translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: GEN

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “book” or “roll.” Cf. NIV “written account”; NRSV “list.”


text: Heb “generations.” See the note on the phrase “this is the account of” in 2:4 .


text: The Hebrew text has אָדָם (’ adam ).


text: Heb “him.” The Hebrew text uses the third masculine singular pronominal suffix on the accusative sign. The pronoun agrees grammatically with its antecedent אָדָם (’ adam ). However, the next verse makes it clear that אָדָם is collective here and refers to “humankind,” so it is preferable to translate the pronoun with the English plural.


text: The Hebrew word used here is אָדָם (’ adam ).


text: Heb “and Adam lived 130 years.” In the translation the verb is subordinated to the following verb, “and he fathered,” and rendered as a temporal clause.


text: Heb “The days of Adam.”


text: Heb “he fathered.”


text: The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “all the days of Adam which he lived”


text: Here and in vv. 10, 13, 16, 19 the word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “and Enoch walked with God, after he became the father of Methuselah, [for] 300 years.”


text: The Hebrew construction has the negative particle אֵין (’ en , “there is not,” “there was not”) with a pronominal suffix, “he was not.” Instead of saying that Enoch died, the text says he no longer was present.


text: The Hebrew verb יְנַחֲמֵנוּ ( yÿnakhamenu ) is from the root נָחָם ( nakham ), which means “to comfort” in the Piel verbal stem. The letters נ ( nun ) and ח ( heth ) pick up the sounds in the name “Noah,” forming a paronomasia on the name. They are not from the same verbal root, and so the connection is only by sound. Lamech’s sentiment reflects the oppression of living under the curse on the ground, but also expresses the hope for relief in some way through the birth of Noah. His words proved to be ironic but prophetic. The relief would come with a new beginning after the flood. See E. G. Kraeling, “The Interpretations of the Name Noah in Genesis 5:29 ,” JBL 48 (1929): 138-43.


text: Heb “Noah.” The pronoun (“he”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.