And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.
God records the lineage of the righteous with care and clarity, setting down their years at length so all can see them, while the wicked are left nameless and forgotten. The memory of the just is blessed; the name of the wicked shall rot. These long lives teach us to number our days, for even centuries are but a quick passage.
AI summary
Commenting on Genesis 5:6-20
And Enoch walked with God, after he begat Methuselah, three hundred years,.... The Greek version is two hundred. He had walked with God undoubtedly before, but perhaps after this time more closely and constantly: and this is observed to denote, that he continued so to do all the days of his life, notwithstanding the apostasy which began in the days of his father, and increased in his.
Seth bore the image of God as Adam did, yet corrupted by sin transmitted through his father. The recurring refrain "and he died" announces death as an unchangeable law from Adam onward; yet each man fathered children before he fell, so life persisted amid death, and the race endured to bring forth the Seed who would conquer death itself.
AI summary
Commenting on Genesis 5:3-32