In his likeness, in his image.

(26) And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.” (27) And God created man in His image, in the image of God God created him; male and female God created them.

(1) Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gained a male child with the help of the LORD.” (2) She then bore his brother Abel. Abel became a keeper of sheep, and Cain became a tiller of the soil.

(1) This is the record of Adam’s line.—When God created man, God made him in the likeness of God; (2) male and female

God created them. And when they were created, God blessed them and called them Man.— (3) When Adam had lived 130 years, he begot a son in his likeness after his image, and he named him Seth. (4) After the birth of Seth, Adam lived 800 years and begot sons and daughters.

What questions can we ask about this verse?

Scripture notes that Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his image (v. 3) to teach us that God implanted in Adam the power to reproduce his Godlike image so that his work would be like that of God. Scripture does not say the same with regard to Cain and Abel, nor does it state how long Cain lived or how old Cain was when he begot his son Enoch. It omits the above clause because the former was murdered and the latter’s descendants perished in the deluge.

What question(s) does Ibn Ezra answer?

In what way(s), according to Ibn Ezra, is Seth like Adam?

AND HE BEGOT A SON IN HIS OWN LIKENESS, AFTER HIS IMAGE. It is known that all who are born from the living are in the likeness and in the image of those who give birth to them, [so why was this verse necessary?] However, because Adam was elevated in his likeness and image in that Scripture said of him, In the likeness of G-d God made him, Scripture explains that his offspring were also in this ennobled likeness. Scripture did not state this concerning Cain and Abel for it did not want to prolong the discussion of them. It explains it, however, in the case of Seth because the world was founded from him, [Noah being his direct descendant].

Or it may be that because Adam was created with absolutely perfect form, Scripture relates concerning Seth that he was like him [Adam] in strength and beauty.

What is the difference between Ramban's two comments?

How does Ramban (in either comment) disagree with Ibn Ezra?

And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat Seth, who had the likeness of his image and of his similitude: for before had Eve born Cain, who was not like to him; and Abel was killed by his hand. And Cain was cast out; neither is his seed genealogized in the book of the genealogy of Adam. But afterwards there was born one like him, and he called his name Seth.

Is this more similar to Ibn Ezra or Ramban?

Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: All those years during which Adam was ostracized for the sin involving the Tree of Knowledge, he bore spirits, demons, and female demons, as it is stated: “And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth” (Genesis 5:3). By inference, until now, the age of one hundred thirty, he did not bear after his image, but rather bore other creatures. The Gemara raises an objection: Rabbi Meir would say: Adam the first man was very pious. When he saw that death was imposed as a punishment because of him, he observed a fast for a hundred thirty years, and he separated from his wife for a hundred thirty years, and wore belts [zarzei] of fig leaves on his body as his only garment for a hundred thirty years. If so, how did he father demons into the world? When Rabbi Yirmeya made his statement, he meant that those destructive creatures were formed from the semen that Adam accidentally emitted, which brought the destructive creatures into being.

What question(s) does this midrash answer?

ויחי ארם, after Adam had lived on earth for 130 years, he begat a son in his image and in his form, as we have explained already. (1,26 where this term has been explained) This was possible now, since Adam, after having completed his penitence had become a thoroughly good person. It is possible to understand the word כדמותו as referring to Adam’s body reflecting the quality of his soul, whereas the meaning of the word בצלמו refers to his intellectual qualities. After he had done תשובה, Adam’s intellectual qualities also had fully recovered from the negative fallout they had experienced as a result of his sin. It is also possible that he did not recover these faculties to the full until the last tenth of his life on earth, seeing that the prophet Isaiah 65,20 describes people in the times of the Messiah as remaining adolescent until they attain the age of 100. Adam’s offspring also might have been in an adolescent state until they came of age at about 100 years old, and that is why they did not marry until then. Once they had matured both physically and mentally, they could be expected to reproduce so that their children could be described as being בצלמיהם בדמותיהם, reflecting the good qualities of their respective parents.

How is this different from the previous comments we've seen?

A person who has instructed another in any subject, and has improved their knowledge, may in like manner be regarded as the parent of the person taught, because they are the author of that knowledge: and thus the pupils of the prophets are called "children of the prophets," as I shall explain when treating of the homonymity of ben (son). In this figurative sense, the verb yalad (to bear) is employed when it is said of Adam, "And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat (va-yoled) a son in his own likeness, in his form" (Gen. 5:3). As regards the words, "the form of Adam, and his likeness," we have already stated (ch. i.) their meaning. Those sons of Adam who were born before that time were not human in the true sense of the word, they had not "the form of man." With reference to Seth who had been instructed, enlightened and brought to human perfection, it could rightly be said, "he (Adam) begat a son in his likeness, in his form." It is acknowledged that a person who does not possess this "form" (the nature of which has just been explained) is not human, but a mere animal in human shape and form. Yet such a creature has the power of causing harm and injury, a power which does not belong to other creatures. For those gifts of intelligence and judgment with which they have been endowed for the purpose of acquiring perfection, but which they have failed to apply to their proper aim, are used by them for wicked and mischievous ends; they beget evil things, as though they merely resembled a human, or simulated their outward appearance. Such was the condition of those sons of Adam who preceded Seth. In reference to this subject the Midrash says: "During the 130 years when Adam was under rebuke he begat spirits," i.e., demons; when, however, he was again restored to divine favour "he begat in his likeness, in his form." This is the sense of the passage, "Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and he begat in his likeness, in his form" (Gen. 5:3).

What lesson(s) could you teach based on this and Radak's comment?