Genesis 5

Notes

1. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 52, 86

   ἀνθρώπων is plural, "of humans," where the Masoretic version reads "of human" and makes the word a crux (86). The Greek opens the list of Adam's line as "the book of genesis of humans," the phrase of 2:4 and of Matt 1:1 (Βίβλος γενέσεως).

2. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 18, 52, 86

   The Greek has the name, Ἀδάμ, in 5:1–2, as it has from 2:16 (the note at 2:16); the Masoretic version reads "human" in 5:1–2, "called their name Human," and begins the name "Adam" at 5:3 (86). Where the Masoretic version reads "in the likeness of Elohim," the Greek reads κατ᾽ εἰκόνα θεοῦ, "according to the icon of God," the words of 1:27; and at 5:3 Adam begets "according to his [form]{G2397} and according to his icon."

3. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 52, 91, 138

   The ages in this chapter differ between the two texts, and Swete's numbers are printed exactly. For Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel and Enoch the Greek adds a hundred years to the age at the son's birth and takes a hundred from the years after it, so that the whole life (5:5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 23) is the same in both versions. For Jared and Methuselah the two agree in Swete's text. For Lamech the Greek reads 188, 565 and 753 years where the Masoretic version reads 182, 595 and 777. Every number that differs is set ⸤thus⸥{other}. A number that agrees is printed in the Greek's order, hundreds first and without the repeated "years" of the Hebrew (91), and is not marked. Counted by Swete's text, from Adam's creation to the flood (7:6) is 2,262 years; by the Masoretic version, 1,656. Rahlfs' text reads 167 and 802 years for Methuselah (5:25–26), where Swete's text, from Alexandrinus, agrees with the Masoretic version (187, 782); by the reading 167 Methuselah outlives the flood by fourteen years, a difficulty Augustine discusses (City of God 15.11).

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   Rulings 52, 138

   εὐηρέστησεν τῷ θεῷ, "was well-pleasing to God," where the Masoretic version reads "walked about with the elohim," here and at 5:24. The Greek renders the Hebrew phrase so at each place it comes in Genesis (6:9; 17:1; 24:40; 48:15). Heb 11:5–6 builds on it: Enoch "had been attested to have been well-pleasing to God," and "without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing."

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   Rulings 52, 138

   οὐχ ηὑρίσκετο, διότι μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεός, "he was not found, because God transferred him," where the Masoretic version reads "and he was not, for Elohim took him." Heb 11:5 quotes the Greek: "By faith Enoch was transferred so as not to see death, and he was not found, because God transferred him." Sir 44:16 also has "he was transferred."

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   Rulings 52, 101, 138

   διαναπαύσει, "shall give respite," a verb of rest, where the Masoretic version reads "shall comfort us" (נחם, 101). The Greek explains the name Noah (נֹחַ) by the verb it sounds like, נוּחַ "rest"; the Masoretic version explains it by נחם "comfort," which shares only the first two letters. The Greek has the plurals "works" and "griefs," where the Masoretic version reads "our deed" and "the pain," and adds "God" to "the Lord" (⸢⸣).