CHAPTER III. THE DESCENDANTS OF ADAM, OR ANTEDILUVIAN PATRIARCHS, DOWN TO NOAH. A.M. 1-1056. B.C. 4004-2948.' § 1. Birth of Cain and Abel. § 2. Their different occupations and characters-Two types of men. § 3. Their respective offerings. 4. The murder of Abel. § 5. The punishment of Cain. § 6. His descendants. § 7. The race of Seth. § 8. Character of Enoch-His translation. § 9. Methuselah-Epoch of his death. § 1. AFTER the expulsion of man from Paradise, Eve bore her first-born son, and named him CAIN (i. e., possession, or acquisition), saying "I have gotten a man from the Lord." The name itself, and the reason given for its choice, clearly indicate her belief that this man-child was the promised "seed of the woman. 992 Her mistake seems to have been soon revealed to her, for, on the birth of her second son, she gave him a name expressive of disappointment, ABEL (Heb. Hebel, i. e., breath, vapor, transitoriness: some, however, take it to refer to the shortness of his life). 993 § 2. In the occupation of these two sons of Adam, we trace the two great branches of productive industry pursued by men in an early stage of society. "Abel was a keeper (or feeder) of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." Here are the beginnings of the pastoral and agricultural modes of life; and in this respect, as in others, the two first sons of Adam are representatives of his posterity. For we must avoid the error of thinking of Cain and Abel as the only progeny of Adam and Eve. The mention of Cain's wife,* as well as his fear that men would slay him (v. 14), are indications that the "replenishing of the earth" had made considerable progress before the murder of Abel. They are rather to be viewed as types of the two classes of character, which appeared from the first among men :-the good and the wicked, the "children of God" and the "children of the 1 These are the commonly received | SCRIPTURE CHRONOLOGY at the end dates; but there is really no sound of the present chapter. basis for scriptural chronology before the time of David and Solomon. See Notes and Illustrations (A), on 2 Gen. iv. 1. 4 Gen. iv. 17. 5 devil." This is clearly recognized by St. Jude, who uses "the way of Cain" for a type of wickedness, and by St. John, who says that "Cain was of that wicked one (the devil), and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.' We see here, not only the distinction itself, but the jealousy and hatred with which wicked men regard the virtue that condemns them, and which vents itself in persecution. Ac cordingly Abel is named by our Saviour as the first of the noble army of martyrs." § 3 This difference of character was made evident when they were called to observe the services of religion. Cain and Abel brought their several offerings according to their several possessions. "Cain brought of the fruit of the ground: Abel the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof:" that is, the choicest of the first-born lambs or kids. Abel presented his offering in a spirit of faith," and was therefore accepted, but Cain's was rejected on account of the state of mind in which it was brought. This is implied in God's rebuke to Cain, who "was very wroth, and whose countenance fell," though it is obscured by the language of the English version. The passage may be rendered thus:Why art thou wroth, and why is thy countenance fallen ?" If thou doest well (or, " if thou offerest ought " LXX.)," is there not an elevation of the countenance (i. e., "cheerfulness, happiness"); but if thou doest not well, there is a sinking of the countenance; sin lurketh (as a wild beast) at the door, "and to thee is its desire "—it seeks the mastery over you; "but thou art to rule over it "—to resist and subdue it. 66 § 4. Cain scorned the remonstrance, and his anger advanced to its natural result in the murder of his brother." It is uncertain whether the words "Cain talked with Abel" imply a treacherous snare, or a quarrel which led on to the fatal deed. In any case, Cain's rage at his brother's being preferred to him was its true cause. For, fearful as is the truth that the first overt act of sin after the fall was a brother's murder, he who knew what was in man has testified that 66 whosoever is with his brother without a cause angry already broken the spirit of the Sixth Commandment," and that whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer."13 truth is confirmed by all history; and Christ does not hesi 5 Jude 11. has This 61 John iii. 12. ] tuagint or Greek translation of the Old tate to tell the Jews, who were enraged at him for the purity of His doctrine :- "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do; he was a murderer from the beginning. 9914 17 9916 § 5. This first crime was promptly punished. The sullen indifference of Cain's reply to God's demand, "Where is Abel thy brother?" was probably affected, to conceal the remorse which has ever haunted the murderer. 15 The blood of the victim seems always to have that power, which is ascribed to the blood of Abel, of "crying to God from the ground." The cry implied is clearly that for vengeance; and the same cry proceeds from the blood of all the martyrs.' Cain was doomed to a new infliction of the primal curse. To Adam the earth yielded its fruit, though with toil and sweat; but to Cain, as if indignant at the outrage done her by his brother's blood, the earth was cursed for him again, refusing to yield her strength under his tillage, or even to grant him an abode at the scene of his crime.18 But even in this aggravation of the curse, we still see the mercy which turns the curse into a blessing; for it was no doubt an incentive to those mechanical arts which were first practiced by the family of Cain. Cain received his doom in the same hardened spirit of impenitence, filling up the measure of his unbelief by the cry, "My iniquity is too great to be forgiven." While lament ing his expulsion from the abodes of men and from the face of God, his great fear is for his life, lest men should slay him. To quiet this fear, God gave him a special sign that he should not be slain (for such seems to be the true meaning of the "mark set on Cain ")," and pronounced a sevenfold punishment on any one who should kill him. With his per son thus protected, he was driven from his home, as "a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth.”11 § 6. Cain directed his steps to the east of Eden, and settled in the land of Nod, that is, banishment."2 He became the ancestor of a race, whose history is recorded in a very striking Probably in the same way as signs were afterward given to Noah (Gen. ix. 13), Moses (Ex. iii. 2, 12), Elijah (1 Kings xix. 11), and Hezekiah (Is. xxxviii. 7, 8.) 21 Gen. iv. 14. 22 There have been various conjec tures as to the position of the land of Nod; but all that we know is, that it was east of Eden, which throws us back to the previous settlement of the position of Eden itself. The maintenance of intercourse between the Cainites and Sethites proves that the former did not wander very far. contrast with that of the chosen race of Seth. The two genealogies, when placed side by side, are as follows: Jabal. Jubal. Tubal Cain. Naamah. Methuselah. Lamech. Noah. The resemblances in the names of the two families seem a natural consequence of the use of significant names at a time when language had acquired no great variety; and in both cases several of the names have a sense natural at that age, increase and possession. The different number of generations suggests that the period between the children of Lamech and the flood was occupied with the development of the inventions ascribed to them, by their unnamed descendants. The only personal facts of their history are, the foundation by Cain of the first city, which he named after his son Enoch, the polygamy of Lamech; and the occupations of his sons, of whom Jabal was the first nomad herdsman, Jubal the inventor of musical instruments, both stringed and wind, and Tubal-Cain the first smith. It deserves notice also, that Lamech's address to his wives is the earliest example of poetry; it forms three couplets of parallel clauses." The great contrast, however, between the two races, is in their social and moral condition. 25 § 7. Dismissing the family of Cain, the narrative traces the line of the chosen race. The following is their genealogy, arranged so as to show how far they were contemporary (see p. 35). 24 See Notes and Illustrations (B) Gen iv. 23-24. 25 See Notes and Illustrations (C). |