Generations or account language can introduce descent, a family history or the narrative that follows. Genesis uses it for the account of the heavens and earth, for the book of Adam's generations and for Jacob's account as Joseph's story begins.
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Full entry for תּוֹלְדָה (H8435) · Open the biblical lexicon
Generations or account language can introduce descent, a family history or the narrative that follows. Genesis uses it for the account of the heavens and earth, for the book of Adam's generations and for Jacob's account as Joseph's story begins.
The BSB source-word alignment has 39 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include according to the records (12), is the account (9), according to their genealogies (2), according to their genealogy (2), according to their records (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 2:4. Its strongest book concentrations include Genesis (13), Numbers (13), 1 Chronicles (9), Exodus (3).
Generations or account language can introduce descent, a family history or the narrative that follows. Genesis uses it for the account of the heavens and earth, for the book of Adam's generations and for Jacob's account as Joseph's story begins. The formula therefore needs more attention than a single English gloss. Ask whose account is named and what the following text actually includes.
A list of descendants, a creation setting and an extended family narrative do not function identically. These headings help readers follow the text's organization, but the word alone does not settle authorship, document dates or every chronological question. It also does not make ancestry a scale of human dignity or a guarantee of acceptance by God.
Creation's account, Adam's generations and Jacob's account opening Joseph's story show that the formula can orient readers to different kinds of narrated material.
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made them.
The formula names the account of the heavens and earth in their creation setting; its subject is not simply a list of human descendants.
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness.
Adam's generations begin with creation in God's likeness, and the following lines move into named descent; the heading should remain with that actual sequence.
This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
Jacob's account opens with Joseph and his brothers, introducing a family narrative rather than immediately supplying only a numbered list of descendants.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Genealogical framework structuring biblical narrative: traces lineage, legitimacy, and covenant continuity through generations.
Genealogical framework structuring biblical narrative: traces lineage, legitimacy, and covenant continuity through generations.
(plural only) descent, i.e. family; (figuratively) history BDB: generations Usage: birth, generations.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 39 lexical occurrence verses.
תּוֹלְדָה is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Genesis 37 gives a particularly useful reading test. The account is named for Jacob, but the next sentence turns to Joseph among his brothers. A reader who expects only a list of descendants would miss how the heading introduces a larger family narrative. Genesis 5 does contain named descent, while Genesis 2 names the heavens and earth in their creation setting.
The formula can therefore orient the reader without dictating one identical structure everywhere. Teach its subject and the following material first. Questions about document history or exact chronology require evidence beyond the heading, and family descent should not become a spiritual ranking. Careful attention to the actual account lets its narrative and named relationships remain visible without adding claims the word cannot establish.
Gen.37.2
The licensed Hebrew comparison gives descent, family and history with generations language. The selected BSB headings use both account and generations; their named subjects and ensuing material establish their contextual function.
Matthew 1:1 introduces the genealogy of Jesus Christ and names His relationship to David and Abraham. That provides a textual setting for comparing family-account language, but Matthew's own wording must govern the comparison; the Hebrew formula alone does not make every account a direct prediction or confer saving status through ancestry.