Genesis: Adam and early families
Quick key: BC years count down; AD years count up. “About” means approximate. Dates and label meanings · Words used here
Bible and world history · 4004 BC–3004 BC
Follow the early Genesis families, compare overlapping lifespans in the chart’s chronology, and distinguish people who share a name.
Start with these entries, then explore the wider-world comparison. These are reading pointers, not a scale of elapsed time or a complete list of events.
Adam: 930 years in Genesis; Eve’s lifespan not stated here
912-year lifespan in Genesis
365 years; God takes Enoch in Genesis 5
No age or BC date stated in this passage
Undated Biblical family entry
Related articles offer further reading. Each entry’s sources support its specific explanation.
Choose by dates or by the people and subjects below. Early Biblical dates follow this resource’s timeline chronology.
These bars use the chart’s 4004 BC anchor and the ages in Genesis. They visualize that traditional calculation, not independently corroborated dates. Bars are clipped to this page’s period; the printed ranges show the whole lifespan. Enoch’s ending marks God taking him, not a stated death.
Genesis 5 supplies successive fatherhood ages: 130, 105, 90, 70, 65, 162, 65, 187 and 182 years. Starting at the chart’s 4004 BC anchor yields the dates above. Genesis 7 places the Flood in Noah’s six-hundredth year. Genesis 11:10–11 places Shem’s hundredth year two years after the Flood. The calculation explains this chart; it does not settle other chronological interpretations.
No exact dates are assigned to Cain’s family from the lengths or positions of its diagram lines.
Read the lifespans together above, then compare the individual labels and their Biblical context below. Some lives continue into the next period.
Adam: 930 years in Genesis; Eve’s lifespan not stated here
Biblical account
Genesis 5:5 gives Adam a lifespan of 930 years. Eve is named beside him on the poster, but this passage does not give her lifespan.
Dates: 930 years applies to Adam, not a stated age for both Adam and Eve
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ADAM and EVE 930 yrs. Gen. 5: 3-5
912-year lifespan in Genesis
Biblical account
Genesis 5:6–8 records Seth’s 912-year lifespan.
Biblical reference: The lifespan appears in verse 8; the wall chart’s reference stops at verse 7.
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SETH 912 yrs. Gen. 5: 6-7
905-year lifespan in Genesis
Biblical account
Genesis 5:9–11 records Enos with a lifespan of 905 years.
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ENOS 905 yrs. Gen. 5: 9-11
These are the ages in the Biblical account; the chart’s BC placement is a separate chronology calculation.
910-year lifespan in Genesis
Biblical account
Genesis 5:12–14 records Cainan with a lifespan of 910 years.
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CAINAN 910 yrs. Gen. 5: 12-14
These are the ages in the Biblical account; the chart’s BC placement is a separate chronology calculation.
895-year lifespan in Genesis
Biblical account
Genesis 5:15–17 records Mahalaleel with a lifespan of 895 years.
On the Amazing Bible Timeline with World History
MAHALALEEL 895 yrs. Gen. 5: 15-17
These are the ages in the Biblical account; the chart’s BC placement is a separate chronology calculation.
962-year lifespan in Genesis
Biblical account
Genesis 5:18–20 records Jared with a lifespan of 962 years.
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JARED 962 yrs. Gen. 5: 18-20
These are the ages in the Biblical account; the chart’s BC placement is a separate chronology calculation.
365 years; God takes Enoch in Genesis 5
Biblical account
Genesis 5:21–24 gives Enoch 365 years and says that he walked with God and God took him. The passage does not use the usual “and he died” ending for Enoch.
This is the Enoch in Seth’s line, not Cain’s son of the same name.
Dates: Two Enochs distinguished; the Biblical wording is not reduced to a death date
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ENOCH 365 yrs. Gen. 5: 21-24
969-year lifespan in Genesis
Biblical account
Genesis 5:25–27 records Methuselah with a lifespan of 969 years.
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METHUSELAH 969 yrs. Gen. 5: 25-29
These are the ages in the Biblical account; the chart’s BC placement is a separate chronology calculation.
777-year lifespan in Genesis
Biblical account
Genesis 5:28–31 records Lamech, Noah’s father with a lifespan of 777 years.
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LAMECH 777 yrs. Gen. 5: 28-31
These are the ages in the Biblical account; the chart’s BC placement is a separate chronology calculation.
These entries share the early Genesis setting but are not given numerical lifespans in these passages. The Enoch and Lamech named in Cain’s line are kept separate from the same-named people in Genesis 5.
No age or BC date stated in this passage
Biblical account
Genesis 4 describes Abel as a keeper of sheep and recounts Cain killing him. It does not state Abel’s age at death or a BC date.
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ABEL Gen. 4:2, 8-10
Undated Biblical family entry
Biblical account
Genesis 4 identifies Cain as a son of Adam and Eve and traces his descendants. It does not give his lifespan.
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CAIN Gen. 4:1, 17-22
Undated Biblical family entry
Biblical account
Genesis 4:17 names Enoch as Cain’s son and says Cain named a city after him. He is distinct from the Enoch in Genesis 5 who walked with God.
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ENOCH Gen. 4:17
Undated Biblical family entry
Biblical account
Genesis 4:18 places Irad between Enoch and Mehujael in Cain’s family line. It gives no lifespan or date for him.
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IRAD Gen. 4:18
Undated Biblical family entry
Biblical account
Genesis 4:18 names Mehujael as Irad’s son and Methusael’s father. No lifespan or BC year is stated.
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MEHUJAEL Gen. 4:18
Undated Biblical family entry
Biblical account
Genesis 4:18 names Methusael as Mehujael’s son and Lamech’s father.
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METHUSAEL Gen. 4:18
Undated Biblical family entry
Biblical account
This Lamech belongs to Cain’s line in Genesis 4. He is not the Lamech in Genesis 5 whose son is Noah and whose lifespan is 777 years.
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LAMECH Gen. 4:18
Undated Biblical family entry
Biblical account
Genesis 4:19 names Adah as one of Lamech’s two wives; verses 20–21 name her sons Jabal and Jubal. No lifespan or BC date is stated.
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ADAH Lamech’s wife. Gen. 4:19
Undated Biblical family entry
Biblical account
Genesis 4:20 describes Jabal, Adah’s son, as the ancestor of people who live in tents and keep livestock. The short poster label summarizes that Biblical description.
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JABAL Dwelt in tents and raised cattle. Gen. 4:20
Undated Biblical family entry
Biblical account
Genesis 4:21 describes Jubal as Jabal’s brother and an ancestor of musicians. The poster follows the KJV’s wording about the harp and organ.
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JUBAL Son of Lamech, Father of such as handle the harp and the organ. Gen. 4:21
Undated Biblical family entry
Biblical account
Genesis 4:19 names Zillah as one of Lamech’s two wives. Verse 22 names Tubalcain as her son and Naamah as his sister.
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ZILLAH, Lamech’s wife. Gen. 4:19
Undated Biblical family entry
Biblical account
Genesis 4:22 associates Tubalcain with working brass and iron. The poster’s printed phrase includes the extra word “officer”; that word is not in this KJV verse.
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TUBALCAIN, instructor of every artificer officer of brass and iron. Gen. 4:22
Undated Biblical family entry
Biblical account
Genesis 4:22 names Naamah as Tubalcain’s sister. This short reference gives no lifespan, occupation or BC year for her.
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NAAMAH, sister of Tubalcain. Gen. 4:22
Short definitions for this reading page. Entry cards also offer word help that opens in place, so you can read a definition without leaving the entry.
