The introduction of Seth

All of a sudden, this Jahwist author brought us back to Adam and Eve.  To replace the killed Abel, Seth was born, the forgotten third son of Adam and Eve, who was actually mentioned as often as Abel, 8 times in the biblical literature.  However, he became a genealogical hero.  A genealogy tracing the descendants of Seth down to Noah appeared in Genesis, chapter 5.  Scholars have noted similarities between the genealogy of Cain and Seth.  Some of the same people were mentioned in the genealogy of Cain and that of Seth.  Seth also had a son called Enosh, without mentioning where his wife came from.  Thus, we have the same problem as we had with Cain’s wife. Who is this female and where did she come from?  His son Enosh was one of the first to invoke the name of Yahweh.  This Jahwist author repeated the theme of Genesis, chapter 1.  God had created humans in the image of God, male and female.  However, there was very little about females.  The offspring of Seth, and not Cain, were to lead to Noah.  Most of these patriarchs began having children in old age and continued on.  This was the list of the first-born males, but in each case they all “had other sons and daughters,” even Adam.  This genealogy in Genesis, chapter 5, included the age at which each patriarch had children, as well as the number of years he lived thereafter.  Have you ever heard of Seth?

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