The first genealogy in Genesis –from Cain to Jabal, Jubal, Tubal-Cain and Naamah– and the second genealogy in Genesis –from Set to Noah–have different dynamics: the former offers information such as “Jabal became the father of those who live in tents and raise cattle”, while the second indicates the age of each patriarch when his heir was born, how many years he lived afterwards and how many years he lived in total.[1]
The fact that in both genealogies we find the names Enoch and Lamech, and similar names for Lamech’s father –Methushael in Cain’s genealogy, Methuselah in Set’s genealogy– invites us to investigate whether they may refer to the same people.
The information in Cain’s genealogy that Jabal was the father of all who live in tents and raise cattle; that Jubal was the father of all who play the zither and flute; and that Tubal-Cain was the father of all the copper and iron forgers, tells us that both genealogies must have something in common. Since today there are people who live in tents and raise cattle, while others play the zither and the flute, and yet others are copper and iron forgers, and only Noah and his three sons with their wives survived the flood, either Noah and his sons or their spouses were descendants of Jabal, Jubal and Tubal-Cain.
Cain – Enoch – Irad – Mehujael – Methushael – Lamech – Jabal, Jubal and Tubal-Cain
Adam – Seth – Enos – Kenan – Mahalalel – Jared – Enoch – Methuselah – Lamech – Noah
When we pay attention to the exact words these genealogies use, we observe that the genealogy from Adam to Noah is always based on the father begot son principle, while the genealogy from Cain to Jabal uses vague expressions such as “Cain knew his wife, who conceived and gave birth to” or “to Enoch was born Irad.” This shows that the Bible recognizes the fact that, due to extramarital affairs, a lineage can be true or supposed.
Since Seth’s genealogy says that Jared begat Enoch, and Cain’s genealogy doesn’t say that Cain begat Enoch, but that Cain knew his wife, who conceived and gave birth to Enoch, it is possible that Jared, a descendant of Seth, begat Enoch from Cain’s wife.
Several generations and centuries separate Cain from Seth, but this is not an impediment because the patriarchs still begat children when they were very old. Noah, for example, had Shem when he was 500 years old.[2]
If both genealogies refer to the same Enoch, one would assume that thereafter they would coincide, but they don’t. While Cain’s genealogy says: “To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad begat Mehujael, Mehujael begat Lamech”, Seth’s genealogy says: “Enoch begat Methuselah. Methuselah begot Lamech. ”
As Methushael and Methuselah seem to be two versions of the same name, we must now investigate the generations between Enoch and Methushael / Methuselah. The fact that Cain’s genealogy says: “To Enoch was born Irad” instead of: “Enoch begot Irad” suggests that Enoch’s wife had Irad with another man.
The next obstacle we encounter is that Cain’s genealogy says that Irad begat Mehujael and that Mehujael begat Methushael, while that of Sets reports that Enoch begat Methuselah. The names Methushael and Methuselah are similar: they have almost the same combination of consonants. Two men –Mehujael and Enoch– cannot beget the same person. Both genealogies could refer to the same Lamech if Mehujael was a woman.
Genesis almost always uses the verb to beget to refer to a relationship between a father and a son. However, it makes three exceptions and the first one is found in Cain’s genealogy because it says of Zillah, one of Lamech’s two wives, that she begat Tubal-Cain. The other two exceptions refer to the children that Zilpah, Leah’s servant, and Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, begot for Jacob. These three women were not their husbands’ first wives.[3]
Enoch and Mehujael may therefore have been the father and mother of Methuselah. In that case, Enoch had Methushael / Methuselah from his wife’s granddaughter. Since Cain’s genealogy says: “To Enoch was born Irad”, Mehujael was not necessarily a descendant of Enoch.
Now there is only one generation left to investigate. While Seth’s genealogy says: “Lamech begot Noah,” Cain’s genealogy says: “Lamech took two women: the first named Adah, and the second Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal, who became the father of those who live in tents and raise cattle. His brother’s name was Jubal, the father of all who play the zither and the flute. Zillah on the other hand, begot Tubal Cain, father of the copper and iron forgers. The sister of Tubal Cain was Naaman”.
Everything that we have previously discovered encourages us to ask whether perhaps Noah was also known by another name. To find out which of Lamech’s descendants might also have been known as Noah, we must reflect upon the expressions ” the father of those who live in tents and raise cattle”, “the father of all who play the zither and the flute” and “the father of all the copper and iron forgers”. The Earth could have been repopulated with descendants of Jubal, Jabal or Tubal Cain through Noah’s wife or the spouses of his sons, but Genesis mentions Noah as the first person who lives in a tent. Therefore, Jabal and Noah were the same person.[4]
The fact that the genealogies of Cain and Set refer to the same genealogical tree shows that there were many cases of extramarital affairs, incest and inbreeding among Noah’s ancestors.
These two genealogies guarded their secrets for many centuries because of different reasons. One is that theologians couldn’t imagine that the descendants of Cain, who killed his brother, could have something in common with Noah, the only one who survived the universal flood because he found grace in the eyes of Yahweh. Another is that they couldn’t imagine that Cain’s wife bore Enoch from a relationship with Jared, since several generations separate Cain from Jared. Still another is that they didn’t pay attention to the exact meaning of certain words, so that when they read: “Cain knew his wife, who conceived and gave birth to Enoch” they assumed this meant: “Cain begot Enoch”, and when they read: “Mehujael begat Methushael” they assumed that Mehujael was a man. And a fourth reason is that the high ages of the patriarchs are considered to be impossible, and therefore many chose to ignore the genealogies.
These two genealogies in Genesis are incredibly ingenious because if Cain’s had also given the ages, it would have been obvious that they refer to the same family tree. While certain information in these genealogies encourages us to investigate whether they may refer to the same family tree, other information suggests that this is impossible.
BIBLE REFERENCES: [1] Gn4:17-24 / Gn5:3-32 / [2] We thus see that instead of simply accepting or rejecting these high ages it makes sense to reflect upon how they affect the genealogies. / [3] Gn4:22 (Lots of translators misinterpreted this verse and erroneously put: “Zillah gave birth to Tubal-Cain). / Gn46:18 / Gn46:25 / [4] Gn9:21
The next 10 articles are:
9 PHILOSOPHY versus THEOLOGY 0 The Flood
10 PHILOSOPHY versus THEOLOGY 0 Noah
11 PHILOSOPHY versus THEOLOGY 0 Evil since childhood
12 PHILOSOPHY versus THEOLOGY 0 Repopulating the Earth
13 PHILOSOPHY versus THEOLOGY 0 The tower of Babel
14 PHILOSOPHY versus THEOLOGY 0 An only language
15 PHILOSOPHY versus THEOLOGY 0 Whores
16 PHILOSOPHY versus THEOLOGY 0 20 patriarchs
17 PHILOSOPHY versus THEOLOGY 0 Abraham and Sarah
18 PHILOSOPHY versus THEOLOGY 0 Melchizedek