Longevity and the Lineage of Seth

God creates by time. For humans have their actions distributed by time, but God is not so; for 'He himself said and they were brought into being' (Gen 1:3), and we do not have the power to divide the willing of Him who wishes to bring into existence that which He wills, and because of order, as it has been said, the first has been grasped in perfection. But likewise it has been said regarding the man having come to be 'according to the image' (Gen 1:26). And the 'and blessed them' (Gen 3:22) is an explicit sign of them being good; for blessing reaches toward good things; for 'this one shall receive a blessing from the Lord' (Gen 4:1). It is to be noted that He calls both Adams, and regarding 'male and female He made them' (Gen 1:27) having said in the first chapters, we shall not repeat. And if both Enoch and Adam signify man, it is not to be treated as strange; for among the Hebrews, man is many-named, just as among those speaking in Greek, man is called part, mortal, light; and these things, falling under etymologies, are by nature and not by position, as has been said before.

Adam lived three hundred and thirty years and begat according to his own idea and according to his image, and he named his son Seth. And the days of Adam became seven hundred years after the begetting of Seth, and he begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Adam which he lived were three hundred and thirty years and he died. The life of men now is cut short to a small number; for it shall be said later from the histories that the matter has proceeded by a little, as it was also foretold regarding the one saying by God: 'My spirit shall not abide in these men because they are flesh, but their days shall be one hundred and twenty years' (Gen 6:3), and it is also said by the Psalmist: 'The days of our years are seventy years, if in strength eighty years, and the more of them are labor and sorrow' (Ps 90:10); for the years after the eightieth year...

Life is toil and labor. At that time, one did not even rise quickly; indeed, one hundred and sixty years seemed to be the prime. And it was fitting in the beginning that men were long-lived, so that the human race, being generated from a single origin, would not be cut off by their being short-lived. For thus, since the time of life was greater, more were born, yet there becomes one memory because of the reason of succession, those called the firstborn.

And if someone says: 'And indeed Seth is third, not firstborn,' it must be said that since it was not appropriate from Cain, being of low status, nor from Abel, who departed childless, it is fitting that he is in a certain way a firstborn from Seth. As for 'according to the form' and 'according to the image,' it will seem to be taken more simply as being the same, but the one who loves art would say that 'according to the form' is by the ***, and 'according to the image' is by the ***. These things are now given thus; but if anyone is troubled by the number of years or the interpretation of the names of those being born, Philo would give a mystical account without being cold-hearted. Pay attention, therefore, to this, for it is useful.

And Seth lived five hundred and twenty years and begat Enos (Gen 5:21). And Seth lived, after Enos was begotten, seven hundred and seventy years and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Seth were twelve hundred and ninety years and he died. And this Enos is the same name as the one before him, who was a son of Cain. And this Enos lived eighty and died; and his son was Kenan, who himself lived ninety and eighty and died; and his son was Mahalalel, and of him the time was completed in ninety-five years; and his son was Jared, who lived sixty-two and nine hundred and died, who begat Enoch (Gen 5:24). And Enoch lived one hundred and sixty-five years and begat the...