Genesis 5; Moses 6
“Teach These Things Freely unto Your Children”
January 26 - February 1
scriptures
commentary
Jared, Methuselah, and Enoch
<p><strong>6:21; 5:18. “Jared.”</strong> Moses 6:21–25 speaks of how “preachers of righteousness”—who are seen in some ancient sources as having descended (symbolically) from higher ground—initiated a missionary program aimed at teaching spiritual wanderers who had deliberately forsaken God. Among these preachers was Jared,<sup> <a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a></sup> the father of Enoch, the root of whose name probably means “to descend.”<a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a> Among those to whom they preached were the giants, or <em>nephilim</em>,<a href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3">[3]</a> a name that fittingly means “fallen ones.”</p> <p><strong>6:25; 5:21. “Enoch . . . begat Methuselah.”</strong> In the book of Genesis, the genealogy continues unbroken in order for the entire “stream of generations between Creation and Flood”<a href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> to be presented in preparation for the story of Noah. However, following Moses 6:25 in the Joseph Smith Translation (which corresponds to Genesis 5:21), the biblical account is interrupted so that a significantly extended story of Enoch can be included. Because of the way this added material on Enoch disturbs the literary structure of Genesis, it seems likely that this story was not merely left out of the Genesis record. Rather, it likely originally formed a separate record of its own that was included here in order to both maintain a relatively consistent chronological ordering of events and anticipate later references to Enoch in the Joseph Smith Translation story of Noah.<a href="#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5">[5]</a> Following the story of Enoch, the biblical account picks up again in Moses 8:1 (compare Genesis 5:23).</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> For an account of Jared’s descent, see, for example, E. A. Wallis Budge, ed., <em>The Book of the Cave of Treasures</em> (New York, NY: Cosimo Classics, 2005), 84–86. For more on the temple-related symbolic geography of sacred centers and sacred mountains in the early chapters of Genesis, including in the story of Enoch, see Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, “Moses 6–7 and the <em>Book of Giants</em>: Remarkable Witnesses of Enoch’s Ministry,” in<em> Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses: Inspired Origins, Temple Contexts, and Literary Qualities</em>, ed. Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, David R. Seely, John W. Welch, and Scott Gordon (Orem, UT: Interpreter Foundation; Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central; Reading, CA: FAIR; Salt Lake City, UT: Eborn Books, 2021), 1124–1133.</p> <p><a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2">[2]</a> Richard S. Hess, <em>Studies in the Personal Names of Genesis 1–11</em> (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2009), 69–70. Others have related the name Jared to the Genesis place names of Arad, Eridu, and so on.</p> <p><a href="#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3">[3]</a> Genesis 6:4; Numbers 13:33. Possibly equated with the “giants” in Moses 7:15; 8:18. Consistent with the book of Moses, Victor P. Hamilton (<em>The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1–17</em> [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1990], 269–270) sees this group “as being distinct from the <em>mighty men” </em>(that is, the <em>gibborim</em>).</p> <p><a href="#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4">[4]</a> Claus Westermann, <em>Genesis 1–11: A Continental Commentary</em>, trans. John J. Scullion (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1994), 347.</p> <p><a href="#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5">[5]</a> Examples of references to the story of Noah in the Joseph Smith Translation include Moses 8:19 and the additions to Genesis 6:18; 9:9, 11, 16.</p>
Old Testament Minute: Genesis by BMC
video
Who Was Enoch in the Bible? (Moses 6)
<p>Lynne Hilton Wilson, “Come, Follow Me (Genesis 5; Moses 6 | Jan 17 - 23) Week 4, Part 2/7,” Book of Mormon Central Video, 2022.</p>
Lynne Hilton Wilson
