Passage

Genesis 5.5

Book: Genesis · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

3. And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: 4. and the days of Adam after he begat Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters.

5. And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

And Seth lived a hundred and five years, and begat Enosh: 7. and Seth lived after he begat Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: (Genesis 5:3-7, ASV)

WEB

3. Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4. The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

5. All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years, then he died.

Seth lived one hundred five years, then became the father of Enosh. 7. Seth lived after he became the father of Enosh eight hundred seven years, and became the father of other sons and daughters. (Genesis 5:3-7, WEB)

KJV

3. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: 4. And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:

5. And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: ^{Enos: Heb. Enosh} 7. And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: (Genesis 5:3-7, KJV)

YLT

3. And Adam liveth an hundred and thirty years, and begetteth [a son] in his likeness, according to his image, and calleth his name Seth. 4. And the days of Adam after his begetting Seth are eight hundred years, and he begetteth sons and daughters.

5. And all the days of Adam which he lived are nine hundred and thirty years, and he dieth.

And Seth liveth an hundred and five years, and begetteth Enos. 7. And Seth liveth after his begetting Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begetteth sons and daughters. (Genesis 5:3-7, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the narrator of Genesis
Audience: Israel, as the book's first readers
Location: outside the garden
Time period: primeval history, before the patriarchal narratives

Theological reading

Adam lived 930 years and died.

The verse closes the first entry in a genealogy whose refrain is "and he died," repeated for every name but Enoch. The list is a death register, and its function is to demonstrate that the sentence of 2:17 took effect even across lifespans of this length.

The ages themselves are the subject of long debate: proposals include literal reading, a decline decreed at Genesis 6:3 and traced through the post-flood genealogies, numerical schematism of the kind found in the Sumerian King List where reigns run to tens of thousands of years, and honorific or dynastic reckoning. The codex treats the decline reading at God Lied About the 120 Year Lifespan Objection Defeater.

Whatever is made of the numbers, the literary point does not depend on them: the longest life recorded still ends in the same three words.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

H4191 - mut, mut, Strong's H4191

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

H0120 - adam, via Genesis 5.1-5
H4191 - mut

Passages:

Genesis 2.17

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.