Seth
The son given after Abel's death, through whom the line continues
Place in the genealogy
- Luke · name 75 · Jesus back to AdamFrom Terah back to Adam, and to GodLuke 3:38
Where Scripture records this person
- Genesis 4:25-26
- Genesis 5:3-8
- 1 Chronicles 1:1
- Luke 3:38
Who this person is in Scripture
Seth is born after Cain has murdered Abel and gone out from the presence of the Lord. Eve names him because 'God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel' (Genesis 4:25), which shows she was still watching for the promised offspring of Genesis 3:15.
Genesis says almost nothing of his deeds. What it records instead is a turn in the world's worship: in the days of his son Enos, men began to call upon the name of the Lord. Seth's importance is that the line of promise runs through him rather than through Cain, and Luke follows exactly that line.
Family, as Scripture gives it
- Father
- Adam
- Mother
- Eve
- Children
- Enos
- Siblings
- Cain, Abel
In order
- After Abel's deathBorn and named as the appointed seedGenesis 4:25
- At 105 yearsEnos is bornGenesis 5:6
- At 912 yearsDiesGenesis 5:8
Promises and covenants this life carries
- He is the replacement seed. The line of promise passes from Abel, who was killed, to Seth, who lived, and God's purpose continues where a human family thought it had ended.
How Scripture connects this person to Christ
- Seth is the appointed one given in place of a murdered brother. Christ is the appointed one who was himself the murdered brother, and whose death rather than survival secured the line of God's people.
What this teaches
- God's promises survive murder, grief and the loss of the son you expected them to run through. Eve buried Abel and still named Seth as the appointed seed.
- A life Scripture records in three sentences can carry the plan of God. Faithfulness that leaves no monument is still faithfulness.
Questions the text can answer
Why does the Bible follow Seth's line and not Cain's?
Genesis 4 gives Cain's line as a record of city building, craft and escalating violence, ending in Lamech's boast. Genesis 5 gives Seth's line as a record of men who lived, fathered sons and died, with Enoch walking with God in the middle of it.
The promise of Genesis 3:15 needed a line, and Scripture traces the one where the Lord's name was called upon.
Read further in Scripture
- Genesis 3:15
- Hebrews 11:4