Seth
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 Š"ṯ;
Arabic:
شيث; "Placed; appointed"), in the
Book of Genesis of the
Hebrew Bible, is the third son of
Adam and Eve mentioned by name, and brother of
Cain and
Abel. He was born after the slaying of
Abel by Cain.
Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve mentioned by name, for Adam "a son in his likeness and form" (Genesis 5:3). Seth was given by God in place of the murdered Abel. He had a son
Enos at age 105 (Genesis 5:6) and lived 912 years (
Genesis 5:8).
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).
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)
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. Many have also supposed
Jesus to have been the son of
Joseph, himself a descendant of Seth (
Luke 3:23-38).
In
Latter-day Saint theology, Seth was
ordained by Adam at the age of sixty-nine 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 and ).
In
Islam, he is also regarded as a son of the
Adam, who is considered one of the
Islamic prophets.
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.
One 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.
Nineteenth century scholars identified Seth with
Shitti, an epithet for
Marduk.
*
Sethianism*
Seth Grimes
