“And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.”
The other sons and daughters of Seth remain unlisted, but his lineage includes Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah.
According to the Secret Revelation of John (Codex II), the “seed of Seth”—meaning his offspring and descendants—”dwelt for a while, assisting.”
in texts such as the Apocalypse of Adam, the people of Seth seek alienation not from the world, but from the forces of evil. Indeed, they readily identified themselves as a special people sent into the world to illuminate, protect, and save anyone willing to separate from evil.
Enosh and Seth initiated the study of the Casement of the Earth.* We are later presented with much information concerning the Casement in the Book of Enoch. Thus, there appears to be a tradition within the roots of Judaism, albeit primitive, concerning this astrological study.
- Josephus, Ant. 1.2.3: “They were also the inventors of that peculiar sort of wisdom which is concerned with the heavenly bodies, and their order. And that their inventions might not be lost before they were sufficiently known, upon Adam’s prediction that the world was to be destroyed at one time by the force of fire and at another time by the violence and quantity of water, they made two pillars…”
In his introduction to the laws, Maimonides analyzes Enosh by the result of where men eventually strayed: “Their mistake was as follows: They said that G‑d created stars and spheres with which to control the world. He placed them on high and honored them, making them servants who minister before Him. Accordingly, it is fitting to praise and glorify them and to treat them with honor.”
Josephus writes, “They [meaning Seth and his family] were the inventors of that peculiar sort of wisdom which is concerned with the heavenly bodies and their order.” In chapter III, he opens with, “Now this posterity of Seth continued to esteem God as the Lord of the Universe, and have entire regard for virtue, for seven generations; but in the process of time they [the people] became perverted, and forsook the practices of their forefathers; and did neither pay those honors to God which were appointed them nor had any concern to do justice towards men [violence].”
Genesis refers to Seth as the ancestor of Noah and hence the father of all mankind, all other humans having perished in the Great Flood. It is said that late in life, Adam gave Seth secret teachings that would become the Kabbalah. The Zohar refers to Seth as "ancestor of all the generations of the Egyptians or Tsetsaudim" (Hebrew: righteous ones).
In the Antiquities 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 in astronomy. They were built by Seth's descendants based on Adam's prediction that the world would be destroyed at one time by fire and another time by global 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.
The Sethians were a Christian Gnostic sect who may date their existence to before Christianity.[14] Their thinking, although predominantly Judaic in foundation, was arguably strongly influenced by Platonism. Sethians were named for their veneration of Seth, depicted in their creation myths as a divine incarnation; consequently, the offspring or 'posterity' of Seth are held to comprise a superior elect within human society.
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.
Seth also plays a role in Sufism, and Ibn Arabi includes a chapter in his Bezels of Wisdom on Seth, entitled "The Wisdom of Expiration in the Word of Seth".[