. . . . . Continued from Part 1
What if there was an interpretation of the first eleven chapters of Genesis that put the timeframe for the Patriarchs in line with the conclusions of scientific research? If such an interpretation exists, is it possible that scientists and religious scholars might someday find areas of agreement and then explore theories that are consistent, rather than contradictory? Let’s see if such a consistent interpretation of the scriptures might exist.
Just as the word “day” in Genesis chapter 1 can be interpreted as something different from a 24-hour day, perhaps the word “year” in chapters 2-11 could also mean something different from the time it takes the Earth to revolve once around the Sun. What if the years reported in Genesis did not represent the longevity of individual lives, but instead represented the longevity of clans, with each clan led by a different Patriarch? What if “years” did not represent actual years, but instead represent generations? This interpretation of the Genesis genealogy would bring the Biblical timeline of the Patriarchs roughly in line with the scientific research on the history of the Human race.
Let’s assume, just for the sake of this discussion, that the patriarchal names do not represent individuals, but represent clans who carried the name of the patriarchs: each time a patriarch’s name is used, it refers to the clan as a whole. Let us also assume that human beings of prehistory resembled humans today in average lifespan and average age in bearing children. Since Biblical genealogies all seem to be based on men and their sons, we will also assume on average the father is 25 years old when his first son is born.
With this interpretation, the timeline for the births of the Patriarchs is shown in the following table.
Table 2-2 - PATRIARCHAL GENEOLOGY BASED ON GENERATIONS
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25 Years per Generation
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CLAN NAME
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YEAR CLAN STARTED
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YEARS TO START OF NEXT CLAN
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CALENDAR YEAR OF START BC
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Adam
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* Not Recorded
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End of Abel Clan
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Time Starts Here
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3,250
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50,700
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Seth
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3,250
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2,625
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47,450
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Enosh
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5,875
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2,250
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44,825
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Kenan
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8,125
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1,750
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42,575
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Mahalalel
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9,875
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1,625
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40,825
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Jared
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11,500
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4,050
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39,200
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Enoch
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15,550
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1,625
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35,150
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Methuselah
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17,175
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4,675
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33,525
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Lamech
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21,850
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4,550
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28,850
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Noah
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26,400
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12,550
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24,300
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Flood
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41,400
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N/A
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9,300
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Shem
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38,950
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2,500
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11,750
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Arphaxad
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41,450
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875
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9,250
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Shelah
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42,325
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750
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8,375
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Eber
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43,075
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850
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7,625
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Peleg
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43,925
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750
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6,775
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Reu
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44,675
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800
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6,025
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Serug
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45,475
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750
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5,225
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Nahor
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46,225
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725
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4,475
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Terah
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46,950
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1,750
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3,750
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Abram
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48,700
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2,000
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* The assumption is made that the timeline in Genesis Chapter 5 starts with the end of the Abel clan.
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Let’s take a look at these dates and see how they now compare with scientific research.
When did Adam and Eve Live?
The alternative interpretation of Genesis tells us Adam lived more than 50,000 years ago. But there are older archeologic discoveries. Dr. Wells has estimated from his genetic research that the first Eve may have lived around 150,000 years ago. Does this represent a fatal flaw in the hypothesis being explored?
Perhaps our alternative interpretation can solve this dilemma. Perhaps the number of generations in the Adam clan cited in Genesis Chapter 5 begins, not with the creation of Adam, but with what the scriptures note is the death of Abel, or the Abel clan. This interpretation would mean there is no record of the time when the first Adam and Eve were created. Using this assumption, the table above shows that the Abel clan may have ended around 52,000 years ago (50,000 BC).
This interpretation allows for the Human race to begin with the first Adam and Eve some unknown period of time before the geological clock is started around 52,000 years ago. It is certainly possible that the first Adam and Eve could have lived 150,000 or even 200,000 years ago.
Did Cain Kill Abel?
Cain and Abel may have been the first clans to differentiate themselves from the Adam clan. When Cain killed Abel, this may not have been the act of one individual against another, but instead of one clan against another. Cain may not have killed his brother; perhaps Cain’s clan killed off the Abel clan thousands of years after these original Patriarchs themselves lived.
When did this occur? According to this alternative timeline it would have occurred earlier than 47,450 BC. Perhaps it happened 50,000 years ago, or 60,000 years ago, or even earlier.
The Book of Genesis may be telling us that following the end of the Abel clan, the Cain clan left to live in the Land of Nod (the NIV Study Bible ©1985 has a note indicating “Nod” means “Wandering”[1]), east of Eden. Could Cain’s clan have been the first humans to wander permanently out of Africa, traveling east along the southern coast of India toward Indonesia? The timeline could match the approximate date of the migration identified by Dr. Wells.
According to Genesis Chapter 4 the Abel clan was known to keep flocks, while Cain’s clan worked the soil. If, as the literal interpretation of the timeline would indicate, Cain and Abel lived around 4,000 years ago, they would have had to develop ways to plant crops and domesticate animals themselves, or learn from other humans who lived in the Levant during that time and had been farming and keeping flocks for thousands of years (but would there have been any people on earth to teach them?). If, on the other hand, Cain and Abel lived more than 50,000 years ago, their clans would have been able to develop these skills over many generations. Working the soil may initially have involved gathering edible fruits and vegetables from the land and keeping flocks may have meant hunting wild animals for their hides. Is it possible that over hundreds of generations the Cain clan developed the ability to plant crops, and the Abel clan developed the ability to keep flocks? Destruction of the entire Abel clan may have left no one alive who understood how to keep flocks of animals. By becoming wanderers and never remaining in one place for long, the Cain clan could have lost the knowledge of how to cultivate crops within just a few generations, not to be regained for thousands of years.
Notable Descendants of Cain
In the literal interpretation of the genealogy, Cain’s first son was named Enoch. Genesis says Cain was building a city at the time, and named the city after his son Enoch. The word “city” is a fascinating word to use here in translating the original text. If Cain was the first son of Adam and Eve, and if Enoch his first son was just being born, why would Cain build a city? Who would live in it? Cain’s family? There wouldn’t have been more than a handful of people in his entire family – Cain, his wife, and perhaps a few daughters born prior to Enoch. So why build a “city?” Could a different word be used in the translation? “Settlement,” perhaps, or “camp?” It is also interesting that Cain gives the “city” a name. Again, why would it need a name? How many cities, or even camps, could possibly have existed at that time?
In the alternative interpretation, the Cain clan would likely have been in existence for many hundreds of years by the time the Enoch clan would have come into existence and a city was being built in his name. Many hundreds or thousands of Cain’s descendants could have been living by that time. With the Cain clan developing the ability to work the soil, they would have been able to feed large numbers of people in one place. So building a city would have made sense in this scenario. More problematic, however, is the timeline of the city of Enoch. Archeologic research indicates that cities came into existence around 4,000-6,000 years ago, long after the time of Enoch. But then archaeological evidence also indicates that raising crops did not start until around 10,000 years ago.
But Genesis says Cain worked the soil, and later that God cursed the land so it would no longer yield crops. Is it possible that the Cain clan did learn how to raise crops and support residents of a city around 50,000 years ago? If something happened to spoil the crops and make the land untillable, the city would fail and the clan would be forced into a more nomadic existence, traveling to find food wherever they could. Around 50,000 years ago the climate may have changed, and the area where Cain’s clan was living may have stopped producing crops. Genesis says this is what happened, and adds that God made it happen as a punishment for the sin against Abel or the Abel clan. Over just a few generations of wandering, the knowledge of how to raise crops may have been lost, not to be re-learned for several millennia.
No timeline is given to the descendants of Cain, but many generations are identified. Using the same assumption that the names given represent clans rather than individuals, the descendants identified in Genesis could have lived at any time from 60,000 years ago to the time Abram lived around 2000 BC.
There are a few other descendants of Cain that have distinguished themselves in interesting ways. Jabal became the father of all who lived in tents and raised livestock. If Abel kept flocks, and Cain built an entire city, why would Genesis call Jabal the father of all who lived in tents and raise livestock? Is it because these skills, once known by Cain and Abel, were lost over the millennia? Recent archaeologic research says the earliest tents were made around 35,000 years ago, while the earliest evidence of domesticating animals dates back to around 10,000 years ago.
Jubal distinguished himself as the father of all who play the harp and flute. Evidence of the earliest flutes dates back to 40,000 years ago. Tubal-Cain distinguished himself by forging all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. The Bronze Age dates back to 3300 BC, and the Iron Age dates to 550 BC or earlier.
From these examples we can see the clans descending from Cain lasted many millennia.
Comments on Genesis Chapter 4
The following table shows how one might interpret the patriarchal history in genesis in a way that might be consistent with recent scientific research. The comments provided represent an alternative way of understanding what the scripture’s intended meaning might be.
Table 2-2: EXERPTS OF THE GENESIS PATRIARCHAL GENEALOGY WITH COMMENTS – ADAM, CAIN, ABEL
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VERSE (NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION)
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COMMENTS
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GENESIS CHAPTER 4
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1Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.”
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Cain became the first distinguishable clan that rose out of the Adam clan.
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2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.
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Abel was a later distinguishable clan to rise out of the Adam clan. The Abel clan was known for keeping flocks, a skill developed over many generations. The Cain clan was known for working the soil, also a skill developed over many generations.
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3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.
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It may have been a regular practice in all clans to bring offerings to the Lord. Most likely the offerings would come from the fruits of their labors – fruits, grains and vegetables from the Cain clan and animals from the Abel clan.
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4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
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Even while rejecting offerings from the Cain clan, God continued to accept offerings from the Abel clan.
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5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
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Why was God pleased with offerings from Abel’s clan and displeased offerings from Cain’s clan? The reason is not given. Later in the Book of Exodus both animal and grain offerings are acceptable, so it does not seem to be the type of offering that was the problem. Perhaps there was something about the attitudes and/or behavior of the Cain clan that caused God not to look at their grain offerings with favor.
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6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
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Here God is apparently telling the leader of the Cain clan that his clan’s behavior is the problem. God warns the Cain clan leader that he needs to rule over the temptation to sin, apparently a warning that the Cain clan was on a path to do something terrible.
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7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
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8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
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The Cain clan set out a plan to destroy the Abel clan and successfully implemented it. The Abel clan was entirely destroyed.
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9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
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God confronts the leader of the Cain clan about their destruction of the Abel clan.
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10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.
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11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
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From this time the Cain clan was no longer able to keep fields, and had to find other ways to find food. With no permanent place to live, the clan could no longer till the land and was forced to become hunter-gatherers.
Perhaps the global climate was changing, causing the land to no longer provide the food that the Cain clan was accustomed to eating. Perhaps it stopped raining in the area around Cain’s clan, which some scientists say could occur during cold glacial periods similar to the environment around 50,000-60,000 years ago.
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12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
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13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear.
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14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
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15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.
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While God punished the Cain clan, he did not destroy it. It would appear God wished the Cain clan to continue, and took action to protect it.
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16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
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According to recent genetic research, the first permanent migration out of Africa travelled from North Africa to the Levant and then continued east toward Asia.
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17 Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.
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The implication in Genesis seems to be that Enoch was being born while Cain was building the city, and Cain decided to name it after Enoch. It also seems to imply this occurred shortly after the Cain clan destroyed the Abel clan and was cursed by God. But the curse could also have occurred during or after the building of the city. It would seem most likely that the city being built by the leader of the Cain clan was underway at the time of the curse, and the entire clan left the city to go into wandering before or shortly after the City was completed.
If Cain was the first son of Adam and was just beginning his family, why would he need a city? There would not be enough people in his family to inhabit a city. But if over many generations his clan had grown to hundreds or thousands of people and learned to farm for their food, a new city in a separate location would have become necessary once a certain community size had been reached.
This is an indication that the Enoch clan may not yet have started at the time that the wandering began, but that Enoch would become the leader of the first new clan descending from the Cain clan.
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18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.
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Consistent with the genealogy of Seth’s descendants, the descendants of Cain are assumed to be leaders of new clans.
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19 Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.
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Perhaps multiple sons of a single person in the Lamech clan distinguished themselves and started new clans. After Eve, this is the first time women are mentioned in the Genesis genealogy. Perhaps these two women were married to the same man, or perhaps they were married to different men within the Jabal Clan.
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20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock.
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Descendants of the Jabal clan were the first to build tents for housing and raise livestock. While the Abel clan had earlier raised livestock, the knowledge may have been lost when the Abel clan was destroyed, not to be learned again for thousands of years. Evidence of tents has been found dating back as far as 35,000 years ago. Archeological evidence of the raising of domesticated animals seems to begin around the time of the flood.
Why would Genesis say Jabal was the father of those who raise livestock if Abel distinguished himself thousands of years earlier in raising flocks? Perhaps the knowledge of how to raise livestock was lost when the Abel clan was destroyed, only to be rediscovered thousands of years later by members of the Jabal clan.
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21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.
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Were Jabal and Jubal brothers, or did Adah distinguish herself as the leader of a clan in her own right? Descendants of the Jubal clan were the first to create and play the harp and flute. Early flutes have been found dating back to 40,000 years ago.
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22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.
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Note that archaeological research estimates the Bronze Age to start around 3300 BC, followed later by the Bronze Age. It is quite interesting that another woman is mentioned, although in this case none of her descendants are named.
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23 Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. | |
24 If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.”
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Continued in Part 3 . . . . .
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