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Onkelos Genesis

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The Generations from Adam to Noah

Chapter 5

1 This is the record of the descendants of Adam. When the Lord God created man, in the likeness of Elohim He made him; 2 male and female He created them; and He blessed them, and named them Human, when they were created. 3 And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and fathered a son in his likeness, like himself, and he named him Seth. 4 And the days of Adam after he had fathered Seth were eight hundred years, and he fathered sons and daughters. 5 And all the days of Adam which he lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died. 6 And Seth lived a hundred and five years, and fathered Enosh. 7 And Seth lived after he had fathered Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and fathered sons and daughters. 8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died. 9 And Enosh lived ninety years, and fathered Kenan. 10 And Enosh lived after he had fathered Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and fathered sons and daughters. 11 And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died. 12 And Kenan lived seventy years, and fathered Mahalalel. 13 And Kenan lived after he had fathered Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and fathered sons and daughters. 14 And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died. 15 And Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and fathered Jared. 16 And Mahalalel lived after he had fathered Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and fathered sons and daughters. 17 And all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died. 18 And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and fathered Enoch. 19 And Jared lived after he had fathered Enoch eight hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters. 20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died. 21 And Enoch lived sixty-five years, and fathered Methuselah. 22 And Enoch lived in reverence for the Lord, after he had fathered Methuselah, three hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters. 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch lived in reverence for the Lord; and he was no longer there; for the Lord took him and put him to death.⁠ 25 And Methuselah lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and fathered Lamech. 26 And Methuselah lived after he had fathered Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years, and fathered sons and daughters. 27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died. 28 And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and fathered a son. 29 And he named him Noah, saying, This shall comfort us in our work and the labor of our hands on the earth which the Lord has cursed. 30 And Lamech lived, after he had fathered Noah, five hundred and ninety-five years, and fathered sons and daughters. 31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died. 32 And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

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Compare Genesis 5:24 and Onkelos Genesis 5:24

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Genesis says Enoch was taken by God, and later writings expand this into traditions of him gaining divine wisdom or becoming divine. Targum Onkelos instead says God caused him to die, which may reflect a rejection of those later Enochic traditions.

Passages

Genesis 5:24

Hebrew Bible
22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God for 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 23 The entire lifetime of Enoch was 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and then he disappeared because God took him away. 25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived 782 years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other sons and daughters.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Onkelos Genesis 5:24

Targum
22 And Enoch lived in reverence for the Lord, after he had fathered Methuselah, three hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters. 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch lived in reverence for the Lord; and he was no longer there; for the Lord took him and put him to death. 25 And Methuselah lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and fathered Lamech. 26 And Methuselah lived after he had fathered Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years, and fathered sons and daughters.
50–500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Onkelos Genesis

References

"... The material that now appears in the Book of the Watchers is the earliest preserved instance in which Genesis 5:21-24 and 6:1-13 are combined or closely related to one another. And, though the LXX of Genesis 5:21-24 (and of 6:1-13) is much more closely tied to the biblical text, it, too, engages in some reinterpretation ... Of course, the process of reinterpretation continued into the targumim; Targum Onkelos says that God killed Enoch ..."
James C. VanderKam, From Revelation to Canon: Studies in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 307.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 5:24 and Onkelos Genesis 5:24

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