Read Genesis 5 at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraph divisions:
5:1-5 {s} Mortality of Adam
5:6-8 {s} Mortality of Seth
5:9-11 {s} Mortality of Enosh
5:12-14 {s} Mortality of Kenan
5:15-17 {s} Mortality of Mahalalel
5:18-20 {s} Mortality of Jared
5:21-24 {s} Enoch walked with God and did not die
5:25-27 {s} Mortality of Methuselah
5:28-31 {s} Mortality of Lamech
5:32-6:4 {p} …
This chapter highlights the Pattern and Repetition teaching tool. So and so lived x number of years, and begot so and so. Afterward he lived y number of years, begot other sons and daughters, so that all his days were z number of years, then he died, over and over again until our eyes glaze over.
But then we arrive at Genesis 5:22, and we read something different:
And Enoch walked with God after he begot Methuselah three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him. Gen 5:22-24
And then the previously established pattern resumes. These few verses stand out to us simply because they say something different in a long line of repetition without variation.
Why this matters: The break in pattern draws our attention so that we do not miss something important God is trying to say. And that is, Enoch walked with God, and he did not die; implying that when you or I walk with God, life also will overcome death.
If there are questions, these are good resources:
The Antiquities of the Jews Book I, Chapter 2: Concerning the Posterity of Adam, and the Ten Generations from Him to the Deluge – Josephus
Did people like Adam and Noah really live over 900 years? – Answers in Genesis
Are there gaps in the Genesis genealogies? – Answers in Genesis
The genealogy to Noah reveals the gospel – Brad Scott
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