Genesis 5:31

Summary

The verse closes the genealogical notice for Lamech by totaling the number of years of his life — seven, seventy, and seven hundred, summing to 777 years — and reporting his death with the standard formula va-yamot ("and he died", H4191).

Key words

• yehi ("it was", H1961) — qal narrative form of the verb "to be," opening the clause as a report of a completed state, parallel to the opening formula used throughout the genealogies of Genesis 5.
• yemei- ("days of", H3117) — construct plural of "day," here functioning idiomatically for "years of life," bound to the following proper name.
• sheva' ("seven", H7651) — cardinal number, first in construct form when introducing the hundreds ("seven of hundreds"), then in absolute form when combined with "seventy."
• shiv'im ("seventy", H7657) — cardinal number, masculine plural form, joined to sheva' by the conjunction ve- ("and", H9002) to form "seven and seventy."
• va-yamot ("and he died", H4191) — qal narrative form of "to die," closing the verse with the same death-formula used for other pre-flood genealogical figures.

What the text says

The Hebrew builds the total lifespan in three numerical blocks joined by the conjunction ve- ("and", H9002): sheva' ve-shiv'im shanah ("seven and seventy year[s]", H7651+H7657+H8141) plus u-sheva' me'ot shanah ("and seven hundred year[s]", H7651+H3967+H8141). This additive structure (7 + 70 + 700) yields the total of 777 years, matching the pattern used elsewhere in Genesis 5 for reporting patriarchal lifespans. The noun shanah ("year", H8141) appears twice, once with each numerical block, rather than once at the end, a repetition common in Biblical Hebrew numeral syntax.

The clause kol-yemei-Lemekh ("all the days of Lamech", H3605+H3117+H3929) uses the construct chain to specify whose "days" (i.e., lifespan) are being counted. The verse ends with the short formula va-yamot ("and he died", H4191), using the same narrative verb form (va- + qal) as the opening va-yehi ("and it was", H1961), framing the entire verse between two matching narrative-vav constructions.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew total is 777 years (sheva' ve-shiv'im shanah + sheva' me'ot shanah). The LXX renders the total as ἑπτακόσια πεντήκοντα τρία ("seven hundred fifty-three"), a different sum from the Hebrew figure. The Vulgate gives septingenti septuaginta septem anni ("seven hundred seventy-seven years"), matching the Hebrew total of 777. The Vulgate also adds a further sentence about Noah at 500 years fathering Shem, Ham, and Japheth, which is not part of this verse in the Hebrew or the LXX text as given.