1
Genesis 5:1
英文原文
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Section V - The Line to Noah
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The Line of Sheth
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ספר sepher "writing, a writing, a book."
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קינן qēynān, Qenan, "possessor, or spearsman."
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<מהללאל mahelal'ēl, Mahalalel, "praise of 'El."
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ירד yerĕd, Jered, "going down."
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מתוּשׁלה metûshālach, Methushelach, "man of the missile."
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נה noach, Noach, "rest," נחם nācham "sigh; repent; pity; comfort oneself; be revenged."
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שׁם shēm, Shem, "name, fame; related: be high." חם chām Cham, "hot." יפת yāpet, Japheth, "spreading; related: spread out."
We now enter upon the third of the larger documents contained in Genesis. The first is a diary, the second is a history, the third a genealogy. The first employs the name אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym exclusively; the second uses אלהים יהוה yehovâh'ĕlohı̂ym in the second and third chapters, and יהוה yehovâh usually in the fourth; the third has אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym in the first part, and יהוה yehovâh in the second part. The name אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym is employed in the beginning of the chapter with a manifest reference to the first document, which is here quoted and abridged.
This chapter contains the line from Adam to Noah, in which are stated some common particulars concerning all, and certain special details concerning three of them. The genealogy is traced to the tenth in descent from Adam, and terminates with the flood. The scope of the chapter is to mark out the line of faith and hope and holiness from Adam, the first head of the human race, to Noah, who became eventually the second natural head of it.
Genesis 5:1-2
These verses are a recapitulation of the creation of man. The first sentence is the superscription of the new piece of composition now before us. The heading of the second document was more comprehensive. It embraced the generations, evolutions, or outworkings of the skies and the land, as soon as they were called into existence, and was accordingly dated from the third day. The present document confines itself to the generations of man, and commences, therefore, with the sixth day. The generations here are literal for the most part, though a few particulars of the individuals mentioned are recorded. But taken in a large sense this superscription will cover the whole of the history in the Old and New Testaments. It is only in the prophetic parts of these books that we reach again in the end of things to the wider compass of the heavens and the earth Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1. Then only does the sphere of history enlarge itself to the pristine dimensions in the proper and blessed sense, when the second Adam appears on earth, and re-connects heaven and earth in a new, holy, and everlasting covenant.
The present superscription differs from the former one in the introduction of the word ספר sepher, "book". There is here some ground in the text for supposing the insertion by Moses of an authentic document, handed down from the olden time, in the great work which he was directed to compose. The chapter before us could not have been completed, indeed, until after the birth of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. But if we except the last verse, there is no impossibility or improbability in its being composed before the deluge.
The invention of writing at that early period is favored by some other circumstances connected with these records. We cannot say that it is impossible for oral tradition to preserve the memory of minute transactions - sayings, songs, names, and numbers of years up to a thousand - especially in a period when men's lives exceeded nine hundred years. But we can easily see that these details could be much more easily handed down if there was any method of notation for the help of the memory. The minute records of this kind, therefore, which we find in these early chapters, though not very numerous, afford a certain presumption in favor of a very early knowledge of the art of writing.
2
Genesis 5:2
稱他們為人。——這名字似乎把人 אדם 'ādām 與他被取自的土 ארמה 'ădāmâh 連在一起 Genesis 2:7。這顯然是一個泛稱或集合性的用語，指整個物種。神作為造物者，為這一族類命名，藉此標明其特性與目的。
英文原文
And called their name man. - This name seems to connect man אדם 'ādām with the soil from which he was taken ארמה 'ădāmâh Genesis 2:7. It is evidently a generic or collective term, denoting the species. God, as the maker, names the race, and thereby marks its character and purpose.
3
Genesis 5:3
在 Genesis 5:3-5 的範圍內，亞當一生的歷程完成了；本章中他所有直系子孫的世系，也照同一格式記載。明確記出的細節是：他在生某個兒子之前所活的年數、他後來活了的年數（其間兒女生給他）、以及他的死。在塞特出生之前，亞當已有兩個兒子，而且極可能也有幾個女兒。但這些兒子已經提過，這裏記的是挪亞的世系。因此，家譜中以下諸人可能是、也可能不是頭生的兒子，這是明顯的。以諾之外，每個生命結束時那規定的格式「就死了」，是不順從之後果的一個常存證明。
作者按慣例先把一位族長的一生記完，才開始記下一位；因此下一篇傳記的頭一件事，遠在上一篇的最後一件事之前。這簡單而清楚地說明了希伯來敘事的法則。
亞當生平唯一的特點，是說到他的兒子「形像樣式和他自己相似」。這無疑有意把那已成墮落之人特徵的敗壞包括在內。這與前文所說亞當原是照神的形像受造相對照。若僅僅要表明後代與親代同屬一類，就會像第一章那樣用「各從其類」（למינהוּ lemı̂ynâh）的說法。這是當人類的元首是有道德的存有而又墮落了時，這族類的奧祕之一：他的道德敗壞影響其本性中的本質區別，並傳給他的後代。
這份文獻以「當神造人的日子，是照著自己的樣式造的」一語暗指第一份文獻，在「造男造女」一句中逐字引用其言，以「稱他們為人」一語指向第二份文獻（Genesis 2:7），而且為解釋「人的後代身上帶有他的樣式」這一陳述，也需要這第二份文獻；可見它寫成之時，已預設這些文獻的存在並為人所知。倘若它本要成為一部獨立的作品，在這些重要論題上就會更詳盡、更具解釋性。
英文原文
In the compass of Genesis 5:3-5 the course of Adam's life is completed. And after the same model the lines of all his lineal descendants in this chapter are drawn up. The certain particulars stated are the years he lived before the birth of a certain son, the number of years he afterward lived during which sons and daughters were born to him, and his death. Two sons, and most probably several daughters, were born to Adam before the birth of Sheth. But these sons have been already noticed, and the line of Noah is here given. It is obvious, therefore, that the following individuals in the genealogy may, or may not, have been first-born sons. The stated formula, "and he died," at the close of each life except that of Henok, is a standing demonstration of the effect of disobedience.
The writer, according to custom, completes the life of one patriarch before he commences that of the next; and so the first event of the following biography is long antecedent to the last event of the preceding one. This simply and clearly illustrates the law of Hebrew narrative.
The only peculiarity in the life of Adam is the statement that his son was "in his likeness, after his image." This is no doubt intended to include that depravity which had become the characteristic of fallen man. It is contrasted with the preceding notice that Adam was originally created in the image of God. If it had been intended merely to indicate that the offspring was of the same species with the parent, the phrase, "after his kind" (למינהוּ lemı̂ynâh, would have been employed, as in the first chapter. This is one of the mysteries of the race, when the head of it is a moral being, and has fallen. His moral depravity, affecting the essential difference of his nature, descends to his offspring.
As this document alludes to the first in the words, "in the day of God's creating man, in the likeness of God made he him," quotes its very words in the sentence, "male and female created he them, refers to the second in the words, and called their name man" Genesis 2:7, and also needs this second for the explication of the statement that the offspring of man bore his likeness, it presupposes the existence and knowledge of these documents at the time when it was written. If it had been intended for an independent work, it would have been more full and explanatory on these important topics.
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Genesis 5:21
塞特後裔以諾的歷史有兩點獨特之處。第一，瑪土撒拉出生之後，「他與神同行」。此處我們首次見到 אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym 帶有定冠詞——這種用法在全書出現四百多次。藉此，祂被著重地區別為「那位神」——已藉其作為與顯現被人認識的神，與無神論相對；獨一的神，與多神論相對；真實的神，與一切假神或錯謬神觀相對。在以諾的時代，可能已有人離棄真神，對至高者陷入種種錯謬的觀念。他與「那位神」同行，暗示其他人正在沒有這位神的情況下行走。
「與神同行」一語在七十士譯本作 εὐηρέστησε τῷ Θεῷ euērestēse tō Theō（「討神喜悅」），並在希伯來書（Gen 2:5-6）被引為以諾之信心的證據。與神同行意味著在思想、言語、行為上與祂相交，在聖經中與「背著祂行」相對。我們不可推斷以諾是這一系中惟一敬畏神的人；但我們確知，他樹立了那潔淨人心、討神喜悅之信心的卓越榜樣。
他在其先祖塞特時代的成就上又有了顯著的跨越。在那些日子，人開始求告耶和華的名。如今，聖徒與神的相交達到其最高形式——與祂同行，在生活的一切事務中遵行祂的旨意、享受祂的同在。因此，這位卓越的神僕被視為先知，預言了主帶著審判的降臨（Jde 1:14-15）。還可進一步觀察到，這位神最卓越的聖徒並沒有退出家庭圈子，也沒有放下社交生活的日常責任。關於他，經文像記載其他人一樣記著：他與神同行三百年，並且生兒養女。
第二，以諾的第二個特點是他的被接升天。這是用當時樸素的語言記述的：「他就不在了，因為神把他取去」；或按七十士譯本的譯法：「他找不到了，因為神把他遷去。」因此新約說（Hebrews 11:5）：「以諾因著信，被接去，不至於見死。」這段經文對解釋 ואיננוּ ve'ēynenû καί ουχ εὑρίσκετο kai ouch heurisketo（「他就不在〔被找著〕了」）一語十分重要。我們可以看出，這話不是絕對地說「他不存在」，而是相對地說「他不在感官的範圍之內」。若這話尚不表示湮滅，「他就死了」一語更不表示湮滅。前者指離開感官的世界，後者指出靈魂離開今世的尋常方式。這樣，我們在此又得一個明白指向靈魂不滅的提示（參 Genesis 3:22 的註釋）。
這一瞥太初的生活，為早期以及歷代的人提供了新的功課。亞伯的祭物預表了贖罪；在塞特的時代，心中敬虔的情感得著了傾訴的聲音；如今，一種與神和好、求告祂名、被兒子之靈所感動的生活方式被陳明出來。信心如今已歸向神、承認祂的名、學會與祂同行。就在此時，神顯現並給洪水以前的世代一個嶄新而決定性的憑據，表明祂憐憫的豐富與能力足以抵消罪在那回轉的悔罪者身上所生的影響。以諾沒有死，而是活著；不僅活著，更被提升到生命的新階段——在那裡，罪的一切權勢與痛苦永遠終結。這給恩典的能力加冕，並簡要地描繪了信心生活的偉大終局。這個重生的人未經死亡與復活的中間步驟，就被接到榮耀裡。若不計亞伯的橫死，以諾被接以前所記載的惟一死亡便是亞當之死。把罪與死帶入世界的人若不曾死，便不相稱了。但亞當死後僅半個多世紀，以諾便連身體一起被接升天。這被接是在足夠數量的見證人面前發生的，為看不見之能力的臨在與真實提供了明顯的證明。這樣，生命與不朽便在世界歷史那早期階段所必要、所可能的範圍內，充分顯明出來。這樣便證明：神的恩典在成就一切歸向祂之人最終完全的救恩上，是得勝的。過程或許緩慢漸進，但結局如今被顯明是確定而美滿的。
英文原文
The history of the Shethite Henok is distinguished in two respects: First, after the birth of Methushelah, "he walked with the God." Here for the first time we have God אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym with the definite article, with which it occurs more than four hundred times. By this he is emphatically distinguished as the God, now made known by his acts and manifestations, in opposition to atheism, the sole God in opposition to polytheism, and the true God in opposition to all false gods or notions of God. It is possible that in the time of Henok some had forsaken the true God, and fallen into various misconceptions concerning the Supreme Being. His walking with "the God" is a hint that others were walking without this God.
The phrase "walked with God" is rendered in the Septuagint εὐηρέστησε τῷ Θεῷ euērestēse tō Theō, "pleased God," and is adduced in the Epistle to the Hebrews Gen 2:5-6 as an evidence of Henok's faith. Walking with God implies community with him in thought, word, and deed, and is opposed in Scripture to walking contrary to him. We are not at liberty to infer that Henok was the only one in this line who feared God. But we are sure that he presented an eminent example of that faith which purifies the heart and pleases God.
He made a striking advance upon the attainment of the times of his ancestor Sheth. In those days they began to call upon the name of the Lord. Now the fellowship of the saints with God reaches its highest form, - that of walking with him, doing his will and enjoying his presence in all the business of life. Hence, this remarkable servant of God is accounted a prophet, and foretells the coming of the Lord to judgment Jde 1:14-15. It is further to be observed that this most eminent saint of God did not withdraw from the domestic circle, or the ordinary duties of social life. It is related of him as of the others, that during the three hundred years of his walking with God he begat sons and daughters.
Secondly, the second peculiarity of Henok was his teleportation. This is related in the simple language of the times. "And he was not, for God took him;" or, in the version of the Septuagint, "and he was not found, for God translated him." Hence, in the New Testament it is said, Hebrews 11:5, "By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death." This passage is important for the interpretation of the phrase ואיננוּ ve'ēynenû καί ουχ εὑρίσκετο kai ouch heurisketo "and he was not (found)." It means, we perceive, not absolutely, he was not, but relatively, he was not extant in the sphere of sense. If this phrase do not denote annihilation, much less does the phrase "and he died." The one denotes absence from the world of sense, and the other indicates the ordinary way in which the soul departs from this world. Here, then, we have another hint that points plainly to the immortality of the soul (see on Genesis 3:22).
This glimpse into primeval life furnishes a new lesson to the men of early times and of all succeeding generations. An atonement was shadowed forth in the offering of Habel. A voice was given to the devout feelings of the heart in the times of Sheth. And now a walk becoming one reconciled to God, calling upon his name, and animated by the spirit of adoption, is exhibited. Faith has now returned to God, confessed his name, and learned to walk with him. At this point God appears and gives to the antediluvian race a new and conclusive token of the riches and power of mercy in counteracting the effects of sin in the case of the returning penitent. Henok does not die, but lives; and not only lives, but is advanced to a new stage of life, in which all the power and pain of sin are at an end forever. This crowns and signalizes the power of grace, and represents in brief the grand finale of a life of faith. This renewed man is received up into glory without going through the intermediate steps of death and resurrection. If we omit the violent end of Habel, the only death on record that precedes the translation of Henok is that of Adam. It would have been incongruous that he who brought sin and death into the world should not have died. But a little more than half a century after his death, Henok is wafted to heaven without leaving the body. This translation took place in the presence of a sufficient number of witnesses, and furnished a manifest proof of the presence and reality of the invisible powers. Thus, were life and immortality as fully brought to light as was necessary or possible at that early stage of the world's history. Thus, was it demonstrated that the grace of God was triumphant in accomplishing the final and full salvation of all who returned to God. The process might be slow and gradual, but the end was now shown to be sure and satisfactory.
25
Genesis 5:25
瑪土撒拉是有記錄以來最長壽的人。他活到距一千年只差三十一年，並在洪水之年去世。
英文原文
Methushelah is the oldest man on record. He lived to be within 31 years of a millenium, and died in the year of the flood.
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翻譯準備中 · 英文原文Genesis 5:28
In the biography of Lamek the name of his son is not only given, but the reason of it is assigned. The parents were cumbered with the toil of cultivating the ground. They looked forward with hope to the aid or relief which their son would give them in bearing the burden of life, and they express this hope in his name. In stating the reason of the name, they employ a word which is connected with it only by a second remove. נוּח nûach and נחם nācham are stems not immediately connected; but they both point back to a common root נח (n-ch) signifying "to sigh, to breathe, to rest, to lie down."
This is only another recorded instance of the habit of giving names indicative of the thoughts of the parents at the time of the child's birth. All names were originally significant, and have still to this day an import. Some were given at birth, others at later periods, from some remarkable circumstance in the individual's life. Hence, many characters of ancient times were distinguished by several names conferred at different times and for different reasons. The reason of the present name is put on record simply on account of the extraordinary destiny which awaited the bearer of it.
Which the Lord hath cursed. - Here is another incidental allusion to the second document, without which it would not be intelligible. If the present document had been intended to stand alone, this remark would have had its explanation in some previous part of the narrative.
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翻譯準備中 · 英文原文Genesis 5:32
And Noah was the son of five hundred years. - A man is the son of a certain year, in and up to the close of that year, but not beyond it. Thus, Noah was in his six hundredth year when he was the son of six hundred years Genesis 7:11, Genesis 7:6, and a child was circumcised on the eighth day, being then the son of eight days Leviticus 12:3; Genesis 17:12.
When the phrase indicates a point of time, as in Leviticus 27, it is the terminating point of the period in question. The first part only of the biography of Noah is given in this verse, and the remainder will be furnished in due time and place. Meanwhile, Noah is connected with the general history of the race, which is now to be taken up. His three sons are mentioned, because they are the ancestors of the postdiluvian race. This verse, therefore, prepares for a continuation of the narrative, and therefore implies a continuator or compiler who lived after the flood.
From the numbers in this chapter it appears that the length of human life in the period before the deluge was ten times its present average. This has seemed incredible to some, and hence they have imagined that the years must have consisted of one month, or at least of a smaller number than twelve. But the text will not admit of such amendment or interpretation. In the account of the deluge the tenth month is mentioned, and sixty-one days are afterward indicated before the beginning of the next year, whence we infer that the primeval year consisted of twelve lunar months at least. But the seemingly incredible in this statement concerning the longevity of the people before the flood, will be turned into the credible if we reflect that man was made to be immortal. His constitution was suited for a perpetuity of life, if only supplied with the proper nutriment. This nutriment was provided in the tree of life. But man abused his liberty, and forfeited the source of perpetual life. Nevertheless, the primeval vigor of an unimpaired constitution held out for a comparatively long period. After the deluge, however, through the deterioration of the climate and the soil, and perhaps much more the degeneracy of man's moral and physical being, arising from the abuse of his natural propensities, the average length of human life gradually dwindled down to its present limits. Human physiology, founded upon the present data of man's constitution, may pronounce upon the duration of his life so long as the data are the same; but it cannot fairly affirm that the data were never different from what they are at present. Meanwhile, the Bible narrative is in perfect keeping with its own data, and is therefore not to be disturbed by those who still accept these without challenge.
The following table presents the age of each member of this genealogy, when his son and successor was born and when he himself died, as they stand in the Hebrew text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, and Josephus:
Line of Noah Hebrew Sam. Pent. Septuagint Josephus Date Son's Birth Own Death Son's Birth Own Death Son's Birth Own Death Son's Birth Own Death Of Birth Of Death 1. Adam 130 930 130 930 230 930 230 930 0 930 2. Sheth 105 912 105 912 205 912 205 912 130 1042 3. Enosh 90 905 90 905 190 905 190 905 235 1140 4. Kenan 70 910 70 910 170 910 170 910 325 1235 5. Mahalalel 65 895 65 895 165 895 165 895 395 1290 6. Jared 162 962 62 847 162 962 162 962 460 1422 7. Henok 65 365 65 365 165 365 165 365 622 987 8. Methuselah 187 969 67 720 187 969 187 969 687 1656 9. Lamek 182 777 53 653 188 753 182 777 874 1651 10. Noah 500 950 500 950 500 950 500 950 1056 2006 100 100 100 100 Deluge 1656 1307 2262 2256 On comparing the series of numbers in the Hebrew with those in the Samaritan, the Septuagint, and Josephus, it is remarkable that we have the main body of the original figures in all. In the total ages of the first five and the seventh, and in that of Noah at the flood, they all agree. In those of the sixth and eighth, the Hebrew, Septuagint, and Josephus agree. In that of the ninth, the Hebrew and Josephus agree, while the Samaritan and Septuagint differ from them and from each other. On examining the figures of the Samaritan, it appears that the sixth, eighth, and ninth total ages would have reached beyond the flood, if the numbers found in the other authorities had been retained. And they are so shortened as to terminate all in the year of the flood. This alteration betrays design. The totals in the Hebrew, then, have by far the preponderating authority.
Of the numbers before the birth of a successor, which are chiefly important for the chronology, the units agree in all but Lamek, in regard to whom the Hebrew and Josephus agree, while the Samaritan and the Septuagint differ from them and from each other. The tens agree in all but two, Methushelah and Lamek, where the Hebrew, the Septuagint, at least in the Codex Alexandrinus, and Josephus agree, while the Samaritan differs from them all. In the hundreds a systematic and designed variation occurs. Still they agree in Noah. In Jared, Methushelah, and Lamek, the Hebrew, Septuagint, and Josephus agree in a number greater by a hundred than the Samaritan. In the remaining six the Hebrew and Samaritan agree; while the Septuagint and Josephus agree in having a number greater by a hundred. On the whole, then, it is evident that the balance of probability is decidedly in favor of the Hebrew. To this advantage of concurring testimonies are to be added those of being the original, and of having been guarded with great care.
These grounds of textual superiority may be supported by several considerations of less weight. The Samaritan and the Septuagint follow a uniform plan; the Hebrew does not, and therefore has the mark of originality. Josephus gives the sum total to the deluge as two thousand six hundred and fifty-six years, agreeing with the total of the Hebrew in three figures, with that of the Septuagint only in two, and with that of the Samaritan in none. Some MSS. even give one thousand six hundred and fifty-six, which is the exact sum of the Hebrew numbers. Both these readings, moreover, differ from the sum of his own numbers, which itself agrees with the Hebrew in two figures and with the Septuagint in the other two. This looks like a studied conformation of the figures to those of the Septuagint, in which the operator forgot to alter the sum total. We do not at present enter into the external arguments for or against the Hebrew text. Suffice it to observe, that the internal evidence is at present clearly in its favor, so far as the antediluvian figures go.
- The Growth of Sin
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דון dı̂yn "be down, strive, subdue, judge." בשׁגם bāshagām "inasmuch, as also." The rendering "in their error" requires the pointing בשׁגם beshāgām, and the plural form of the following pronoun. It is also unknown to the Septuagint.
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נפילים nepı̂lı̂ym "assailants, fellers, men of violence, tyrants."
Having traced the line of descent from Adam through Sheth, the seed of God, to Noah, the author proceeds to describe the general spread and growth of moral evil in the race of man, and the determination of the Lord to wipe it away from the face of the earth.
第五部——到挪亞的譜系
塞特的譜系
ספר sepher「書寫、一份書寫、一卷書。」
קינן qēynān，該南（Qenan），「擁有者，或執槍之人。」
מהללאל mahelal'ēl，瑪勒列（Mahalalel），「以勒（El）的讚美。」
ירד yerĕd，雅列（Jared），「下降。」
מתוּשׁלה metûshālach，瑪土撒拉（Methushelach），「擲矛之人。」
נה noach，挪亞（Noach），「安息」，נחם nācham「嘆息、悔改、憐恤、自我安慰、報復。」
שׁם shēm，閃（Shem），「名字、名聲；相關詞：高。」חם chām，含（Cham），「熱。」יפת yāpet，雅弗（Japheth），「展開；相關詞：鋪展。」
如今我們進入《創世記》所收幾份較大文獻中的第三份。第一份是日記，第二份是歷史，第三份是族譜。第一份只用 אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym 這名字；第二份在第二、三章用 אלהים יהוה yehovâh'ĕlohı̂ym，在第四章通常用 יהוה yehovâh；第三份在前半用 אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym，在後半用 יהוה yehovâh。本章開頭所用的 אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym 這名字，明顯是指向第一份文獻，而該文獻在此正被引用並撮述。
本章所載的是從亞當到挪亞的譜系，其中陳明了關乎所有人的若干共通事項，以及關乎其中三人的若干特別細節。這族譜一直追溯到亞當以下第十代，並以洪水作結。本章的宗旨，是要標出信心、盼望與聖潔這一脈——從人類的頭一位元首亞當，直到最終成為人類第二位天然元首的挪亞。
創世記 5:1-2
這幾節是人之受造的概述。頭一句是我們眼前這一段新撰作的題署。第二份文獻的題署涵蓋較廣：它涵蓋了天與地一旦蒙召存在，便隨之而來的世代、開展或運行，因而其年月是從第三日算起。本份文獻只限於人的世代，因此從第六日開始。這裏的世代大多取字面的意義，不過也記下了所提若干個人的少數細節。但從寬的意義來看，這題署可涵蓋新舊約全部的歷史。只有在這些書卷的預言部分，我們才在萬事的結局再次觸及那更廣的天與地的範疇（以賽亞書 65:17；彼得後書 3:13；啟示錄 21:1）。唯有當第二亞當顯在地上，在一個新的、聖潔而永遠的約裏，重新把天與地連接起來的時候，歷史的領域才在正當而蒙福的意義上，擴展到起初的規模。
眼前的題署與前一份題署的不同，在於引進了 ספר sepher「書卷」這個詞。這裏多少有經文上的根據，可推想摩西把一份自古傳下、真實可靠的文獻，插入他所奉命撰寫的那部大作之中。誠然，我們眼前的這一章，要到閃、含、雅弗出生之後才能完成。但若把末一節除外，那麼它成於洪水之前，並沒有甚麼不可能或不合理之處。
書寫在如此早的時期即已發明，這看法還有與這些記錄相關的其他若干情況作支持。我們不能說，口傳傳統絕不可能保存細微事件的記憶——言論、詩歌、人名，以及上溯千年的年數——尤其在一個人壽命超過九百歲的時代。但我們很容易看出，若有任何幫助記憶的記數方法，這些細節便容易傳承得多。因此，在這些早期篇章中所見這類細微的記錄，雖然數量不算很多，卻為「書寫之藝早為人所知」這一看法，提供了相當的推定根據。