Genesis 5:28
ESV
When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son
NIV
When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son.
NASB
Now Lamech lived 182 years, and fathered a son.
CSB
Lamech was 182 years old when he fathered a son.
NLT
When Lamech was 182 years old, he became the father of a son.
KJV
And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
NKJV
Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son.
What does Genesis 5:28 mean?
Lamech is the ninth generation from Adam, despite being born many hundreds and hundreds of years after Adam. Using the ages given in this chapter, Adam was still alive when Lamech was nearly sixty years old! That's an important part of the context of this passage. The next chapter will describe mankind as deeply depraved, causing God to send the flood (Genesis 6:5). Clearly, humanity could not blame their sins on forgetfulness, or having lost their heritage. At the time of the flood, there would have been men and women alive who personally knew Adam, or his sons and daughters. The evil of mankind was not because we had forgotten about God, but because we had chosen to reject Him.This verse also breaks the normal pattern of the chapter, adding Lamech's prophetic comments about his son, Noah, in the next verse.
Lamech is the first of the patriarchs to actually "die" before his father. While his grandfather, Enoch, was only on earth for 365 years, he was taken by God prior to death. Lamech will die at the age of 777, five years before his father, Methuselah.
Genesis 5:1-32 is a bridge of genealogy connecting the time of Adam and his son Seth to the time of Noah. This brings the Bible's historical record to the era of the flood. It provides a small, but helpful set of details: early humans lived a long time, had many children, and all died as a result of ubiquitous human sin. Enoch is the exception that proves the rule, commended for walking with God and seemingly taken away before his physical death. Despite the presence of early God-worshippers such as Adam and Seth, man will quickly descend into extraordinary wickedness, as seen in chapter 6. The coming of Noah at the end of this chapter prepares us for God's response to the sins of humankind.
Chapter 5 uses a simple genealogy of Adam's descendants through Seth to link the earliest humans with the time of Noah and the flood. In the generations after the garden, human beings live extraordinarily long lives, have great numbers of children, and continue to be in relationship with God though separated from Him physically and spiritually. The description of Enoch being ''taken'' by God is the exception that proves the rule: No matter how long a person lives, sin always leads to death.
