Bible Study: Genesis

Lesson 5: Genesis 4 And 5: East Of Eden

Genealogies, Part 1

A. Verses 4:17-26

1. Regarding Cain's wife, the narrative seems to assume that she is from among the daughters of Adam. That Cain marries and begins a family, indeed a civilization, is a testimony of the common grace that operates after the fall.

2. The city is any kind of "more-or-less permanently inhabited settlement." The permanency and security provided by the city counters the alienation and wandering inflicted on Cain (and mankind) as a result of his sin. Most versions make Cain the city builder and Enoch the son after whom the city is named. However, this would be odd since Cain was just condemned to be a wanderer. Further, if this suggestion is followed then there is a play on the word for city and the name Irad. Also, Irad is close to Eridu, in Mesopotamian tradition the oldest city on earth.

3. Lamech stands as the culmination of the line of Cain, the seventh person in the genealogy. He stands in contrast to the seventh generation in the line of Adam, Enoch. Lamech represents both the advance of civilization and the advance of sin.

a. Lamech is the first recorded polygamist. While polygamy is never explicitly condemned in Genesis, it does stand under implicit judgment. For one thing, it stands outside the normative order presented in the garden. Here it appears in the line of Cain and is associated with its most notorious member. Further, were it occurs throughout Genesis, negative effects are always evident.

b. Lamech also displays an escalation of violence. His poetic declaration to his wives features the threat of disproportionate retaliation and exaggerated vindictiveness. He will kill even a youth for merely harming him. He will carry out vengeance with unlimited violence which stands in contrast to the law of talion.

4. Jabal ... Jubal ... Tubal-Cain

a. Jabal is identified as the father of those who keep livestock. This is different from Abel who subsisted from livestock. A wider Hebrew word (miqneh) is used to designate Jabal's activity as a profession.

b. Jubal is said to be a forerunner of the musical arts.

c. Tubal-Cain is recognized for his work with metals. This appears early according to most reconstructions of men's use of tools, but nothing more than meteoric iron or surface deposits of copper may be in view here.

d. The names appear to be derived from the word yebul, meaning "produce" apparently referring to their inventiveness (Wenham, 112). The names all rhyme with the Hebrew word yobel which refers to a ram's horn and is later associated with the Jubilee. Hamilton concludes "all of the names are festive ones. There is an excitement about each of them (240)."

B. Verses 4:25-26

1. This section is of course dischronologized flashing back to the birth of Seth. This line develops simultaneously with the line of Cain. The two lines are presented to us for comparison and contrast.

2. "Seth" is derived from a Hebrew word meaning "granted." Here unlike with the birth of Cain, Eve gives unambiguous credit to God for the birth of her son.

3. Enosh means "weakness." It is not incidental that at this point men are said to begin calling on the Lord. "It is the consciousness of human frailty, symbolized by the name Enosh, that heightens man's awareness of utter dependence upon God, a situation that intuitively evokes prayer" (Sarna, 40).

  1  2  3  4  5  6  7