Set (bible)
Set , also Seth ( Hebrew שֵׁת schet "replacement"; Arabic شيث shith , DMG šīṯ ) is a biblical figure of the Old Testament and after Cain and Abel the third son of Adam and Eve .
The biblical representation
After Abel was murdered and Cain was expelled, Eve gave birth to a third son according to Genesis (Genesis) - Adam is said to have lived on earth for 130 years at this time - and named him Set ( Gen 4.25 EU ). In the original Hebrew text, the name set ( schet ) is a play on words with “set” ( schat ); Set is supposed to be a replacement for Abel. The oldest son of the set is called Enosch ( Gen 5,6-8 EU ). He is said to have fathered him at the age of 105. It is reported that Set subsequently had many sons and daughters. There is no biblical information about a mother of Enosh and the other children of Set. The Book of Anniversaries names his sister Asura as his wife. Set dies at the age of 912.
Set is a direct ancestor of Noah ( Gen 5,6-29 EU ; see also 1 Chr 1,1-4 EU ) and thus, according to the biblical text, of all humanity today. He can also be found in Lk 3.38 EU with the ancestors of Jesus .
From Set to the Flood, the biblical account lists nine generations: Enosh, Kenan , Mahalalel , Jered , Enoch , Methuselah , Lamech, and Noah. In Gen 4,26 EU it is pointed out that during the lifetime of the Set people began to invoke the name of God, YHWH . According to Gen 5:24 EU , Enoch was raptured to heaven while he was still alive, and Methuselah reached the highest known age of a person named in the Bible. Therefore, the descendants of the Set had a general reputation in the Jewish and Christian tradition of being particularly pious and godly. However, according to Gen 6.1-8 EU, the connection of the “sons of God” with the “daughters of man” is said to have been the cause of the wrath of God, the flood and the reduction of the maximum human age to 120 years. The sons of God are identified either with the fallen angels (cf. e.g. Job 1,6 EU ; Dan 3,92 EU ) or with the pious descendant sets who were seduced by the vicious female descendants of Cain. From these sinful connections emerged the Nephilim , the giants and “heroes of the past”.
Set in the Deutorocanonical and Apocryphal scriptures on the Bible
In the deutero-canonical scripture Jesus Sirach , the reputation and meaning of sets are placed behind those of Adam ( Sir 49.16 EU ). Set is also mentioned in various apocryphal books. The book of anniversaries gives information about his family: his wife is his sister Asura . Two of his children are Enos (see Enosh ) and Noam .
- In Isaiah's Ascension , he is mentioned as one of the righteous who are in heaven (Chapter IX, 28).
- In the Gospel of Nicodemus (which also addresses the " Descent into Hell ", Chapter III), Set in the Underworld tells how he is supposed to fetch oil from the tree of mercy for his terminally ill father Adam, but is consoled by an angel of the Lord for the coming of the Messiah ( Chapter XIX).
- The so-called Testament of Adam contains the legend known in the Middle Ages about the three seeds from the tree of life, which Set takes from paradise and gives the deceased Adam to the grave. The trees for the three crosses on Golgotha are said to have grown from these three seeds.
Set in Gnosticism
Set is known to the Mandaeans as Shith-il (about the set belonging to the divine sphere). In the Gnostic writings of Nag Hammadi , Set appears partly with a Christian and partly with a non-Christian reference:
- The Apocryphon of John is an alternative history of creation, after Cain and Abel no sons Adams (but Eve) are set does.
- The creation story of Genesis is retold in The Being of the Archons . According to this story, Eva gave birth to Norea, a sister of the set.
- In the Coptic Gospel of Egypt Set is placed in a very central role, even more important than Adam. According to this scripture, Jesus Christ is ultimately a reincarnation sets.
- The central role of the set as the father of the “steadfast” human race can be read from “ Zostrianos ”. See also The three steles of the set .
- The Apocalypse of Adam is directed at Set; but it does not appear in it any further.
The Sethian sect is derived from Set . There is no causal relationship to the Egyptian deity Seth , only the same name.
See also: Spelling of Biblical Names