Meskingashir is resolvable into four elements, MES-KI-INGA[384]-SHIR,[385] “the hero” or “man who is great” or “exalted.” Translate this into Semitic Babylonian and it becomes Mutu-ša-elu, which is almost exactly Methuselah.
Enmeirgan becomes when translated into Semitic Mutu-šalal-eqla,[386] and Mahalalel is a much closer transfer of the first two elements of this to Hebrew than are Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, Merodach-baladan, and Evil-merodach of the names Sin-akhi-irba, Ashur-akhi-iddina, Marduk-apal-iddin, and Amel-Marduk. Finally Dumuzi means “son of life,” or “living son,” and Jared[387] means “descendant.”
The equivalent of Noah does not appear in this list, but there is no doubt that he was Ziugiddu, otherwise called Ut-napishtim, of the Babylonian accounts of the flood.
We have then the following equivalents, four of which are Hebrew translations of Sumerian names; three, transfers into Hebrew of the whole or of parts of Semitic Babylonian equivalents of these Sumerian names, two of which are transfers to Hebrew of portions of a Sumerian original, and one of which, Noah, is still unexplained.
| Sumerian | Semitic Babylonian | Hebrew | ||
| Adimê | Adam | |||
| Barsalnunna | Shitḫu-elu | Seth | ||
| Enmenunna | Mutu-elu (or amelu) | Enosh | ||
| Pelikam | Ina-uzni-ereshu (or ummanu) | Kenan | ||
| Enmeirgan | Mutu-šalal-gan | Mahalalel | ||
| Dumuzi | Apal-napišti | Jared | ||
| Etana | Enoch | |||
| Meskingashir | Mutu-ša-elu | Methuselah | ||
| Melamkish | Lamech | |||
| Ziugiddu | Noah |
Of course, it may be objected that our list of kings did not furnish the originals of these patriarchs, since there are more kings than patriarchs, even though some of the names of kings have been lost by the breaking of the tablet. In this connection, however, one should remember that in 1 Chron. 1-9, many names which appear in the earlier books of the Bible are omitted, and that in Matt. 1:8, three kings—Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah—are omitted from the genealogy of Christ. (Compare 2 Kings 11-15.) It appears, then, that Biblical writers did not always copy a full list.
It thus seems that the tablet translated above may be related to the text of Genesis 5 in the names of the patriarchs as well as in the matter of their ages. When we recall that the tablet was apparently written in the year 2170 B. C., it seems probable that it may be a source from which the Biblical names came.
But our examination of the matter cannot stop here. In Gen. 4:16-23 there is a list of the descendants of Cain strikingly similar to the list of the descendants of Seth in Genesis 5. If the names of Adam and Abel be supplied from Gen. 4:1,2, the two lists appear as follows:
| Genesis 4 | Genesis 5 | |||
| Adam | Adam | |||
| | | | | |||
| Abel | Seth | Seth | ||
| | | ||||
| Enosh | ||||
| Cain (Hebrew קין) | Kenan (Hebrew קינן) | |||
| Enoch | Mahalalel | |||
| Irad (Hebrew עירד) | Jared (Hebrew ידד) | |||
| Mehujael | Enoch | |||
| Methushael | Methuselah | |||
| Lamech | Lamech | |||
| Noah | ||||