Question: Jude 14 says that Enoch was the 7th from Adam but when we count the fathers mentioned in the genealogies of Genesis 5:3-18, 1 Chronicles 1:1-2 and Luke 3:37-38, we find Enoch is the sixth and not the seventh. The Bible is clearly wrong.
Answer: We do count six, yet Jude says there are seven. Perhaps Jude knows something that we do not and since he is quoting what we call "The Book of Enoch," perhaps we could find a clue there. Noah (supposedly writing) describes his “
ancestor who was man, from Adam the first of men, whom the Lord of spirits made.” (1 Enoch 58:9).
Following this lead, Jude is correct to say that Enoch is the seventh men from Adam, who is counted as the first of men. This means the genealogies and Jude are both correct and the Bible remains without error:
- Adam, the first of men;
- Seth, the second of men (note that Jude draws a contrast between Godly and ungodly men and has already counted Cain in a different category);
- Enos, the third of men;
- Cainan, the fourth of men;
- Mahaleleel, the fifth of men;
- Jared, the sixth of men;
- Enoch, the seventh of men.
