Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament)

Author(s) of the Book of Genesis:
Chapters 5 & 6

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Continued from Chapters 3 & 4

Background (Repeated):

According to Jewish and Christian tradition, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) were written by Moses under the inspiration of God. God inspired Moses to write the truth and prevented him from making any errors.  Many conservative Christians and Jews continue with this belief.

However, mainline & liberal theologians and secularists generally accept the "Documentary Hypothesis" which asserts that the Pentateuch was written by five authors or groups of authors, from diverse locations, over a period of centuries. Each wrote with the goal of promoting his/her own religious views. In Genesis:

	J: a writer who used Yahweh/Jehovah as the divine name.
	P: a writer who added material of major interest to the priesthood.
	R: a redactor who welded the contributions of J and P together into the present Pentateuch.

Chapters 5 & 6 of the book of Genesis are reprinted below. ₁ The original authors, according to the Documentary Hypothesis, are indicated in color: J,P, and R. We follow the identification by R.E. Friedman. _2,3

CHAPTER 5:

1    (R) This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
2    Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
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.
6    And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:
7    And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
8    And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.
9    And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:
10    And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
11    And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
12    And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:
13    And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
14    And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.
15    And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
16    And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
17    And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.
18    And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:
19    And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
20    And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
21    And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22    And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23    And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24    And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
25    And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:
26    And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:
27    And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
28    And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
29   (J) And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
30    (R) And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
31    And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.
32    And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

CHAPTER 6

1    (J) And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2    That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3    And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4    There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
5    And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6    And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7    And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8    But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
9    (P) These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
10    And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11    The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12    And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13    And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14    Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
15    And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
16    A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
17    And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
18    But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
19    And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
20    Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
21    And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22    Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Continue with Chapter 7

References used:

1. The book of Genesis from the King James Version of the Bible.
2. R.E. Friedman, "Who Wrote the Bible?" HarperCollins, (1997), Pages 246-247. Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
3. R.E. Friedman, "The hidden book in the Bible: The discovery of the first prose masterpiece," Haper San Francisco. Review/order this book. The author traces the "J" component of the first four books of the Bible. He writes:  "Readers have an opportunity to see the first great prose writer's full achievement; an epic work of the struggle between God and humans. and between good and bad.

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