The name Jered, which signifies “a descent” or “he shall descend,” is recorded in Scripture as being held by two distinct individuals. Their lives, while separated by generations, are anchored within the detailed genealogies of the early patriarchs and the later tribes of Israel.
The first Jered appears in the antediluvian record as the son of Mahalaleel and the father of the prophet Enoch. He occupies a significant place in the genealogy from Adam to Noah, noted for having lived 962 years, making him the second-oldest man recorded in the Bible. His life and lineage are documented in Genesis 5:15, 5:16, 5:17, 5:18, 5:19, and 5:20. He is also listed in the genealogy provided in 1 Chronicles 1:2 and is mentioned in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 3:37, where his name is spelled Jared. His life serves as a bridge between the earliest generations of humanity and the time when men began to walk so closely with God that they were taken from the earth without seeing death.
The second man to bear the name Jered is found in the genealogical records of the tribe of Judah. He is identified as the son of Ezra and a descendant of Caleb—not the Caleb who was the son of Jephunneh, but a descendant linked to the house of Judah. This Jered is described as the father of Gedor, and his lineage is recorded in 1 Chronicles 4:18. His mention, though brief, confirms the continuity of the tribes and the preservation of lineage that would eventually lead to the line of David and the promised Messiah.
These two men, though living in vastly different eras, underscore the divine importance of the ancestral record. Whether they lived in the world before the flood or in the period of Israel’s settlement in the land, they are preserved in the holy text as essential links in the unfolding history of God’s covenant with mankind.