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Spas na Ilyine - Patriarch Seth

14th century Russian depiction of Seth

Biblical longevity
Name Age LXX
Methuselah 969 969
Jared 962 962
Noah 950 950
Adam 930 930
Seth 912 912
Kenan 910 910
Enos 905 905
Mahalalel 895 895
Lamech 777 753
Shem 600 600
Eber 464 404
Cainan 460
Arpachshad 438 465
Salah 433 466
Enoch 365 365
Peleg 239 339
Reu 239 339
Serug 230 330
Job 210? 210?
Terah 205 205
Isaac 180 180
Abraham 175 175
Nahor 148 304
Jacob 147 147
Esau 147? 147?
Ishmael 137 137
Levi 137 137
Amram 137 137
Kohath 133 133
Laban 130+ 130+
Deborah 130+ 130+
Sarah 127 127
Miriam 125+ 125+
Aaron 123 123
Rebecca 120+ 120+
Moses 120 120
Joseph 110 110
Joshua 110 110

Seth (Hebrew: שֵׁת, Standard Šet, Tiberian Šēṯ; Arabic: شيث‎ Shith or Shiyth; "Placed; appointed"), in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, and is the only other of their children mentioned by name. Traditionally, Adam had 33 sons and 23 daughters. According to Genesis 4:25, Seth was born after the slaying of Abel by Cain, and Eve believed God had appointed him as replacement for Abel because Cain had killed him.

In the Hebrew Bible[]

In Genesis, Seth was born when Adam was 130 years old (Genesis 5:3), "a son in his likeness and image." Genesis 5:4 states that Adam fathered "sons and daughters" before his death, aged 930 years. It is stated in Genesis 4:25 that Seth means "granted".

Seth had a son, Enos, at age 105 (Genesis 5:6), and further sons and daughters; he lived 912 years (Genesis 5:8).

Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi) refers to Seth as the ancestor of Noah and hence the father of all mankind. According to Zohar 1:36b, Seth is "ancestor of all the Generations of the Tzaddikim" (righteous ones).

In gnosticism[]

In Gnosticism, Seth is seen as a replacement given by God for Cain and Abel. It is said that late in life, Adam gave Seth secret teachings that would become the kabbalah.

In Josephus[]

Josephus refers to Seth as virtuous and of excellent character in the Antiquities of the Jews, and reports that his descendants invented the wisdom of the heavenly bodies, and built the "pillars of the sons of Seth", two pillars inscribed with many scientific discoveries and inventions, notably in astronomy. They were built by Seth's descendants based on Adam's prediction that the world would be destroyed at one time by fire and another time by global flood, in order to protect the discoveries and be remembered after the destruction. One was composed of brick, and the other of stone, so that if the pillar of brick should be destroyed, the pillar of stone would remain, both reporting the ancient discoveries, and informing men that a pillar of brick was also erected. Josephus reports that the pillar of stone remained in the land of Siriad in his day.

William Whiston, a 17/18th century translator of the Antiquities, stated in a footnote that he believed Josephus mistook Seth for Sesostris, king of Egypt, the erector of the referenced pillar in Siriad (being a contemporary name for the territories in which Sirius was venerated, i.e., Egypt). He stated that there was no way for any pillars of Seth to survive the deluge, because the deluge buried all such pillars and edificies far underground in the sediment of its waters.

In Christianity[]

Seth
Holy Forefather
Venerated in Armenian Apostolic Church
Feast July 26

The Armenian Apostolic Church counts him as one of the Holy Forefathers, along with Adam, Abel, and others, with a feast day of July 26.

References[]


Wikipedia
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at Seth. The list of authors can be seen in the page history.
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