Genesis 5:26
וַֽיְחִי מְתוּשֶׁלַח אַֽחֲרֵי הוֹלִידוֹ אֶת־לֶמֶךְ שְׁתַּיִם וּשְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה וּשְׁבַע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד בָּנִים וּבָנֽוֹת׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
Tap a word to see its entry
✦ The same verse in five languages
וַֽיְחִ֣י מְתוּשֶׁ֗לַח אַֽחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־לֶ֔מֶךְ שְׁתַּ֤יִם וּשְׁמוֹנִים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּשְׁבַ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃
καὶ ἔζησεν Μαθουσάλα μετὰ τὸ γεννῆσαι αὐτὸν τὸν Λάμεχ ἑπτακόσια καὶ ὀγδοήκοντα δύο ἔτη, καὶ ἐγέννησεν υἱοὺς καὶ θυγατέρας.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Et vixit Mathusala, postquam genuit Lamech, septingentis octoginta duobus annis, et genuit filios et filias.
Después del nacimiento de Lamec, Matusalén vivió setecientos ochenta y dos años, y tuvo otros hijos e hijas.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y vivió Mathusalam, después que engendró á Lamech, setecientos ochenta y dos años: y engendró hijos é hijas.
And after he had become the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Genesis 5:26 states that Methuselah lived 782 years after the birth of his son Lamech, and that during this period he had (additional) sons and daughters. The verse closes the genealogical formula for Methuselah within the Genesis 5 lineage list.
Key words
- y.Chi ("he lived", H2421) — qal narrative form of the root "to live," opening the verse with the standard genealogical formula "and X lived."
- 'a.cha.Rei ("after", H0310A) — construct form introducing a temporal clause; it governs the following infinitive, marking the reference point for the years that follow.
- ho.li.D ("fathered", H3205) — hiphil infinitive with pronominal suffix (-o, "his"), literally "his causing-to-be-born"; the hiphil stem expresses the causative sense "to father/beget."
- i.Yo.led ("he fathered", H3205) — same root as holid, but here in the hiphil narrative (finite) form, describing a completed act in the story sequence: "and he fathered."
- sha.Nah ("year(s)", H8141) — feminine singular noun repeated twice, once for each numeral block (82 and 700), following standard Hebrew numeral-noun agreement.
What the text says
The verse is built on the recurring genealogical pattern of Genesis 5: a temporal clause followed by a total-years notice and a closing formula about offspring. The temporal clause uses the construct preposition 'acharei ("after") governing the infinitive holido ("his fathering"), producing the sense "after his fathering [Lamech]" — a nominalized action rather than a finite verb, which is typical of Biblical Hebrew subordinate time clauses.
The age is given in two numeral blocks: shtayim ushmonim shanah ("two and eighty year," i.e., 82) and ushva me'ot shanah ("and seven hundred year," i.e., 700), together totaling 782. Hebrew numeral syntax here places the smaller unit (ones plus tens) before the larger unit (hundreds), a common ordering pattern in the text, with the noun shanah ("year") repeated after each block rather than stated once for the combined sum.
The final clause, vayyoled banim uvanot ("and he fathered sons and daughters"), reuses the same causative root as holido earlier in the verse (H3205), now in narrative finite form, marking a new completed action distinct from the earlier reference to Lamech's birth. The noun pair banim ("sons") and banot ("daughters") closes the formula, a fixed expression in the Genesis 5 list indicating additional, unnamed offspring.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew's two-part numeral (82 + 700 = 782) corresponds numerically to the Vulgate's septingentis octoginta duobus annis ("seven hundred eighty-two years") and the LXX's ἑπτακόσια καὶ ὀγδοήκοντα δύο ἔτη ("seven hundred and eighty-two years"); all three yield the same total, though the Hebrew states the smaller units first while the LXX and Vulgate state the hundreds first. The English versions (BSB, RV1909, SBLIBRE) render the total directly as "782" without preserving the two-block structure visible in the Hebrew.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.