Genesis 5

 Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as we discover new insights and new perspectives from a very old book.

In Chapter 4 it seems that Cain abandoned Jehovah God and went his own way (and built a civilization). Chapter 5 seems to be the story of the family branch that maintained their connection to Jehovah God through Cain's younger brother Seth. 

You may have heard it asked, or have wondered to yourself, "Where did Cain and Seth find their wives?" I think there are even suggestions that marrying their sisters, the unnamed and never-mentioned daughters of Adam and Eve, was necessary and appropriate to propagate the species.

But I think that's all built on a false premise. From Chapter 2 it seems that Jehovah God "supernaturally" created Adam and then Eve. But in Chapter 1 it says that God (not identified as Jehovah God) made man "in our image and likeness."

That is, there were other humans around and about, concurrent to the events unfolding to the Garden of Eden, and it is these "Chapter 1" females that the sons of Adam and Eve married.  

Why, then, didn't Adam himself marry one of these Chapter 1 women? Why did Eve need to be taken out of himself? Because he was created purely from spirit, not born from flesh, and required a partner likewise created purely from the same spirit. Through Seth, it seems that spirit  would be sustained and spread through marriage with natural-born children of the human animal. Seth's descendants represent the union of spirit and flesh. (Cain's descendants are likewise children of spirit and flesh, though Cain had abandoned the spirit).

I'm not saying this is how it "really" happened as history, I'm just saying I don't infer incest from what we've read so far.

It appears the world as it exists in Chapter 5 is a relatively pristine environment in which people could live long lives. The people might have been vegetarian, and the animals themselves might have been vegetarian. As it says in Chapter 1 (Young's Literal Translation)"

"29 And God saith, `Lo, I have given to you every herb sowing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which [is] the fruit of a tree sowing seed, to you it is for food;

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to every creeping thing on the earth, in which [is] breath of life, every green herb [is] for food:' and it is so.

Then again, perhaps not, because in Chapter 4 Abel kept flocks.

Some details in Chapter 5 that I found striking: 

• Enoch lives 365 years on earth, having "walked with God." The number 365 stands out as the same as the number of days in a year. Also, it's interesting that it doesn't say Enoch walked with "Jehovah God" (or "the LORD God" in other translations) but  "God," like in Chapter 1. Enoch seems to have been taken to another realm without ever dying, so perhaps walking with God is a good thing.

• Enoch's son Methusaleh lived 969 years. If this is all historically factual, that's  a "record," because if anyone has lived longer, it's not recorded. 

• Methusaleh's son Lamech lived 777 years. If chapter 5 isn't historically factual, I'm assuming there's something meaningful in the number; from what I understand "7" is associated in many cultures with completion or perfection. If my addition is correct, Lamech died five years before his father.

• Upon having his son Noah, Lamech refers to the "ground that Jehovah hath cursed." Again, other translations call Jehovah "the LORD." Interesting that he says "Jehovah" cursed it, and not that "Jehovah God" cursed it. The NRSV also has Lamech saying "the LORD" but not "the LORD God."

• Unlike his forebears, Noah doesn't have any children until he's 500 years old. At least, no children worth mentioning.

Maybe someone will tell me that "God" and "Jehovah" (or the LORD) are really interchangeable. Maybe, but "God" in Chapter 1, and "God" with whom Enoch walked seems like a different personality then "Jehovah God" or simply "Jehovah" of Chapters 2-4 whom Lamech mentions. 

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!

(Photo credit: TyshkunVictor)