The Tower of Babel and Confusion of Tongues

Exactly how long after the Biblical Flood of Noah took place the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel incident occurred we have no way of knowing, and since none of the four patriarchs who survived the flood or their direct descendants as listed in the Table of Nations are mentioned in this story by name, it makes it impossible to date this event with any certainty. But at some point between the flood and the story of Abraham, we have the story of the people coming together to build a city and a tower and rebelling against God’s command to spread and occupy the whole earth.

Genesis 11:1-9 ¹Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. ²And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. ³Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. ⁴And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. ⁷Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. ⁹Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. (NKJV)

The story of the Tower of Babel and God’s confusion of tongues is one of the most controversial stories in the Bible. Before we get into the confusion of tongues, let’s look at what the scripture has to say about the building of the tower.

First, this passage contains and very strange statement:

Genesis 11: 5-7 ⁵But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. ⁷Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

 

To read the full text of this article, go to http://thewitnesschronicles.com/Tower_of_Bable.htm.

 

To read all of my articles on Genesis, visit http://thewitnesschronicles.com/.

 

After the Flood of Noah

Geologists from around the world all agree that the Earth has been changed and altered in innumerable and inconceivable ways throughout its history. Regardless if they are secular or Christian, Apocalyptic or Uniformitarian, there is no dispute over the fact that the Earth’s topography has been shaped and reshaped on several occasions. Scientist who speak of how the earth has changed over eons of time, believe that these changes have been caused by a number of major super volcanic events and asteroid or commit impacts, as well as slow repositioning of the land masses and the tectonic plates move that has caused the Earth to change. I am more inclined to believe in one major event caused by a single major event as described in my essay titled, The Flood of Noah. I am also inclined to believe that God’s methods and time table for the initial creation process was may well have been billions of years long or even very short due to the compression of time caused by folding dimensions during the initial expansion of the universe, either way is not really important to me. See my essay titled Old Earth vs. Young Earth for more info on that.

 

To read to read the full text of this article, visit http://thewitnesschronicles.com/After_the_Flood.htm

If you would like to read more of my essays on Genesis or learn more about my fiction books based on the stories in Genesis, visit my website at http://thewitnesschronicles.com.

What Caused the Flood of Noah?

This is indeed the million dollar question. The simple theological answer is obviously, God caused the flood to happen. That is a given since God is in complete control of all aspects of the universe. However, from a more practical and mechanical sense, we still want to know how it happened. There are so many theories, educated guesses, and outright fictions, that it is confusing for even those of us who study the topic intently to know what is true, if any of them at all are. Some say that the Flood was a regional event caused by the ending of the ice age that resulted in the Mediterranean Sea breaking through the land barrier currently known as the Bosporus Straits; flooding a low lying area that now lies under the Black Sea.

Others believe it was a global event caused by God releasing all the waters from the sky and pouring down onto the land. This idea however, has been mostly abandoned by even Creation Scientist. Many have calculated how much water would have had to have been in the “Vapor Canopy” as it is called, and found that in order for it to hold enough water to flood the Earth, it would have been so dense that temperatures on the Earth would have been to hot to sustain human life.

To read the full text of this article, visit http://thewitnesschronicles.com/The_Flood.htm

If you would like to read more of my essays on Genesis or want to learn more about my fiction books based on the stories in Genesis, visit my website at http://thewitnesschronicles.com.

The Ark of Noah

There is no more controversial topic than the story of Noah’s Ark and a world wide deluge that destroyed all of mankind and animal kind except that which was aboard the ark. The Biblical story is very sparse, yet it tells us in very specific details about the size of the ark and the type of animals that should be taken aboard it.

Genesis 6:13-22 ¹³And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the Earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the Earth. ¹⁴Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. ¹⁵And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the Earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the Earth shall die. ¹⁸But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark — you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ²⁰Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the Earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. ²¹And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.” ²²Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. (NKJ)

To read the full text of  this article, visit http://thewitnesschronicles.com/The_Ark.htm

If you would like to read more of my essays on Genesis or want to learn more about my fiction books based on the stories in Genesis, please visit my website at http://thewitnesschronicles.com.

The Sons of Noah

Of the sons of Noah who entered into the ark with him and his wife, we know almost nothing directly. Of Shem we know the most, because it was through his line that Abraham came and therefore we have more details of his genealogy. We do know that Shem was 100 when his son Arphaxad was born, just two years after the flood. Arphaxad is believed to be the first born after the flood but some scholars believe that ham’s son Canaan may have actually been the first born. We have no empirical evidence one way or the other. All we know is what Genesis tells us, which is precious little.

Genesis 11:10 This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. (NKJ)

 

To read the full text of this article, visit http://thewitnesschronicles.com/Sons_of_Noah.htm

If you would like to read more of my essays on Genesis or want to learn more about my fiction series, The Witness Chronicles, based on the stories in Genesis, visit my website at http://thewitnesschronicles.com.

The Biblical Noah

The Bible makes it perfectly clear that at some point in Human history, 1656 years after the creation of Adam, to be precise if the genealogies passed down to us are accurate, God had had enough with man and the evil that prevailed in the world and decided that He had to begin anew. Whether it was because of the sin of the Watchers or the just plain sinful nature of man, the civilizations that grew up from the offspring of Adam and from the Sons of God, had become so evil and destructive, that they needed to be extinguished and a new line of inheritance established. That line, the Bible tells us, was the line of Noah.

Genesis 6:5-8 ⁵Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the Earth, and He was grieved in His heart. ⁷So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the Earth, both man and beast, creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (NKJ)

So what was so special about Noah? Why did he find Grace in the eyes of the Lord. Well, we have a small clue to unraveling this mystery in the previous verses in Chapter 5 with the Genealogy of Seth.

To read the full text of  this article, visit http://thewitnesschronicles.com/Noah.htm

If you would like to read more of my essays on Genesis or want to learn more of my fiction series, The Witness Chronicles, visit my website at http://thewitnesschronicles.com.

Enoch was Taken to Be With God But He did Not Die

Genesis 5:21-24 ²¹When Enoch was 65 years old, his son Methu’selah was born. ²²After the birth of Methu’selah, Enoch lived another 300 years in close fellowship with God, and he had other sons and daughters. ²³Enoch lived 365 years in all. ²⁴He enjoyed a close relationship with God throughout his life. Then suddenly, he disappeared because God took him. (NLT)

Aside from the passages regarding the sons of God, this small, almost foot note, in the genealogy of Noah, is arguably the most referenced verse in all Biblical mythology. Outside of the book of Genesis, Enoch is mentioned in only four other places in the Bible, but in only two of those places is it other than in a genealogy; 1 Chronicles 1:1-4, Luke 3:37, Hebrews 11:5, Jude: 1:14-15. Here are the two passages aside from the genealogies.

Hebrews 11:5 It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying — “suddenly he disappeared because God took him.” But before he was taken up, he was approved as pleasing to God. (NLT)

Jude: 1:14-15 ¹⁴Now Enoch , the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, ¹⁵to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” (NKJV).

These passages, once again tell us that the early Christians: those who were Jews before they called themselves Christian, had a basis of belief that included the stories and mythologies of Enoch and the events leading to him being taken by God in his 365^th year without first having died. The question still remains however, what was so special about Enoch? Well once again, to try to understand this, we must look to some non-Biblical sources and into the mythology surrounding the story of Enoch to get a sense of what the Jews believed about this man and his transfiguration. In fact the passage above, taken from Jude, is in itself a quote from the book of Enoch:

Book of Enoch, Chapter 2:1 Behold, he comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon them, and destroy the wicked, and reprove all the carnal for everything which the sinful and ungodly have done, and committed against him. (Translated from Ethiopic by Richard Laurence, London, 1883.)

It seems that Enoch was more than just a man of great faith however. Enoch was a writer.

The Book of Enoch Chapter 12  ¹Before all these things Enoch was concealed; nor did any one of the sons of men know where he was concealed, where he had been, and what had happened. ²He was wholly engaged with the holy ones, and with the Watchers in his days. ³I, Enoch, was blessing the great Lord and King of peace. ⁴And behold the Watchers called me Enoch the scribe. ⁵Then the Lord said to me: Enoch, scribe of righteousness, go tell the Watchers of heaven, who have deserted the lofty sky, and their holy everlasting station, who have been polluted with women. ⁶And have done as the sons of men do, by taking to themselves wives, and who have been greatly corrupted on the Earth; ⁷That on the Earth they shall never obtain peace and remission of sin. For they shall not rejoice in their offspring; they shall behold the slaughter of their beloved; shall lament for the destruction of their sons; and shall petition forever; but shall not obtain mercy and peace.

The Book of Enoch Chapter 13 ¹Then Enoch, passing on, said to Azazyel: You shalt not obtain peace. A great sentence is gone forth against you. He shall bind you; ²Neither shall relief, mercy, and supplication be yours, on account of the oppression which you have taught; ³And on account of every act of blasphemy, tyranny, and sin, which you have discovered to the children of men. ⁴Then departing from him I spoke to them all together; ⁵And they all became terrified, and trembled; ⁶Beseeching me to write for them a memorial of supplication, that they might obtain forgiveness; and that I might make the memorial of their prayer ascend up before the God of heaven; because they could not themselves thenceforwards address him, nor raise up their eyes to heaven on account of the disgraceful offence for which they were judged. ⁷Then I wrote a memorial of their prayer and supplications, for their spirits, for everything which they had done, and for the subject of their entreaty, that they might obtain remission and rest.”

Enoch, according to legend, was the Watcher of the Watchers. He was given great visions of the hidden happenings between Heaven and Earth, and he wrote great accusations before the Lord of the sinful deeds of the heavenly Watchers. Upon learning that God was listening to Enoch’s accusations, the Watchers themselves asked Enoch to go before the Lord and ask forgiveness on their behalf. It appears that he was not taken to heaven just for his faith alone, but to accomplish a specific task. Without quoting the entire book of Enoch, let me just paraphrase the story for you. According to the mythology, Enoch was taken to heaven as the “Scribe of the Lord” to record all the deeds and men and angels. The books of the deeds that Enoch scribes even today, will be opened and read by the Lord on the great Day of Judgment.

Enoch is reported to be the inventor of writing. He saw the blasphemous deeds of the Watchers who had taken these daughters of men as wives. He saw how they taught sorceries to their wives and he saw the corrupted and evil Nephilim that were their descendants and he wrote accusations to the Lord about their evil deeds. God saw this as a just and right thing that he was doing and took him to heaven to become the Watcher of the Watchers and of the deeds of men as well. Enoch, it seems, has a very special place in God’s plan. According to the mythology, we will all see him on the final Day of Judgment as he opens and reads our deeds before God, unless of course you have been redeemed and had the slate wiped clean by the Blood of Christ, according to our Christian faith.

I am not claiming that the Book of Enoch is Holy Gospel Truth, but it is a good story, and it seems to fit quite well with other Biblical text about the existence and relationships between men and angles. In fact Jude correlates one more thing taught in Enoch, and that is that these Watchers who sinned were bound and placed in a holding place to await their judgment.

Jude 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; (NKJ)

To read more of my essays on Genesis or to learn more about my fiction series, The Witness Chronicles, based on the books in Genesis, visit my website at http://thewitnesschronicles.com.

The “Sons of God” and the “Daughters of Men”

There is one very obscure passage in the book of Genesis that has probably generated more mythology than any other passage outside the book of Revelation.

Genesis 6:1-4 ¹And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born unto them, ²that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all that they chose. ³And Jehovah said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever, for that he also is flesh: yet shall his days be a hundred and twenty years. ⁴The Nephilim were in the Earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came unto the daughters of men, and they bear children to them: the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown. (ASV)

Whoa, what in the world is this all about! Right in the middle of the genealogies of Adam and the story of civilization before the flood, we have this sparse and arcane reference to the “Sons of God” marrying the “Daughters of Men” and some creatures called “Nephilim.”  What does this mean? Who are these “Sons of God” and what is a Nephilim? From a Biblical sense, we have only one real clue as to the identity of these “Sons of God”.

Job 1:6 Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that Satan also came among them. (ASV)

Here in the book of Job, we have the only other reference in the Bible to “The Sons of God.” It appears that the sons of God are Angels, or as some mythology calls them “Watchers.” There has been much debate over this passage down through the centuries. Some have argued that the sons of God were simply the sons of Seth and the daughters of Men were the daughters of Cain or other offspring of Adam who were sinners and that it was forbidden for them to intermarry; that the sons of Seth should keep themselves separate from the daughters of the non-believing children of Adam and Eve. For instance Mathew Henry writes in his commentary on Genesis 6:1-2:

“The sons of God (that is, the professors of religion, who were called by the name of the Lord, and called upon that name), married the daughters of men, that is, those that were profane, and strangers to God and godliness. The posterity of Seth did not keep by themselves, as they ought to have done, both for the preservation of their own purity and in detestation of the apostasy. They intermingled themselves with the excommunicated race of Cain: They took them wives of all that they chose. But what was amiss in these marriages? They chose only by the eye: They saw that they were fair, which was all they looked at.” (from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

 The passage from Job however, seems to dispute Henry’s theory and makes it quite clear that the Sons of God were one in the same as the Angels who came to present themselves unto the Lord. Even Strong’s Concordance does not do much to clear up this confusion as the same Hebrew word, 1121 Ben (bane) is used in both instances in Genesis and Job, and in fact used in every instance the word Son(s) shows up in Hebrew text. It is a term that is used in the broadest sense of the word son. It would be easier to know which of these theories is correct, if only there were two separate Hebrew words used, unfortunately that is not the case.

I tend to believe the “Angels” version for four reasons; one-I think the passage in Job is powerful evidence; two-I’m a story teller at heart, and the version of the Watcher’s (Angels) taking human wives makes for a better story; three-it fits better with the explanation for the flowing verse about the men of renown and the Nephilim, and four-much of Jewish mythology, e.g., the Book of Jubilees, and the Book of Enoch, supports the “Watcher” notion who were angels who walked the earth and begat the race of half men, half angel, known as Nephilim.

As stated above, one of the ancient texts that we can turn to for a detailed understanding of these “Sons of God” is the Book of Enoch. I am not suggesting here, that the Book of Enoch be added to the books of the Bible or even taken as fact, but it is a very old story which has been around since at least two hundred years before Christ, and since it is actually quoted by Jude, who’s letter is included in the New Testament, we can surmise it was accepted as scripture by some of the first Christians. Parts of this text have even been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, which tells us that it was, at least to some degree, viewed as an authoritative text by Jewish groups such as the Essenes of the second and first centuries B.C. This alone gives the Book of Enoch no credibility, but the stories they tell do run very much in harmony with this passage from Genesis 6.

According to the Book of Enoch, these sons of God were Watcher angels whose job it was to watch the deeds of men and report on them to God, as is also correlated in the passage from Job. In the Job passage, Satan, meaning the accuser or tempter, was also with them or was one of them. Let us not forget that even Paul tells us:

Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. NKJV

It is no secrete that Angles walk among us even today. Paul believed it and so should we. But could it be, that in the days before the flood, that these angels walked among men freely and men knew them for whom and what they were. The Book of Enoch tells us that they did, and in fact, that two hundred of them became lustful and conspired to commit a sin, knowing full well that it was forbidden by God, and took wives for themselves from among the daughters of men. This fits perfectly well with our passage from Genesis 6.

The Book of Enoch Chapter 7^:3-12  ³Then their leader Samyaza said to them; I fear that you may perhaps be indisposed to the performance of this enterprise; ⁴And that I alone shall suffer for so grievous a crime. ⁵But they answered him and said; We all swear; ⁶And bind ourselves by mutual execrations, that we will not change our intention, but execute our projected undertaking. ⁷Then they swore all together, and all bound themselves by mutual execrations. Their whole number was two hundred, who descended upon Ardis, which is the top of mount Armon. ⁸That mountain therefore was called Armon, because they had sworn upon it, and bound themselves by mutual execrations. ⁹These are the names of their chiefs: Samyaza, who was their leader, Urakabarameel, Akibeel, Tamiel, Ramuel, Danel, Azkeel, Saraknyal, Asael, Armers, Batraal, Anane, Zavebe, Samsaveel, Ertael, Turel, Yomyael, Arazyal. These were the prefects of the two hundred angels, and the remainder were all with them. ¹⁰Then they took wives, each choosing for himself; whom they began to approach, and with whom they cohabited; teaching them sorcery, incantations, and the dividing of roots and trees. ¹¹And the women conceiving brought forth giants,  ¹²Whose stature was each three hundred cubits. These devoured all which the labor of men produced; until it became impossible to feed them; ¹³When they turned themselves against men, in order to devour them; ¹⁴And began to injure birds, beasts, reptiles, and fishes, to eat their flesh one after another, and to drink their blood. ¹⁵Then the Earth reproved the unrighteous. (Translated from Ethiopic by Richard Laurence, London, 1883.)

I am not inclined to believe that these Giants were actually 300 cubits tall. That after all would be nearly 450 to 600 feet tall, but rather I take the Biblical view that instead calls them “giants among men” or “men of renown” I think the correct understanding here is that they were in fact the leaders and men of great importance in the society of the day. But whatever the case, it is obvious from this passage that this was the turning point in human society before the flood. It is from this point on that men become evil and began to make war on one another. I deal with this topic in great detail in my third and fourth books in my The Witness Chronicles (http://thewitnesschronicles.com)  series, but for now, we must simply understand, that this very obscure passage, tells us a great deal more about what went wrong in the pre-flood world, aside from Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden of God, than any other passage in the Bible.

To read more of my essays on Genesis or to learn more of my fiction series, The Witness Chronicles, visit my website at http://thewitnesschronicles.com.

The Sons of Seth

The next genealogy in the Bible is the line from Seth to Noah. The major difference between this genealogy and Cain’s genealogy is the ages provided for both the age at the birth of the next son in the family line and the age at death for each patriarch.

Genesis 5:3-32 ³And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat (a son) in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: ⁴and the days of Adam after he begat Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters. ⁵And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. ⁶And Seth lived a hundred and five years, and begat Enosh: ⁷and Seth lived after he begat Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: ⁸and all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died. ⁹And Enosh lived ninety years, and begat Kenan. ¹⁰and Enosh lived after he begat Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters: ¹¹and all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years: and he died. ¹²And Kenan lived seventy years, and begat Ma-hal’alel: ¹³and Kenan lived after he begat Ma-hal’alel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters: ¹⁴and all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died. ¹⁵And Ma-hal’alel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: ¹⁶And Ma-hal’alel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters: ¹⁷and all the days of Ma-hal’alel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died. ¹⁸And Jared lived a hundred sixty and two years, and begat Enoch: ¹⁹and Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: ²⁰And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. ²¹And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methu’selah: ²²and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: ²³and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: ²⁴and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. ²⁵And Methu’selah lived a hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: ²⁶and Methu’selah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters. ²⁷And all the days of Methu’selah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. ²⁸And Lamech lived a hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: ²⁹and he called his name Noah, saying, ‘This same shall comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, (which cometh) because of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed.’ ³⁰And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters: ³¹And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died. ³²And Noah was five hundred years old: And Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (ASV)

The obvious major difference between these two genealogies is the amount of space given to each of them. Cain’s genealogy consists of 6 verses and 131 words, while Seth’s genealogy consists of 30 verses and 464 words. The ages given are the next major difference. There is also the conspicuous lack mention in Seth’s line of any women by name other than Eve, but even her name is only mentioned in an earlier chapter. As far as Seth is concerned, she is not mentioned by name but I believe it is implied that Eve was his mother and that is also what every Jewish text on the subject I have read believes or implies as well.

In Seth’s genealogy also, the writer took special care to tell us, that even though only one son was mentioned, that in each case, including Adam, the individual had many other sons and daughters. How many is never given, but with the long lives they lived, well over one hundred would not be impossible for any one of the patriarchs. After all Noah was still having sons at age 500. We also know that when sons are listed in the Biblical genealogies, it is never in birth order, but rather in order of their importance to the genealogical line.

This fact brings up a curious point about Noah’s three sons. The text says:  ³²And Noah was five hundred years old: And Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. I once read a commentary that suggested that this passage says that Shem, Ham, and Japheth were triplets, because the literal translation here says that Noah had all three sons when he was 500. There is no Biblical evidence to support this; in fact there is a passage that actually disputes this.

Genesis 10:21 ²¹And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. (NKJV)

Genesis 10:21 clearly states that one brother was older than the other, although which was the eldest is also debatable as some versions, such as the one above says that Japheth was the eldest, but other versions such as American Standard Version shown below, says that Shem was the eldest:

Genesis 10:21 ²¹And unto Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth. (ASV)

Of course the argument here is that one was older only by birth order, not by years, but I think that is a long stretch of the facts and intent of the writer. If they were triplets, I think there birth would have been recorded in much the same way that Esau’s and Jacob’s birth was recorded. Even though the three brothers are almost always listed as Shem, Ham, and Japheth, I believe this passage suggests that Ham was the youngest of the three, but anytime you say the three names in sequence, Shem, Ham, and Japheth just seems to roll off the tongue easier. Whether Shem or Japheth was the oldest cannot be known with certainty; however, the majority of translations suggest Shem was the elder, so in my fiction books (http://thewitnesschronicles.com/WC_Books.htm) I always put Shem as the eldest, then Japheth, then Ham. One more point regarding Noah and his sons, is that there is no mention of Noah having other sons or daughters as with the others before him. But given the fact that he was 500 before the other three were born, I can’t imagine he lived 500 years and did not have other sons and daughters before this time. So that leaves us with two possibilities; one, Noah had no children before his 500th year, or two, none of his other children were worthy of following in his footsteps, i.e., they did not follow the ways of Seth, and so only those born after Noah began to build the Ark were allowed to go in.

One last point of interest before we leave this topic. In the Line of Seth, there are two names that are often confusing. The first is the name of Kenan or Cainan. Different Bible translations spell this name differently and as hard as I have tried to find out why, I have not come up with a good answer to this. Therefore we simply must conclude that it is just a matter of preference, but either way, Kenan and Cainan are one in the same person. Cainan; however, cannot in anyway be confused with Cain as he was obviously born several generations. Since Kenan’s death is recorded in at the age of 910 in verse 5:14, he also cannot be confused with Canaan as some have tried to suggest. The other confusing name is of course the name of Lemech. There is a Lemech mentioned in both the line of Cain and the line of Seth, but once again we have two different spellings in various translations that are often used to distinguish between the two. The descendant of Cain is almost always spelled Lemech, but the descendant of Seth is spelt as either Lemech or Lamech. I always use the Lamech version for Noah’s father to ensure they are kept straight, however the below chart can help to clarify this by generation as well.

Similarities in Names between the Sons of Cain and the Sons of Seth

The one thing that often confuses people when reading this part of the Bible is the fact that so many of the names in Cain’s and Seth’s genealogies seem to be the same. Below is a chart by generation to help clarify the two genealogies. It is clear that the due to the difference in generations, the two lines are quite distinct from one another.

Generations of Cain and Seth

Generation	Line of Seth	Line of Cain
1st	Adam	Adam
2nd	Seth	Cain
3rd	Enosh	Enoch
4th	Kenan	Irad
5th	Ma-hal’alel	Mehujael
6th	Jared	Methushael
7th	Enoch	Lemech
8th	Methu’selah	Jabal, Jubal, Tubal-Cain, Naamah
9th	Lamech
10th	Noah
11th	Shem, Japheth, Ham

 

To read more of my essays on Genesis or to learn more about my fiction series, The Witness Chronicles, based on the stories in Genesis, visit my website at http://thewitnesschronicles.com.

 

 

 

The Children of Cain

The Bible tells us of the children of Cain up to the eighth generation. However, unlike the genealogy of Noah, it does not give us any ages of either Cain or any of his sons. The Book of Jubilees does give this account of Cain’s death however:

Jubilees 3:29-33 …And at the close of the nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week in the sixth year thereof, Adam died, and all his sons buried him in the land of his creation, and he was the first to be buried in the earth. And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge: ‘On the day that ye eat thereof ye shall die.’ For this reason he did not complete the years of this day; for he died during it. At the close of this jubilee Cain was killed after him in the same year; for his house fell upon him and he died in the midst of his house, and he was killed by its stones; for with a stone he had killed Abel, and by a stone was he killed in righteous judgment. For this reason it was ordained on the heavenly tablets: With the instrument with which a man kills his neighbor with the same shall he be killed; after the manner that he wounded him, in like manner shall they deal  with him.

Other than this however, we know little about Cain’s life or his children except for what the Bible tells us, which is not much more than what Jubilees tells us. We must remember however, Jubilees is not considered a canonical text by either the Jewish or Christian faiths, as it was not written until around 125 B.C. and has many historical and geographical errors in it. But it does tell us something about what many Jews believed and taught to their children in regards to the pre-flood world.

The most unique aspect of the story of Cain’s family, is that it does give us a snippet of insight into one son called Lemech. Now in some versions of the Bible, this name is spelled Lamech, just like the father of Noah, but in others it is spelled Lemech. I have chosen to use the Lemech spelling to refer to Cain’s descendent and Lamech in reference to Noah’s father so as be clear as to whom I am talking about in each case.

The story of Lemech is very short, yet quite remarkable. Lemech was the seventh generation from Adam, just as Enoch, the patriarch in Noah’s line who was taken by God, but did not die.

Genesis 5:24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him way. (NIV)

I don’t believe that there is any real significance to that coincidence, but it is an interesting fact. However, without comparative ages for Cain’s family line, it not possible to know whether or not Lemech and Enoch were contemporaries. Nonetheless, out of all of Cain’s progeny, only Lemech gets special mention. This is what the Bible has to say about the line of Cain.

Genesis 4: 17-23 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. 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 Lemech. ¹⁹ Lemech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. 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. (NIV)

Then in verse 23, the story takes a twist. It tells us:

Genesis 4:23-24 Lemech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lemech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lemech seventy-seven times. (NIV)

There are some subtle differences in the story in different translations. For instance the King James says:

Genesis 4:23 …I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man in my hurt. (KJV)

In the KJV, it appears that Lemech killed two men, not just one. It is impossible to tell from this passage if Lemech was being boastful, if he was being a bully, or if he also had been given some special protection by God. Although, since there is no specific mention in this statement that God had marked him for protection as He had Cain, that scenario is highly unlikely. It is possible that these killings were the first wrathful murders since Cain slew Able, so Lemech felt that if God had protected Cain for killing out of anger, He would also do the same for him. This is however, the last we hear of Lemech or the line of Cain in the Bible.

Some other notes of interest in the line of Cain is the mention of Lemech’s wives by name, Adah and Zillah. There are only 4 women mentioned in all the pre-food text, Eve, Adah, Zillah and Naamah. Not even Noah’s wife or the wives of Shem, Japheth or Ham are mentioned by name. The text here also mentions each of their sons; Adah had Jabal and Jubal, and Zillah had Tubal-Cain. Also Mentioned is Tubal Cain’s sister Naamah. Her name has led to a great deal of folklore and bad theology over the centuries. (See The Mark of Cain, http://thewitnesschronicles.com/Mark_of_Cain.htm) The text also tells us that Jabal was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock, his brother Jubal was the father of all who play the harp and flute, and their half-brother Tubal-Cain forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. This seems to be the beginning of organized civilization in the world before the flood. Prior to this, there is no mention whatsoever of how people lived or what kinds of trade or skills they possessed. It is necessary to mention here however, that the term “Father of” as mentioned in the text, may simply be a reference to their position over the Sheppards, Farmers, Metal Workers, and Musicians. It does not necessarily mean they were the first. Sometime when translating from Hebrew/Chaldee to English, some of the exact meaning gets distorted. Since all of these individuals were 8th generation and likely born hundreds of years after the development of cities and agricultural pursuits, this is probably one of those cases.

Now according the charts I’ve put together from the line of Seth (see Children of Seth, http://thewitnesschronicles.com/Children_of_Seth.htm), seventh/eighth generation would have been established around 600-700 years after creation of Adam. Therefore, from this point on, mankind would have begun a 1000 year slide downhill from this point to the place where God found it necessary to destroy them because they had become so violent. This timing would have also correlated with the ancient mythology of the Watchers, i.e., the Sons of God, taking the Daughters of Men as wives an creating the race known as the Nephilim. (see Sons of God and Daughters of Men, http://thewitnesschronicles.com/Sons_of_God.htm)

If you would like to read more of my essays on Genesis or learn more about my fiction series, The Witness Chronicles, based on the stories in Genesis, please visit my website at http://thewitnesschornicles.com or feel free to write to me directly at ken@thewitnesschronicles.com.