Boys · Hebrew · Old Testament · classic · Primeval
Seth
/SETH/
שֵׁת
"Appointed; placed; granted"
Genesis 4:25
RoleThird son of Adam and Eve; ancestor of Noah and all post-flood humanity
Etymology
From the Hebrew root 'shith' (שִׁית), meaning to place, to set, or to appoint. Eve said, 'God has granted (shath) me another child in place of Abel.' The name carries the weight of replacement, new beginning, and divine appointment.
Who they were
Seth was born after tragedy — after Cain killed Abel and was exiled. Eve named him Seth, saying, 'God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.' He was the new beginning. Through Seth's line came Enosh, in whose time 'people began to call on the name of the Lord' — the beginning of worship. Through Seth came Enoch, who walked with God and was taken. Through Seth came Noah, who survived the flood. Through Seth came Abraham, David, and Jesus. Luke's genealogy of Jesus traces back not through Cain's line but through Seth's. He is the ancestor of everyone alive — after the flood, only Noah's family survived, and Noah descended from Seth. His name — appointed, placed — suggests that God placed him deliberately as the continuation of the line that would eventually produce the Messiah. Seth appears only briefly in Genesis, but his significance is cosmic: he is the root from which the entire human story grows after its first catastrophe.
Family
Character qualities
- Bearer of the line of promise
- Beginning of worship
Where they appear
Themes
Variants & related forms
Sheth
Read their story
Seth's story begins in Genesis.
The full passage is at Genesis 4:25. Any modern translation will do — the NLT and NIV are the most readable; the ESV and NKJV stay close to the wording the church has used for centuries.
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