What Does Genesis 5:13 Mean in the King James?
And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The same Hebrew root calls Cainan “living” and Eve the mother of “all living,” placing this age count inside a larger story of life continuing.
THE MEANING
Life here has two dimensions: Cainan’s long span and the descendants who continue beyond the birth of Mahalaleel. The verse holds one person’s years beside the life carried forward through sons and daughters.
THE ROOT
וַיְחִי
vayechi
GROWS FROM
חיה
ḥ-y-h
To live, be alive, or remain alive.
The verb translated “lived” belongs to the same root family as words for “living” and “life.” That shared seed connects Cainan’s years to the wider continuation of life through the generations named here.
ALSO GROWS
chai: Alive; living.
חַי
The same root family describes the living in Genesis 3:20, linking Cainan’s “lived” with life beyond one lifespan.
chayyim: Life; the state of being alive.
חַיִּים
This branch makes visible the life carried through the verse’s succession of generations.
וַיּוֹלֶד
wayyoled
GROWS FROM
ילד
y-l-d
To bear, bring forth, or beget.
The root of “begat” also gives Hebrew words for “child” and “generations.” The word-family holds the act of begetting together with the child and the continuing line that follows.
ALSO GROWS
yeled: A child; one who is born.
יֶלֶד
The branch names the life that the verb “begat” brings forth.
toledot: Generations; descendants or an account of descent.
תּוֹלְדוֹת
This branch shows how one act of begetting becomes part of a continuing line.
THE PATTERN
Life extends beyond an individual through what is brought forth, growing into a wider chain of generations and fruit.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.THE THREAD
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.The same חיה (ch-y-h) root appears in “lived” here and “living” in Eve’s name explanation. That shared word-family opens Cainan’s genealogy as a continuation of life, not only a count of years.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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