and begot sons and daughters. 5:31. And all the days of Lamech came to seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died. And Noe, when he was five hundred years old, begot Sem, Cham, and Japheth.