Tafsiran Kejadian 5:23: The Midrash & Rabbeinu Bahya

In the first place, the year contains three hundred and sixty-five days; therefore, by the symbol of the solar orbit, the sacred historian here indicates the life of the repentant man. In the second place, as the sun is the cause of day and night, performing his revolutions by day above the hemisphere of the earth, and his course by night under the earth, so also the life of the man of repentance consists of alternations of light and darkness; of darkness, that is, of times of agitation and circumstances of injury; and of light, when the light of virtue and its radiant brilliancy arises. In the third place, he has assigned to him a complete number, as the sun is ordained to be the chief of the stars of heaven, under an appointed number, in the time which came before the period of his repentance, to lead to the oblivion of the sins previously committed; since, as God is good, he bestows the greatest favours most abundantly, and, at the same time, he effaces the former offences of those who devote themselves to him, and which might deserve chastisement, by a recollection of their virtues.

ויהי כל ימי חנוך חמש ושישים שנה ושלש מאות שנה, “and all of Chanoch’s years were three hundred and sixty five years.” The number of his years on earth corresponded to the number of days in a solar year, no more and no less. This righteous person was familiar with the power of the sun and he understood the tremendous power exerted by the sun; he realized that this was due to a celestial input which remained active within the sun. I have already mentioned earlier (1,14) that there are celestial luminaries which guide the luminaries in our world. and that all of them draw on the original light which this righteous person Chanoch merited to enjoy. This is the reason the Torah used the word ויהי in connection with Chanoch. [The other people whose life and death are mentioned in this chapter are simply described as ויהיו ימי פלוני וגו', “so and so lived, etc.” Ed.] The word ויהי is meant to take us back to the days of creation when the Torah spoke in terms of יהי אור,”let there be light,” followed by ויהי אור “light came into being.” We find the expression ויהי applied to Moses when he was on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24,18). At that time Moses was granted the illumination of the Torah, in fact so much so that when he descended the second time his forehead emitted rays of physical light.