Genesis 1-6
By Ariella Casey
Every year, Jews read this parasha very quickly, and most take very little time to scrutinize it. If we look at it closely, we see that there are things that do not seem to line up with what we know about the world today. There are some hidden things that we probably will never fully understand, based on our perspective of life today.
So here are a few thoughts and observations. I do not claim pre-existent knowledge, but please check out the logic. It rings clearer than some of the fiction that is written about those times.
The idea of Eve claiming to get a “man from Yehovah” when Cain was born has been understood by some that she had a child by someone other than Adam, perhaps she slept with the serpent. But I believe she simply remarked when she was surprised by the birth of their first child and gave credit to the Creator for giving her a child. Some Christian theology says that Eve was looking forward to the “messiah” who would come and save the world from the mess they were now in. But this is not indicated anywhere in the Torah or Tanakh.
Then there was the incident of the sacrifices brought by Cain and Abel. Yehovah smiled upon Abel’s sacrifice but ignored Cain’s. What can we make of this? There is nowhere that the Torah that says they or our first father and mother were instructed about making a sacrifice. I often consider that they somehow knew about sacrifices but, again, nothing is mentioned previously. One thing we do know, and that is that Cain did not bring the best of his produce. The verse says:
“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Jehovah. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering, he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” (Gen 4:3-5 ASV)
So whom was the anger about? Why did Cain blame Abel for what the Creator chose to favor? Was YHVH showing partiality? Was this a teaching moment about sacrifices? Why did Cain not honor the Eternal by bringing the choice fruits of his harvest? It appears he brought just average fruit. It specifies that he brought the “fruit of the ground” which was not tree fruit. Was this “fruit” somehow of less value? It does not specify that it was the best of the crop.
Perhaps these sons of Adam had an idea of the covenant that was to be written out much later on Sinai. It seems clear that the sacrifices that they brought were not sin offerings, or were they? There was never any written instruction before this incident about atonement. Were they somehow taught to make sacrifices and somehow Cain was doing his own thing?
This raises the question about the eternal nature of the Covenant. If the Covenant was to be everlasting and if even the Creation was accomplished by the principles of Torah, then why would they not know about sacrifices for pleasing the Creator by returning to him the best of what they had labored to produce? Was this a test of their minds? And if so, then Cain showed very little respect, and certainly no gratitude to the Creator. Could it be that tithing started here?
People tell me that tithing started at Sinai, but why then did Abraham know about it when he tithed the spoils of war to Melchizedek?
A glaring problem that raises its head is; who were the divine beings that took the beautiful women who were daughters of men and procreated with them, producing nephilim? The word Nephalim in Hebrew means “fallen ones”, it does not mean demon’s offspring. Were they indeed angels?
Some versions of the Bible interpret the verse to say: divine beings, but the Hebrew says Bene Elohim (sons of God). This does not mean necessarily that they were angels. They could be righteous men.
Hear me out if you will. I do not believe that angels can mate with humans, (they are of a different order) nor do I believe that divine beings were tempted to procreate and produce strange creatures (nephalim) with these beautiful women, producing men of renown. What renown might mean, I am not sure, unless they were strong to do evil and became famous for their wickedness. My best thinking has to do with the two lineages that descended from Adam. There was the lineage of Cain which clearly was noted for its immorality, and by the way, it is never stated that Cain was in Adam’s image. On the contrary, there was Seth, whom the Bible does claim was after Adam’s image. (See Genesis 5:3). As we look down the genealogy from Seth until the flood, we see two distinct types of men. Those of Seth’s lineage who were noted as righteous, including Enoch and Noah, who walked with God. Apparently, this lineage was in Adam’s image. But the lineage of Cain somehow fell short of achieving this righteous or noble stature. Then, if I am correct, the sons of Elohim would have been those from the righteous lineage of Seth and the daughters of men would have been from the lineage of Cain. So, when they intermarried, the world became a mixture of good and evil to the point where Noah, who was the only one left of the lineage of Seth was chosen to repopulate the earth. However, it appears that one of the wives, whether of Noah or one of his sons, maybe Ham, was of Cain’s lineage. Why? Because of the curse put on Canaan, the son of Ham when he saw his mother’s nakedness, and what that means, I am not going to discuss here. Ham himself was not declared righteous, as was Shem, which makes me wonder about Noah’s wife. Were there two lineages from Noah, just as there were from Adam?
But this is all a mystery and remains in the shadows to be explained in the world to come.
I hope you enjoyed studying with me. I am open to hear your thoughts. Please comment or write to me.
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