Another One Bites the Dust: A Theology of the Seth-Noah Genealogy

For many Christians, biblical genealogies convey information but little theology. Consequently, believers can tend to read (or to skim over) them out of a sense of duty rather than to peruse them out of a desire to grow in their understanding of God’s Story. In the brief essay below, I examine the theology of the Seth-Noah genealogy of Genesis 5. While most scholars see Moses shifting from his focus on the spread of sin (Gen 3–4) to an emphasis on signs of grace (Gen 5), I argue that Moses is continuing to highlight the spread of sin and God’s curse even as he traces out the lineage of “the woman’s seed.” Read more