Genesis 5:1
זֶה סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדֹת אָדָם בְּיוֹם בְּרֹא אֱלֹהִים אָדָם בִּדְמוּת אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אֹתֽוֹ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
זֶ֣ה סֵ֔פֶר תּוֹלְדֹ֖ת אָדָ֑ם בְּי֗וֹם בְּרֹ֤א אֱלֹהִים֙ אָדָ֔ם בִּדְמ֥וּת אֱלֹהִ֖ים עָשָׂ֥ה אֹתֽוֹ׃
Αὔτη ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως ἀνθρώπων. ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν Ἀδάμ, κατ’ εἰκόνα θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν·
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Hic est liber generationis Adam. In die qua creavit Deus hominem, ad similitudinem Dei fecit illum.
Ésta es la lista de los descendientes de Adán. Cuando Dios creó al hombre, lo hizo a su semejanza.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
ESTE es el libro de las generaciones de Adam. El día en que crió Dios al hombre, á la semejanza de Dios lo hizo;
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Genesis 5:1 opens a new section of the text by announcing a sefer ("record of", H5612H) concerning the toledot ("descendants of", H8435) of 'Adam ("Adam", H0121G). It then restates, in summary form, the day when 'Elohim ("God", H0430G) created 'adam ("humankind", H0120G) in the demut ("likeness of", H1823) of 'Elohim ("God", H0430G).
Key words
- sefer ("record of", H5612H) — masculine singular construct noun; it governs the following noun toledot, forming the phrase "record of the descendants."
- toledot ("descendants of", H8435) — feminine plural construct noun, also governing what follows (here, the proper name 'Adam), producing "descendants of Adam."
- bero ("created", H1254A) — Qal infinitive construct of the verb, following the preposition be ("on/in", H9003); this infinitive construction ("on/in the creating of") functions temporally, equivalent to "on the day when he created."
- 'adam ("humankind", H0120G) — masculine singular common noun in word 9; distinct in Strong numbering from 'Adam ("Adam", H0121G) in word 4, marking a shift from the proper name to the generic term for the human species.
- 'oto ("him", H0853 + H9033) — direct object marker 'et carrying the third-person masculine singular pronominal suffix, marking "him" as the object of asah ("he made", H6213H).
What the text says
The verse divides into two parts joined without an explicit connector in the Hebrew. The first part, zeh sefer toledot 'Adam ("this [is] the record of the descendants of Adam"), uses a chain of two construct nouns (sefer → toledot → 'Adam) to introduce the following genealogical material as a "record of descendants" tied to the proper name 'Adam. The second part shifts to a temporal clause built on the infinitive bero ("in creating"), governed by the preposition be, which does not require a finite verb to express "on the day when X happened" — a common Hebrew construction for background time reference. Within that clause, the object is 'adam (H0120G), the generic term for humankind rather than the proper name used in word 4, and the verb asah ("he made", H6213H) is a Qal perfect, indicating a completed action. The object marker 'oto closes the sentence, referring back to the humankind just mentioned rather than repeating the noun.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders toledot 'Adam as γενέσεως ἀνθρώπων ("generation of humans/mankind"), generalizing the Hebrew proper name 'Adam into a plural human referent, whereas the Vulgate keeps "Adam" as a personal name (liber generationis Adam). In the second clause, the Vulgate uses hominem ("man/human") for 'adam (H0120G), paralleling the Hebrew's generic sense, while the LXX explicitly names τὸν Ἀδάμ ("Adam") as the object created, differing from the generic Hebrew noun at that position.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.