Jared (biblical figure)
Jared | |
---|---|
Children | Enoch and others |
Parent(s) | Mahalalel |
Jared or Jered (Hebrew: ירד Yāreḏ, Yereḏ; 'descent' or 'to descend'), in the Book of Genesis, was a sixth-generation descendant of Adam and Eve. His primary history is recounted in Genesis 5:18–20.
Tradition
His father Mahalalel, great-grandson of Seth, son of Adam, was stated to be 65 years of age when Jared was born. In the apocryphal Book of Jubilees, his mother's name is Dinah.
Jubilees adds that Jared married Beraka, and the Bible speaks of Jared having become father to many sons and daughters. Of those children, only Enoch is named specifically, born when Jared was 162 years old (Genesis 5:18, 5:22a, 5:24, Hebrews 11:5b, Jude 14–15). Enoch went on to marry Edna, according to Jubilees, and the sole named grandchild of Jared is Enoch's son Methuselah, the longest-living human mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 5:18, 5:21, 5:27).
Additionally, Jared was a forefather of Noah and his three sons. Jared's age was given as 962 years old when he died, making him the second-oldest person mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint. In the Samaritan Pentateuch, his age was 62 at fatherhood and only 847 at death, making Noah the oldest and Jared the seventh-oldest.