Forefather Jared, Forefather

Forefather Jared was an antediluvian patriarch, a fifth-generation descendant of Seth, son of Mahalaleel (Gen. 5:15-20). He became the father of Enoch, who "walked with God," and the grandfather of Methuselah. According to the genealogy of Genesis, he lived 962 years, making him the second-longest-lived of the biblical patriarchs after Methuselah (969 years). His name is interpreted as "descent" (according to one tradition, connected with the legend of the fallen angels' descent in his days).

He is commemorated together with the other antediluvian patriarchs (Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalaleel, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah) on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers — a movable feast, the second Sunday before Nativity, when the Church honors the memory of all the Old Testament righteous.

IMPORTANT CONTAMINATION CORRECTION: the original stub listed an implausibly precise fixed commemoration date of "January 6" (Theophany Eve) — targeted verification found no connection whatsoever between Forefather Jared and this date in any source; the data represents contamination, inconsistent with treatment of all the other antediluvian patriarchs in this database, who share the single genuine commemoration — the movable Sunday of the Holy Forefathers. The category has been corrected from righteous to forefather.