Genesis 5:3. In His Own Image

Genesis 5:3 “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth.

Considering that Adam was fully mature and married on his first birthday, it is remarkable that his third son was not born until he was 130 years old.[1] Either Adam and Eve were very conservative in their procreation after the heartbreak of losing Cain and Able, or they just had daughters in the interim. The idea that some of their other sons were born in that 130 lapse can be discarded based on two facts. First, Eve named Seth with the explanation that “God has appointed me another seed instead of Abel” (4:25). This is strong evidence that he was their third son. Second, the next verse explicitly states that the “other sons and daughters” were born after Seth, during the last 800 years of Adam’s life (5:4). 

Why does the Bible emphasize that Seth was born in Adam’s “own likeness, after his image”? Weren’t all his sons born in his likeness? As usual, context offers a clue as the previous verse emphasizes Adam’s creation in the likeness of God (5:2). Therefore, Seth’s likeness to Adam also means a likeness to God, and describes his godly character at least as much as, if not more than, a likeness to Adam in physical appearance. In that sense, Seth’s likeness to his father was as much a series of choices as it was a sequence of genes. So much for the “born this way” excuse for sin! Instead of blaming his dad for his mistakes and all that was wrong in the world, Seth focused on the positive. He valued Adam’s humility, repentance, and dependence on God and made it his own. Instead of proudly disdaining his dad, he learned from and with him. Praise God the laws of heredity are overruled by the law of free will, reason, and sound judgment. You too can make choices today that will restore the lost image of God in your body, mind and soul!

[1] As noted earlier in this commentary, the Bible doesn’t give sufficient detail to know exactly how long Adam and Eve were in the garden before their fall, but clues in both the order and wording of the text suggest that Cain and Abel were not born until after the fall, which in turn seems to suggest that Adam and Eve didn’t enjoy their Eden home for a very long period of time. That conclusion, however, hinges on the assumption that because Adam and Eve were created as mature adults and married on the day of their creation, they probably didn’t wait very long to consummate their union.