Civilization Before the Flood of Noah
Genesis gives us very few clues regarding the civilization that existed prior to the Noahcian flood. What little it does give us however, is just enough to spur the imagination to concoct all kinds of elaborate scenarios, schemes, and mythologies regarding these times and places. My fiction series The Witness Chronicles is no exception to this. In this context however, I am determined to not let my imagination carry me off into a far away fantasy land, but rather to discuss the actual text and what the Bible tells us that we can count as Biblical fact. I will also discuss some of the mythology that has been taught for generations, often presenting the information as fact, but is merely fiction in disguise.
The first fact that we know about civilization before the flood is that there was a city in the land of Nod called Enoch. This city was built by Cain and named after his son. In order to thoroughly separate fact from fiction let’s look at exactly what the Bible has to say about this place and time.
Genesis 4:16-17 16So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17Cain 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. (NIV)
“Wait just a second,” you say, “is that it. Surely there must be more. I mean, I’ve been told all kinds of things about Cain and his sons this can’t possibly be all the Bible has to say about them.”
Well you’re right, there is more about Cain’s sons as in the verses that follow, but as far as Cain and his city, it ends here. This is absolutely all we know about Cain after he left Eden. There is not another word in the Bible about any accomplishment or deed done by Cain directly after verse 17. These forty-eight words is all we have. Now this is not to say there have not been volumes of mythology that have come down through the ages regarding Cain, but actual Biblical text is virtually nonexistent. But what does this text tell us about Cain.
For one, it tells us that Cain was a city builder. And since this is the first mention anywhere in the Bible about cities, we can probably assume it was the first city built. There is no mention whatsoever about Adam or Seth or anyone in Eden ever building a city. That is not to say they didn’t, but there is no Biblical evidence to suggest that they did.
Second, we can assume from this passage, that at the time Cain built this city, there must have been a large number of people living in the land of Nod. How many, we have no way of knowing, but if you’ll look at my chart on my web site http://thewitnesschronicles.com, under the topic of The Wife of Cain, you can see how quickly the population would have grown in the lands of Eden and Nod. What we do not know is how long after Cain left Eden he built his city. We do not know how old he was at the time, nor do we know to what age Cain died. Now the book of Jubilees tells us that Cain was quite old when he dies and that he dies the same day that Adam died when his house built from stones collapsed onto him. But that is just another non-biblical mythological tale. In fact we have no idea how long any of Cain’s sons lived as their ages are never given; either their age at the birth of the next son; as in the genealogy for Noah, or their age at death. This is a very distinct difference between what we know of Seth’s line verses Cain’s. We may be able to make some safe assumptions however, based on what know from the line of Seth, that Cain and his children had lives that were comparable to those of the children of Seth. However, let’s not forget, that making this assumption does not make it a fact. We simply have no facts to go on here.
To read more of my essays on Genesis or to learn about my fiction series, The Witness Chronicles, based on the stories in Genesis, visit http://thewitnesschronicles.com.
