Genesis 11:10 - Meaning and Application

Here we have a family line, but not an endless one. It ends in Abram, the friend of God, and it points onward to Christ, the promised seed. Christ was the son of Abram, and his family line is traced back through Abram (Matthew 1:1 and following). If we put Genesis 5, Genesis 11, and Matthew 1 together, we get a full line of Jesus Christ that, as far as we know, cannot be matched for any other person in the world, from such an early beginning.

When we lay those three family lines side by side, we find that about twenty generations, and then another fourteen generations, passed between the first Adam and the second Adam, Jesus Christ. This shows clearly that Christ was not only the Son of Abraham, but also the Son of Man and the seed of the woman. There is a larger purpose in these names than mere record keeping. The line is moving toward Christ.

Notice, first, that only names and ages are recorded here. The Holy Spirit seems to hurry through them to reach the story of Abram. How little we know about those who lived before us, even those who lived in the same places we live now. We also know very little about many of the people living around us today, especially in far-off places. We have enough to do to pay attention to the work of our own day, and let God deal with what has gone before (Ecclesiastes 3:15).

Second, there was a clear and steady decline in how long these people lived. Shem lived 600 years, which was still less than the patriarchs before the flood. The next three generations lived less than 500 years. The next three did not reach 300. After that, we do not read of anyone reaching 200, except Terah, Abram’s father. A little later, Moses said that seventy, or even eighty, is about the full measure of a person’s ordinary life. As the earth was being filled, human life was being shortened. This should be traced to God’s wise rule, not to any weakness in human nature itself. For the sake of God’s chosen people, human days are shortened. Since life is also full of trouble, it is better that they are few and do not reach the long lives of their ancestors (Genesis 47:9).

Third, Eber, from whom the Hebrews got their name, lived longer than anyone else born after the flood. This may have been the reward for his special devotion and his firm walk in God’s ways.