Genesis 5:31

Study note

Setting — The narrator closes the entry for Lamech within the Adamite genealogy by recording his lifespan and death. This occurs immediately after noting that Lamech fathered Noah at 182 and lived another 595 years.

The words — כָּל־יְמֵי (kol-yemei) literally means “all the days of,” marking the span as a finished, bounded period. שֶׁבַע וְשִבְעִים שָׁנָה וּשְׁבַע (sheva ve-shivim shanah usheva) provides the exact numerical count of 777 years.

The thread — The formula “and then he died” terminates every entry in Genesis 5 to emphasize the mortality of the pre-Flood line. This cadence reappears in Genesis 11:10–26 before the genealogical structure shifts to shorter, historical timelines.

Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge death as the non-negotiable end of every earthly life. It demands acceptance of the recorded span as complete before the narrative proceeds to the next generation.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.