Genesis 5:1 Commentary and Bible Study

A new section begins here. This recapitulation starts with the creation of Adam, and the fact that the purpose of this chapter is to trace the godly line that came from Adam gives further reason to hope that Adam was brought to repentance. Adam and Eve were made on one day, as we have been told earlier, and they were made out of nothing by God directly. They were made in the likeness of God, being made morally upright and having the gift of reason and speech, a mind, will, and emotions, but also having a body which was an analogue God’s being. Man was unique in this respect, distinguished from all the other creatures.Genesis 5 gives us a summary of true religion on earth through those descendants of Adam who held onto the truth and worshipped God. It traces the ancestry of Noah in preparation for chapter 6 when the flood is described, but passes briefly over the lives of others who knew God. The Lord ensured that there would always be some, however few, among the inhabitants of the earth who worshipped him in truth, for if there were none who revered him, how could he let the world continue? As it is, judgment is delayed on the wicked only because of God’s purposes in connection with the faithful.Having traced the descendants of Cain, the ungodly line, in chapter 4 and having briefly introduced Seth and the sons of Adam that continued Adam’s faith at the end of that chapter, Moses now expands on Seth descendants.