11 And Shem liveth after his begetting Arphaxad five hundred years, and begetteth sons and daughters.
And God blesseth them, and God saith to them, `Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, and over every living thing that is creeping upon the earth.'
And the days of Adam after his begetting Seth are eight hundred years, and he begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Adam which he lived are nine hundred and thirty years, and he dieth. And Seth liveth an hundred and five years, and begetteth Enos. And Seth liveth after his begetting Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Seth are nine hundred and twelve years, and he dieth. And Enos liveth ninety years, and begetteth Cainan. And Enos liveth after his begetting Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Enos are nine hundred and five years, and he dieth. And Cainan liveth seventy years, and begetteth Mahalaleel. And Cainan liveth after his begetting Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Cainan are nine hundred and ten years, and he dieth. And Mahalaleel liveth five and sixty years, and begetteth Jared. And Mahalaleel liveth after his begetting Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Mahalaleel are eight hundred and ninety and five years, and he dieth. And Jared liveth an hundred and sixty and two years, and begetteth Enoch. And Jared liveth after his begetting Enoch eight hundred years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Jared are nine hundred and sixty and two years, and he dieth. And Enoch liveth five and sixty years, and begetteth Methuselah. And Enoch walketh habitually with God after his begetting Methuselah three hundred years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch are three hundred and sixty and five years. And Enoch walketh habitually with God, and he is not, for God hath taken him. And Methuselah liveth an hundred and eighty and seven years, and begetteth Lamech. And Methuselah liveth after his begetting Lamech seven hundred and eighty and two years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Methuselah are nine hundred and sixty and nine years, and he dieth. And Lamech liveth an hundred and eighty and two years, and begetteth a son, and calleth his name Noah, saying, `This `one' doth comfort us concerning our work, and concerning the labour of our hands, because of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed.' And Lamech liveth after his begetting Noah five hundred and ninety and five years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Lamech are seven hundred and seventy and seven years, and he dieth. And Noah is a son of five hundred years, and Noah begetteth Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Lo, an inheritance of Jehovah `are' sons, A reward `is' the fruit of the womb. As arrows in the hand of a mighty one, So `are' the sons of the young men.
Thy wife `is' as a fruitful vine in the sides of thy house, Thy sons as olive plants around thy table. Lo, surely thus is the man blessed who is fearing Jehovah.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 11
Commentary on Genesis 11 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 11
The old distinction between the sons of God and the sons of men (professors and profane) survived the flood, and now appeared again, when men began to multiply: according to this distinction we have, in this chapter,
Gen 11:1-4
The close of the foregoing chapter tells us that by the sons of Noah, or among the sons of Noah, the nations were divided in the earth after the flood, that is, were distinguished into several tribes or colonies; and, the places having grown too strait for them, it was either appointed by Noah, or agreed upon among his sons, which way each several tribe or colony should steer its course, beginning with the countries that were next them, and designing to proceed further and further, and to remove to a greater distance from each other, as the increase of their several companies should require. Thus was the matter well settled, one hundred years after the flood, about the time of Peleg's birth; but the sons of men, it should seem, were loth to disperse into distant places; they thought the more the merrier and the safer, and therefore they contrived to keep together, and were slack to go to possess the land which the Lord God of their fathers had given them (Jos. 18:3), thinking themselves wiser than either God or Noah. Now here we have,
Gen 11:5-9
We have here the quashing of the project of the Babel-builders, and the turning of the counsel of those froward men headlong, that God's counsel might stand in spite of them. Here is,
Gen 11:10-26
We have here a genealogy, not an endless genealogy, for here it ends in Abram, the friend of God, and leads further to Christ, the promised seed, who was the son of Abram, and from Abram the genealogy of Christ is reckoned (Mt. 1:1, etc.); so that put ch. 5, ch. 11, and Mt. 1, together, and you have such an entire genealogy of Jesus Christ as cannot be produced, for aught I know, concerning any person in the world, out of his line, and at such a distance from the fountain-head. And, laying these three genealogies together, we shall find that twice ten, and thrice fourteen, generations or descents, passed between the first and second Adam, making it clear concerning Christ that he was not only the Son of Abraham, but the Son of man, and the seed of woman. Observe here,
Gen 11:27-32
Here begins the story of Abram, whose name is famous, henceforward, in both Testaments. We have here,