Seth

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This article is about the Biblical Seth. For the Egyptian god, see Set (mythology); for other meanings, see Seth (disambiguation).

Seth or Shet (Hebrew: שֵׁת, Standard Šet, Tiberian Šēṯ; Arabic: شيث Shith or Shiyth; "Placed; appointed"), in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel and is the only other son mentioned by name. According to Genesis 4:25, Seth was born after the slaying of Abel by Cain, and Eve believed God had appointed him as "replacement" for Abel "because Cain killed him".

1 Seth in the Hebrew Bible
2 Seth in the New Testament
3 Seth in the Book of Jubilees
4 Seth in Gnosticism
5 Seth in LDS-theology
6 Seth in Islam
7 Josephus about Seth
8 Seth in the Garden of Eden
9 Nineteenth century scholars on Seth
10 See also

[edit] Seth in the Hebrew Bible

Seth was the third son (and only other child) of Adam and Eve mentioned by name in Genesis. At Genesis 4:1, Cain is listed as Adam and Eve's first child. In verse 2, it simply states that Eve "later again gave birth to his brother Abel." Chapter 4 then proceeds to concentrate on Abel's murder by Cain, therefore it is unclear whether Abel was Adam & Eve's second actual child, or just the second son.

In the Hebrew Bible, Seth is a vague figure, even something of a nonentity. After stating that Seth was to Adam "a son in his likeness and image", born when Adam was 130 years old (Genesis 5:3), Genesis 5:4 states that Adam fathered "sons and daughters" before his death aged 930 years. The terminology used implies Seth only rated a mention over Adam's other sons because he (a) happened to look like his father and (b) was the first of Adam's sons born after the murder of Abel, the brother he never knew. Genesis is conspicious in not emphasising Seth as a faithful worshipper of God, unlike its treatment of Abel.

Calculating back from the pivotal or fixed Old Testament date of 539 BC, means that Seth was born in the year 3896 BC, Adam having been created in 4026 BC (see Bible Chronology). Obviously Cain and Abel were born prior to this date, but the age gap between Cain, Abel and Seth is not provided. Genesis does not state when Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden, but there must have been sufficient time for both Cain and Abel to grow to adulthood and become established as a farmer (Cain) and a shepherd (Abel). As a bare minimum, Abel must have been in his early twenties when he was murdered.

Seth is quickly dispensed with in Genesis, though acknowledged as an ancestor of Jesus Christ. He had a son, Enosh, or Enos at age 105 (Genesis 5:6) and further children; he lived 912 years (Genesis 5:8). As with Adam and Eve's other children, the other children of Seth are not listed, possibly because this would be impractical.

Biologically speaking, modern humans have an average lifespan of 75 years; men but particularly women are only fertile for about one third of that time - roughly 25 years. If this ratio is extrapolated to the antediluvian period, and an average lifespan of 900 years per person is assumed, this gives a fertility period of 300 years (one third of 900) per couple. A woman who had one child every three years would have 150 children; 1 child every five years would equal 60 children, and 1 child every decade would still equal 30 children not counting any multiple births from one pregnancy.

Including Cain and Abel, Seth could have had over 150 siblings, and likewise he could have had over 150 children besides Enosh. Filial bonds of sibling affection as we understand them today would simply not have existed in a culture with an age gap of decades or centuries between them, leading to Seth and Cain having no psychological difficulties in having a sexual relationship with a woman who was biologically a sister, but with whom they had no sibling affection. This is the claim of the apochryphal Book of Jubilees, as outlined below, which states Seth married a sister name Azura (none of Adam and Eve's daughters are named in Genesis). A comparison is the marriage of the Patriarch Abraham (Abram) to his paternal half-sister Sarah (Sarai); Abraham was older by a decade, but they obviously had no interaction as siblings that made them feeling uncomfortable about a sexual relationship with each other. Indeed, at Genesis 20:12, Abraham is openly casual in admitting the biology, "she truly is my sister, the daughter of my father, only not the daughter of my mother".

Per Rashi, Seth is the ancestor of Noah and hence the father of all mankind. According to Zohar 1:36b, Seth is "ancestor of all the Generations of the Tzaddikim" (righteous ones). Parshat Balak refers to "all of Seth's descendants" (Numbers 24:17).

[edit] Seth in the New Testament

Through Seth's line came Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and Joseph, earthly father of Jesus Christ. (See Luke 3:23-38 for a full genealogy)

[edit] Seth in the Book of Jubilees

According to the Book of Jubilees, Seth married his younger sister Azura, was 105 when his son Enos was born, and died at the age of 912. In rabbinic literature, the name Seth (Hebrew: Sheth) is explained as meaning "foundation." According to this tradition, Seth was perceived as the "Foundation of the World," since he was the first ancestor of mankind to be born of human parents. All contemporary humans are thus seen as relating to Seth through his descendant Noah.

[edit] Seth in Gnosticism

In Gnosticism, Seth is seen as a replacement given by God for Cain and Abel. It is said that late in life, Adam gave Seth secret teachings that would become the Kabbalah.

[edit] Seth in LDS-theology

In Latter-day Saint theology, Seth was ordained by Adam at the age of 69 years. Three years prior to Adam's death, he blessed Seth that his posterity would be "the chosen of the Lord" and that it would be "preserved unto the end of the earth" (D&C 107:42). Furthermore, Seth was "a perfect man, and his likeness was the express likeness of his father" (D&C 107:43). Seth is also the name of a Jaredite in the Book of Mormon (Ether Ether 1:10-11 and Ether 11:9).

[edit] Seth in Islam

In Islam, he is also regarded as a son of the Adam, who is considered one of the Islamic prophets.

[edit] Josephus about Seth

Josephus refers to Seth as the most notable of the sons of Adam in the Antiquities of the Jews, and reports that his descendants built the Pillars of the sons of Seth.

[edit] Seth in the Garden of Eden

One Christian oral story tells of Adam, knowing his death is near calling Seth to his side. He tells Seth to go back to the Garden of Eden, to enter and get three seeds from the fruit of the Tree of Life. Adam then instructs Seth to return to him and place the three seeds in his mouth before burying his body. Seth does as his father requests and makes the trip to the Garden of Eden. At the gate stands the Archangel Michael, who asks Seth his business. Seth tells him, and Michael lets him pass, directing him to the tree of life. Seth collects three seeds from the fruit of the tree, and then returns, back through the gates, down to his father, who by this time has died. He digs Adam's grave, and buries him, placing the three seeds in his mouth before covering him with dirt. Eventually three trees spring up from Adam's grave, and it is these three trees that are later chopped down to provide the wood for the three crosses on Golgotha. ^{[citation needed]}