Genesis 5 · Verse 32

Genesis 5:32

And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 5:32, King James Version

Genesis 5:32 in other translations

BSBAfter Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
WEBNoah was five hundred years old, then Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
ASVAnd Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
YLTAnd Noah is a son of five hundred years, and Noah begetteth Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
DARBYAnd Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
BBEAnd when Noah was five hundred years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
WebsterAnd Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

What does Genesis 5:32 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
32. Noah was five hundred years old: and ... begat--That he and the other patriarchs were advanced in life before children were born to them is a difficulty accounted for probably from the circumstance that Moses does not here record their first-born sons, but only the succession from Adam through Seth to Abraham.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 32 Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth - From Gen 10:21; 1Chr 1:5, etc., we learn that Japheth was the eldest son of Noah, but Shem is mentioned first, because it was from him, in a direct line, that the Messiah came. Ham was certainly the youngest of Noah's sons, and from what we read, Gen 9:22, the worst of them; and how he comes to be mentioned out of his natural order is not easy to be accounted for. When the Scriptures design to mark precedency, though the subject be a younger son or brother, he is always mentioned first; so Jacob is named before Esau, his elder brother, and Ephraim before Manasses. See Gen 28:5; Gen 48:20. Among many important things presented to our view in this chapter, several of which have been already noticed, we may observe that, of all the antediluvian patriarchs, Enoch, who was probably the best man, was the shortest time upon earth; his years were exactly as the days in a solar revolution, viz., three hundred and sixty-five; and like the sun he fulfilled a glorious course, shining more and more unto the perfect day, and was taken, when in his meridian splendor, to shine like the sun in the kingdom of his Father for ever. From computation it appears, 1. That Adam lived to see Lamech, the ninth generation, in the fifty-sixth year of whose life he died; and as he was the first who lived, and the first that sinned, so he was the first who tasted death in a natural way. Abel's was not a natural but a violent death. 2. That Enoch was taken away next after Adam, seven patriarchs remaining witness of his translation. 3. That all the nine first patriarchs were taken away before the flood came, which happened in the six hundredth year of Noah's life. 4. That Methuselah lived till the very year in which the flood came, of which his name is supposed to have been prophetical מתו methu, "he dieth," and שלח shalach, "he sendeth out;" as if God had designed to teach men that as soon as Methuselah died the flood should be sent forth to drown an ungodly world. If this were then so understood, even the name of this patriarch contained in it a gracious warning.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 5:25-32

Methuselah signifies, he dies, there is a dart,' a sending forth,' namely, of the deluge, which came the year that Methuselah died. He lived 969 years, the longest that any man ever lived on earth; but the longest liver must die at last. Noah signifies rest; his parents gave him that name, with a prospect of his being a great blessing to his generation. Observe his father's complaint of the calamitous state of human…

Read the full comment on Genesis 5:25-32 →

Genesis 5:32 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַֽיְהִי\־vay.hi-and he wasH1961
נֹ֕חַNo.achNoahH5146
בֶּן\־ben-a son ofH1121
חֲמֵ֥שׁcha.MeshfiveH2568
מֵא֖וֹתme.'othundred<s>H3967
שָׁנָ֑הsha.Nahyear[s]H8141
וַיּ֣וֹלֶדvai.Yo.ledand he fatheredH3205
נֹ֔חַNo.achNoahH5146
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
שֵׁ֖םshemShemH8035
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
חָ֥םchamHamH2526
וְאֶת\־ve.'Etand <obj.>H853
יָֽפֶת\׃Ya.fetJaphethH3315

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 5:32

  • Genesis 6:10

    And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

  • Genesis 10:21

    Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.

  • Genesis 7:13

    In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

  • 1 Chronicles 1:4-28

    Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer; Ashchenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. …

  • Genesis 10:32

    These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

  • Genesis 10:1

    Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

  • Genesis 9:22-27

    And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. …

  • Genesis 9:18-19

    And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

  • Luke 3:36

    Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A.M. 1556. B.C. 2448. Shem.
6:10; 7:13; 9:18,19,22-27; 10:1,21,32; 1Ch 1:4-28; Lu 3:36

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 5:31

    And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.

  • Genesis 5:32

    And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Read all of Genesis 5

Genesis 5:32 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y siendo Noé de quinientos años, engendró á Sem, Châm, y á Japhet.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et Noé était âgé de 500 ans, et Noé engendra Sem, Cham, et Japheth.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Noah war 500 Jahre alt; und Noah zeugte Sem, Ham und Japhet.