Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 4:25 - 5:32

From time to time Christians, particularly new Christians, will ask which translation of the Bible they should use. There are dozens of translations to choose from. Some pastors and church leaders will say it doesn’t matter which one you read, as long as you are reading one.

I do not agree with that philosophy. It does matter which translation you read, because some translations accurately translate the Bible into English while others actually distort the text in an attempt to make the Bible easier to understand.

There is a statement in Genesis 4:26 which illustrates this reality. If you read this verse using a good translation, you can arrive at the truth. If you read this verse using a bad translation, you have no chance of arriving at a correct understanding.

Adam and Eve had two sons: Cain and Abel. God was pleased with Abel’s offering, but He did not accept Cain’s offering. Therefore, Cain got angry and killed Abel. Cain was condemned to be a wanderer on the earth.

Gen. 4:25 ¶ Then Adam knew his wife again; and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has set for me another seed in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.”

Gen. 4:26 And to Seth, to him also, a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of Yahweh.

The last sentence of this verse confuses some people. Some people think it means men did not begin worshipping the Creator until after Enosh was born. Some supposed Bible translations render this verse that way. For example, The Message says “That’s when men and women began praying and worshiping in the name of God.” The New Living Translation says “At that time people first began to worship the LORD by name.” The God’s Word Translation says “At that time people began to worship the LORD.” Those translations don’t make sense in light of the fact that Adam and Eve knew God very well, but Enosh was born 235 years after creation.

The correct understanding of this verse is that it was after the birth of Enosh when men began using the name Yahweh to refer to the Creator. Before Enosh, men knew God, but they used other names and terms to refer to Him.

The Hebrew word yahweh is a verb which means “he is”. Yahweh is in the imperfect form meaning it is a continuing action. When men began using the name Yahweh to refer to God, they were saying God continually is.

I believe what happened is that after the birth of Enosh, men looked around and grasped the fact that all living plants, animals, and humans are brought into existence by another living thing. The only exception is God. God was not brought into existence by another living thing. God has always existed. When you ask, “Where did God come from?”, the answer is “God is.”

Men began using the name Yahweh to refer to God because that name captures the truth that God is, He was not brought into existence. This fact differentiates the Creator from every other living thing that ever has existed or ever will exist.

If you read this verse in a translation that accurately renders this statement something like “then men began to call upon the name of Yahweh”, then you are able to arrive at a correct understanding of this verse. However, if you read this verse in a supposed translation that tries to simplify the Bible and renders this verse something like “That’s when men began worshipping God”, then you have no chance of arriving at a correct understanding of this verse. This verse illustrates that it does matter which translation you read.

Gen. 5:1 ¶ This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.

The pronoun “him” is singular. God created Adam in His own image.

Gen. 5:2 He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.

This verse tells us God created male and female, but it does not say He created them in His image.

Gen. 5:3 ¶ When Adam had lived 130 years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.

Notice the word “likeness” and “image”. Seth was the likeness and image of Adam. The rest of chapter 5 continues the genealogy, but the words “likeness” and “image” do not appear again.

Gen. 5:4 Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were 800 years, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

Gen. 5:5 So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:6 ¶ And Seth lived 105 years and became the father of Enosh.

Gen. 5:7 Then Seth lived 807 years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 5:8 So all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:9 ¶ And Enosh lived 90 years and became the father of Kenan.

Gen. 5:10 Then Enosh lived 815 years after he became the father of Kenan, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

Gen. 5:11 So all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:12 ¶ And Kenan lived 70 years and became the father of Mahalalel.

Gen. 5:13 Then Kenan lived 840 years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

Gen. 5:14 So all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:15 ¶ And Mahalalel lived 65 years and became the father of Jared.

Gen. 5:16 Then Mahalalel lived 830 years after he became the father of Jared, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

Gen. 5:17 So all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:18 ¶ And Jared lived 162 years and became the father of Enoch.

Gen. 5:19 Then Jared lived 800 years after he became the father of Enoch, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

Gen. 5:20 So all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:21 ¶ And Enoch lived 65 years and became the father of Methuselah.

Gen. 5:22 Then Enoch walked with God 300 years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

Look at the phrase “walked with God”. Up to this point in the genealogy, it said so and so lived a certain number of years. In contrast, Enoch did not merely live for 300 years, he walked with God for 300 years. The author of Genesis stated that Enoch had a godliness and devotion to God that was lacking in the other men in this genealogy.

Gen. 5:23 So all the days of Enoch were 365 years.

Gen. 5:24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Because of Enoch’s godliness, he did not die. Instead, he was taken.

Gen. 5:25 ¶ And Methuselah lived 187 years and became the father of Lamech.

Gen. 5:26 Then Methuselah lived 782 years after he became the father of Lamech, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

Gen. 5:27 So all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:28 ¶ And Lamech lived 182 years and became the father of a son.

Gen. 5:29 Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the pain of our hands arising from the ground which Yahweh has cursed.”

Gen. 5:30 Then Lamech lived 595 years after he became the father of Noah, and he became the father of other sons and daughters.

Gen. 5:31 So all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

Gen. 5:32 ¶ And Noah was 500 years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

From time to time Christians, particularly new Christians, will ask which translation of the Bible they should use. Some pastors and church leaders will say it doesn’t matter which one you read, as long as you are reading one. I do not agree with that philosophy. It does matter which translation you read, because some translations accurately translate the Bible into English while others actually distort the text in an attempt to make the Bible easier to understand.

There is a statement in Genesis 4:26 which illustrates this reality. If you read this verse in a translation that accurately renders this statement something like “then men began to call upon the name of Yahweh”, then you are able to arrive at a correct understanding of this verse. However, if you read this verse in a supposed translation that tries to simplify the Bible and renders this verse something like “That’s when men began worshipping God”, then you have no chance of arriving at a correct understanding of this verse. This verse illustrates that it does matter which translation you read.

How well does your church teach your congregation the pros and cons of the various translations that exist?

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”