“This is the book of the generations of Adam.” Ramban explained that this refers to the entire Torah, as it is all a book of the generations of Adam. Rabbenu Bachya explained that “the book,” meaning wisdom, is the essential generations of man. But it appears to me that “this book” refers to what was said: on the day God created man, in God’s image He made him. For on the day Adam was created, he was perfect in his formation with all human virtues and was devoid of any blemish or deficiency. Like a craftsman who writes in a book all the things he needs for his work, so too did the Holy One, Blessed be He, write in a book all the virtues that were in man, by virtue of which he was in God’s image, in order to teach future generations how through their sins they brought evil upon themselves, as all generations progressively diminished from those perfections. As it is written: Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book they were all written; days were fashioned, and not one of them (Psalms 139:16). Our Sages interpreted this verse (Sanhedrin 38b) regarding the creation of Adam, and following their approach, I say this is its interpretation: Your eyes saw my unformed substance — that it appeared good in the eyes of the Holy One, Blessed be He; and in Your book they were all written — this is the book of the generations of Adam, upon which were written all human virtues, which the verse encapsulated by saying in God’s image He created him. However, days were fashioned, and not one of them — meaning days would come when among those born there would not be even one of all those virtues, as they would progressively diminish from that perfection. Therefore, How precious are Your companions, O God — referring to those who are companions to the Omnipresent, Blessed be He, and are in God’s image — they are precious in my eyes because they are not in existence.

Another explanation: This all refers to human free choice, for “everything is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven.” All of a person’s actions, which are called “generations” and “events,” appear as if the Holy One, Blessed be He, generates them, since everything comes from Him — wisdom, wealth, strength, and longevity. However, “this is the book,” meaning the good deeds whose source comes from within the book; these are “the generations of man” attributed to humans, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, has no part in them, for He has placed all human actions in their hands. The Lord did not determine all this, and humans were made with free will on the day God created man, in God’s image He made him (Genesis 5:1). Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, rules over all His actions, so too humans rule over all their actions, and in this way they are in God’s image. This is what is meant by Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book they were all written (Psalms 139:16), as our Sages explained in tractate Niddah (16b): They bring the [embryonic] drop before the Holy One, Blessed be He, and ask whether this one who will be born will be wise or foolish, weak or strong, rich or poor. However, they do not ask whether one will be righteous or wicked, because “everything is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven.” This is what is meant by Your eyes saw my unformed substance — before formation, the Holy One, Blessed be He, saw what would become of my unformed substance when they present the drop before Him. And in Your book they were all written — they write in a book all matters concerning whether one will be strong or weak, etc., and even days were formed — they decree how long one will live. However, not one of them refers to the fact that one aspect of completeness is missing from this book, for they do not determine whether one will be righteous or wicked. Therefore, the child’s judgment and actions are not written in the book where they record what will be. Thus, How precious are Your companions, O God — for they were made in God’s image, ruling over all their actions, as mentioned.

And Adam lived, etc. [The Torah] made three divisions in their lifespans, as it mentioned for all of them the number of years they lived before having children, and afterward combined them together, and it mentioned for all of them “and he died.” But in the Torah portion of Noah it only mentioned two divisions and it did not mention “and he died.” This is because one who is without children is considered as dead while alive, and similarly, the wicked who do not produce good deeds are called dead while living. Therefore, it used the language of “and he lived” regarding the number of days they lived before having children because even though they were still without children, nevertheless their lives were considered “living” since all those mentioned in this genealogical chain in this portion and in Noah’s portion were all righteous — Adam, Seth, etc., all of them. After they had children, additional vitality was added to them through their children. Therefore, it mentions “and he lived” regarding the days they lived after having children. Then it combined them together to say they were all equal in goodness, for before the flood there was no deficiency found in them except for death itself, as it is written They send forth their little ones like a flock (Job 21:11) and it is written They spend their days in prosperity (Job 21:13). Furthermore, it mentioned “and he died” for all of them to indicate that they all died natural deaths on their beds and were not destroyed in the flood. However, after the flood the world changed and their days were not all equally good, therefore it did not combine them together again. And it also did not mention “and he died” because there were deficiencies in all of them besides death. Additionally, after the flood there was no need to mention “and he died” because it was obvious that they died — for who can live and not see death? It seems likely to me to say that all those mentioned in this genealogical chain were prophets, for who told Lamech that “this son will comfort us from our work and from the toil of our hands”? And so too Shem son of Noah, and likewise Enoch, Methuselah, and Eber — they serve as a prototype for all of them.