Please see my introduction before reading this.
2 January. Genesis chapters 4-7
I regard these early chapters of Genesis as mythological rather than historical, although there may of course have been historical events that inspired stories such as that of the great flood. But what can we learn from them?
It is interesting that the genealogy of Noah (and thus of all of us, according to the story) derives through Adam’s third son Seth, and not through Cain, presumably due to his murder of his brother. Meanwhile, God’s punishment of Cain for the murder was to make his land infertile and thus cause him to leave the homeland and become a wanderer, which he considers “unbearable” (as it must be for anyone forced to leave their community in this way). But he is protected from vengeance, which is never God’s way for the world. The moral? Our sins can indeed have long-lasting consequences for ourselves and others, but justice must not be confused with vengeance.
The beginning of chapter 6 intrigues me with its repeated references to “the sons of God and the daughters of humans”. Is this merely a patriarchal view of sons being more important than daughters, or is there some deeper meaning? Likewise the Nephilim (sometimes translated as “giants”) – could be a folk memory of Neanderthals, or may have a more spiritual meaning. I don’t know.