Genesis 5:7
וַֽיְחִי־שֵׁת אַֽחֲרֵי הוֹלִידוֹ אֶת־אֱנוֹשׁ שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים וּשְׁמֹנֶה מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד בָּנִים וּבָנֽוֹת׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַֽיְחִי־שֵׁ֗ת אַֽחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־אֱנ֔וֹשׁ שֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֔ים וּשְׁמֹנֶ֥ה מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃
καὶ ἔζησεν Σὴθ μετὰ τὸ γεννῆσαι αὐτὸν τὸν Ἐνὼς ἑπτακόσια καὶ ἑπτὰ ἔτη, καὶ ἐγέννησεν υἱοὺς καὶ θυγατέῥᾶς.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Vixitque Seth, postquam genuit Enos, octingentis septem annis, genuitque filios et filias.
Después del nacimiento de Enós, Set vivió ochocientos siete años, y tuvo otros hijos e hijas.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y vivió Seth, después que engendró á Enós, ochocientos y siete años: y engendró hijos é hijas.
And after he had become the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Genesis 5:7 states that Seth lived 807 years after the birth of his son Enosh, and that during this span he had other sons and daughters. The verse follows the standard genealogical formula of the chapter, marking a lifespan divided into "years after the birth of the named descendant" plus the birth of additional offspring.
Key words
- y.chi- ("he lived", H2421) — qal narrative verb opening the clause, setting Seth as the subject of the life-span report.
- ho.li.D ("fathered", H3205) — hiphil infinitive construct with the causative sense "to cause to be born"; combined with 'a.cha.Rei ("after", H0310A) it frames the following years as counted from Enosh's birth.
- she.va' ("seven", H7651) and me.'ot ("hundreds", H3967) — cardinal numbers that, joined with sha.Nim/sha.Nah ("years", H8141), build the compound total "seven and eight hundred years."
- i.Yo.led ("he fathered", H3205) — hiphil narrative form (same root as ho.li.D) reporting a second, general fathering event, distinct from the specific mention of Enosh.
- ba.Nim ("sons", H1121A) and va.Not ("daughters", H1323G) — plural nouns indicating multiple unnamed offspring beyond Enosh.
What the text says
The Hebrew clause opens with the narrative verb va-yechi ("and he lived"), a construction typical of the Genesis genealogies, followed immediately by the subject Shet ("Seth", H8352). The phrase 'acharei holido 'et-Enosh ("after his fathering Enosh") uses an infinitive construct with a pronominal suffix (-o, "his") attached directly to the verb holid, a compact Hebrew way of expressing a temporal clause ("after he fathered") without a separate subordinate conjunction beyond 'acharei. The direct object marker 'et (H0853) precedes Enosh, marking him grammatically as the object of the fathering, not a separate clause subject.
The numerical phrase sheva' shanim u-shemoneh me'ot shanah ("seven years and eight hundred years") follows the standard Hebrew numeral order for compound numbers in this genealogy — units before hundreds — yielding a total lifespan-after-Enosh of 807 years. The verse closes with a second occurrence of the y-l-d root, now in the narrative hiphil va-yyoled ("and he fathered"), paired with the plural nouns banim ("sons") and banot ("daughters"), indicating additional unnamed children born within that 807-year period.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew total is 807 years (sheva' + shemoneh me'ot). The LXX (Swete) gives ἑπτακόσια καὶ ἑπτὰ ἔτη, "seven hundred and seven years," a numerically different total from the Masoretic reading. The Vulgate follows the Hebrew figure, rendering octingentis septem annis ("eight hundred and seven years"), matching 807 rather than the LXX's 707.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.