In Genesis: Abel (brother) Cain (brother) Enos (son) Kenan (great-grandson) Mahalalel (great-great-grandson) Jared (great-great-great-grandson) Enoch (great-great-great-great-grandson) Methuselah (great-great-great-great-great-grandson) Lamech (great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson) According to later traditions: Aclima (sister) Azura (sister)
Seth,[a] in theAbrahamic religions, was the third son ofAdam andEve. TheHebrew Bible names two of his siblings (although it also states that he had others): his brothersCain andAbel. According toGenesis 4:25, Seth was born after Abel's murder by Cain, and Eve believed thatGod had appointed him as a replacement for Abel.
According to theBook of Genesis, Seth was born when Adam was 130 years old (according to theMasoretic Text),[3] or 230 years old (according to theSeptuagint),[4] "a son in his likeness and image".[3] The genealogy repeated at1 Chronicles 1:1–3.Genesis 5:4–5 states that Adam fathered "sons and daughters" before his death, aged 930 years. According to Genesis, Seth died at the age of 912 (that is, 14 years beforeNoah's birth).[5]
Seth figures in thebiblical texts of theLife of Adam and Eve (theApocalypse of Moses). It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from after their expulsion from theGarden of Eden to their deaths. While the surviving versions were composed from the early third to the fifth century,[6]: 252 the literary units in the work are considered to be older and predominantly ofJewish origin.[7] There is wide agreement that the original was composed in aSemitic language[6]: 251 in the first century AD/CE.[6]: 252 In the Greek versions, Seth and Eve travel to the doors of the Garden to beg for some oil of the Tree of Mercy (i.e. theTree of Life). On the way, Seth is attacked and bitten by a wild beast, which goes away when ordered by Seth.Michael refuses to give them the oil at that time, but promises to give it at theend of time, when all flesh will be raised up, the delights of paradise will be given to the holy people and God will be in their midst. On their return, Adam says to Eve: "What hast thou done? Thou hast brought upon us great wrath which is death." (chapters 5–14) Later, only Seth can witness the taking-up of Adam at his funeral in a divine chariot, which deposits him in the Garden of Eden.[8]
Genesis refers to Seth as the ancestor ofNoah and hence the father of all mankind, all other humans having perished in theGreat Flood. It is said[by whom?] that late in life, Adam gave Seth secret teachings that would become theKabbalah.[citation needed] TheZohar refers to Seth as "ancestor of all the generations of the Egyptians or Tsetsaudim" (Hebrew:righteous ones).[9] According toSeder Olam Rabbah, based on Jewish reckoning, he was born in 2130 BCAM. According toAggadah, he had 2 sons and many wives. According to the Seder Olam Rabbah, he died in 1042 AM.
In theAntiquities of the Jews,Josephus refers to Seth as virtuous and of excellent character,[10] and reports that his descendants invented the wisdom of the heavenly bodies, and built the "pillars of the sons of Seth", two pillars inscribed with many scientific discoveries and inventions, notably inastronomy. They were built by Seth's descendants based onAdam's prediction that the world would be destroyed at one time by fire and another time byglobal flood, in order to protect the discoveries and be remembered after the destruction. One was composed of brick, and the other of stone, so that if the pillar of brick should be destroyed, the pillar of stone would remain, both reporting the ancient discoveries, and informing humankind that a pillar of brick was also erected. Josephus reports that the pillar of stone remained in the land of Siriad in his day.
William Whiston, a 17/18th-century translator of theAntiquities, stated in a footnote that he believed Josephus mistook Seth forSesostris, king ofEgypt, the erector of the pillar in Siriad (being a contemporary name for the territories in whichSirius was venerated, i.e.Egypt). He stated that there was no way for any pillars of Seth to survive thedeluge, because the deluge buried all such pillars and edifices far underground in the sediment of its waters. Theperennialist writer Nigel Jackson identifies the land of Siriad in Josephus' account withSyria, citing relatedMandaean legends regarding the "Oriental Land of Shyr" in connection with the visionary mytho-geography of the prophetic traditions surrounding Seth.[11]
TheSethians were a ChristianGnostic sect who may date their existence to before Christianity.[14] Their thinking, although predominantlyJudaic in foundation, was arguably strongly influenced byPlatonism. Sethians were named for theirveneration of Seth, depicted in theircreation myths as a divineincarnation; consequently, the offspring or 'posterity' of Seth are held to comprise a superior elect within human society.
TheQuran makes no mention ofŠīṯ ibnĀdam. He is respected within Islamic traditions as the third and righteous son of Adam andEve and seen as the gift bestowed on Adam after the death ofAbel. The Sunni scholar and historianibn Kathir in histarikh (book of history),Al-Bidāya wa-n-nihāya (البداية والنهاية),[15] records that Seth, aprophet like his father Adam, transfers God's Law to mankind after the death of Adam,[16] and places him among the exaltedantediluvianpatriarchs of theGenerations of Adam. Some sources say that Seth was the receiver ofscriptures.[17] These scriptures are said to be the "first scriptures" mentioned in the Quran 87:18. Medieval historian and exegeteal-Tabari and other scholars say that Seth buried Adam and the secret texts in the tomb of Adam, i.e., the "Cave of Treasures".
Islamic literature holds that Seth was born when Adam was past 100 and that Adam appointed Seth as guide to his people. The 11th-century Syrian historian and translatorAl-Mubashshir ibn Fātik recorded the maxims and aphorisms of the ancient philosophers in his bookKitāb mukhtār al-ḥikam wa-maḥāsin al-kalim[18] and included a chapter on Seth. Within Islamic tradition Seth holds wisdom of several kinds; knowledge of time, prophecy of the futureGreat Flood, and inspiration on the methods of night prayer. Islam, Judaism and Christianity trace the genealogy of mankind back to Seth since Abel left no heirs and Cain's heirs, according to tradition, were destroyed by the Great Flood.[19] Many traditional Islamiccrafts[20] are traced back to Seth, such as the making ofhorn combs.[21] Seth also plays a role inSufism, andIbn Arabi includes a chapter in hisBezels of Wisdom on Seth, entitled "The Wisdom of Expiration in the Word of Seth".[22]
Some traditions locate Seth's tomb in the village ofAl-Nabi Shayth (lit. "The Prophet Seth") in the mountains above theBeqaa Valley in Lebanon, where there is amosque named after him. This tomb was described by the 12th-century geographerIbn Jubayr. A rival tradition, mentioned by latermedieval Arab geographers from the 13th century on, placed the tomb ofNabi Shith ("Prophet Seth") in the Palestinian village ofBashshit, southwest ofRamla village. According to thePalestine Exploration Fund, Bashshit meansBeit Shith, i.e. "House of Seth".[23] The village was depopulated with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, but the three-domed structure said to be Seth's tomb survives in the IsraelimoshavAseret built on the site. Another tomb in the city ofBalkh,Afghanistan has been identified as the burial site of Seth.
Local Muslims inAyodhya,Uttar Pradesh in India believe a 12-foot-long (3.7 m) grave in Hazrat Shees Jinnati Mosque to be themaqam of Hazrat Shees or the Prophet Seth.[24] This belief is mentioned in a 16th-centuryMughal documentAin-i-Akbari[25][26] and is also mentioned in the workIndia of Aurangzeb ofJadunath Sarkar.[27]
According toYazidioral literature,Adam and Eve each deposited their seeds into separate jars. WhileEve's seed developed into insects,Adam's seed gave birth to Shehid ibn Jerr, the ancestor of the Yazidis. Yazidis thus believe that they have been created separately and differently from all other human beings (Kreyenbroek 2005: 31).[35]
On July 26, 2014, forces of theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) blew up Nabi Shiyt (Prophet Seth) shrine inMosul, Iraq. Sami al-Massoudi, the deputy head of theShiite Endowment Office overseeing holy sites, confirmed that destruction. He added, ISIL took some of the artifacts to an unknown location.[36]
There is a village named after him inLebanon, that isAl-Nabi Shayth orAl-Nabi Sheeth (meaning "TheProphet Seth"), which is also considered to contain his shrine.[37][38]
^abcJohnson, M.D. (1985). "Life of Adam and Eve, a new translation and introduction". In Charlesworth, J.H. (ed.).the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol. 2.ISBN0-385-18813-7.
^Sparks, H.F.D. (1984).The Apocryphal Old Testament. Clarendon Press. p. 143.ISBN0-19-826177-2.
^Quinn, Esther (1962).The Quest of Seth for the Oil of Life. University of Chicago Press.ISBN978-0226700878.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Tabari,History of the Prophets and Kings, Vol. I:Creation to the Flood
^Sacred Art in the East and West,Titus Burckhardt, Suhail Academy Publishing, 1967, pg. 151: "Thus it is that the craft traditions, such as persisted in Islamic countries to the very threshold of our times, are generally said to have come down from certain pre-Islamic prophets, particularly from Seth, the third son of Adam."
^Islam and The Destiny of Man,Gai Eaton,Islamic Texts Society, 1994, pgs. 211–212: (on the traditional making of horn combs) "This craft can be traced back from apprentice to master until one reaches... Seth... It was he who first taught men and what a prophet brings – and Seth was a prophet – must clearly have a special purpose, both outwardly and inwardly".
^"Book One, 1st Glorification: The Return of Shitil, son of Adam to the World of Light".Ginza Rabba. Vol. Left Volume. Translated by Al-Saadi, Qais; Al-Saadi, Hamed (2nd ed.). Germany: Drabsha. 2019. pp. 1–9.
^ab"Book Five: The Descent of the Savior".Ginza Rabba. Vol. Right Volume. Translated by Al-Saadi, Qais; Al-Saadi, Hamed (2nd ed.). Germany: Drabsha. 2019. pp. 70–83.
^ab"Book Twelve: The Second Illumination".Ginza Rabba. Vol. Right Volume. Translated by Al-Saadi, Qais; Al-Saadi, Hamed (2nd ed.). Germany: Drabsha. 2019. pp. 130–135. [Note: this is book 10 in some other editions.]
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