When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose. Then the Lord said, "My spirit will not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days - and also afterward - when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.Why is this confusing? Well it precedes the account of Noah, and despite the proclamation of God that he's limiting the lifespan of humans, we see that the generations following the flood are living almost as long as those that preceded it. Then, you have the whole "sons of God" taking wives and the Nephilim angle. The apocryphal Book of Enoch expands greatly on this, claiming that they are angels who are give in to lust and take human wives and give birth to giants or monstrous cannibalistic men known as the Nephilim. They also teach humans how to make war and various vain pursuits, and society becomes so corrupt, this is why there is the Great Flood. Although this reading suggests instead that the resulting children were great heroes.
One of the interesting things I have noticed in talking with athiests is that they are as hard-headed and insistent about taking the Bible and everything in it literally as the most fundamental Christian. It's frustrating as most athiests are generally well educated if somewhat egotistical and vain in their self-worth, yet when approaching the Bible they lose all capability for actual critical reasoning in approaching ancient texts, and the ability to understand basic symbolism, metaphor and hyperbole. Suddenly, they expect a book compiled of various writing styles from different countries, languages and centuries, that includes parables, lessons, sayings, poetry, and history to all sound as dry as a history book written in the native language for a third grader.
I would love to see an athiest and a hard core fundamental Christian argue over the book of Genesis and see which one's head explodes first.
Right off the start, with the Creation Story, we have two separate accounts of how God created the Earth and all that inhabited it. And, these are not exactly the same accounts. This is because the Book is a combination of several views points and the different writers are trying to get across different ideas so they have different focuses. One is showing God's creative power, that all comes from Him. The other is focusing on God establishing Order over Chaos.
- While Adam and Eve did not know the difference between good and evil, the serpent seems to. Why is the serpent so intelligent? How did it go around if only after it's cursed does it crawl on it's body? The serpent's temptation of Adam and Eve remind me a lot of the "Just So" stories related by Rudyard Kipling.
- The existence of the two trees, one of Knowledge and the other of Eternal Life as well as the special fruit echoes Norse and Greek myths concerning "golden apples" that are of great value and keep the gods young.
One thing that struck me about the story of Eden is that it works as a story concerning the evolution of man. The knowledge it imparts (and the threat by God to not eat it lest you die) is of self-awareness, abstract thought, and morality. Before this, man could be considered little different from the animals, though above them. He walks among them naked. There is no concept in him of right and wrong. Eating of the tree changes that. Once you have knowledge of the difference, you have responsibilities and repercussions to your choices in life. Among that self knowledge is also of one's own mortality. Animals will fight to live and to protect what they adopt as their own tribe or pact, but they don't have that abstract concept of the difference between life and death. Death as a concept is not ever-present in their thoughts, dreams or fears. But, man with his self-knowledge is also aware of his own mortality, it's always there at the edges of his thoughts and being, being the motivating force for so many of his actions. Eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge doesn't kill us but also gives the knowledge of death.
-It is interesting to note, that the implication through the Eden story is the desired and ideal state of man is to be Vegetarian. Even before being outcast, he tills the soil. When he first realizes he's naked, he makes clothes from leaves, it's God that gives him animal skins which are warmer and more durable.
Cain and Abel: The most confusing aspect of the story for many is the question, who did Cain marry? After all, we all know that murder is wrong. The modern reader needs to consider the purpose of much of the Old Testament is to tell the stories of the Hebrew people, their faith, parables, and lessons but also to tell of their relationships to the other people of the world and region. So, the story of Adam and Eve, and the genealogies of their offspring, can be considered the story of the Hebrew people and their place in the scheme of things. It's from their point of view and beginnings. The story as such does not preclude there being other people. Just that God had set aside great things for this particular set of people.
Genealogies: Some of the more boring reading of the Bible and the head swims with some of the names given to the people and cultures. As noted above, these serve to illustrate to the Jewish people their relationships to their neighbors, that in a sense, they are family. There are a few interesting names and tidbits that pop up that suggest a greater oral tradition or other traditions. Such as Enoch who is here said to be taken to God, thus did not die (although there are some interpretations that say he was both righteous and extremely susceptible to temptation and sin so he actually died before his allotted days lest he commit some grievous sin). As noted, there is an apocryphal book attributed to him. The quoted verse implying great heroes that strove against the Nephilim also suggests a tradition of great heroic tales that aren't recorded here as they are unrelated to texts concerning religious tradition.
Noah & the Ark: Another story that has similarities to several other ancient myths. Of the ancient times, floods from too much rain and famine from too little were of great concern and thus both feature prominently in the OT stories. Like the Genesis story, it is immediately evident from reading straight through that this is two different accounts of one story as the time spent on the Ark changes. On one, it's simply forty days and nights. The other, that's the time it rained, but it was almost a year by the time the waters subsided enough to release the animals. Notice, one tradition has Noah being commanded to take several pairs of the "clean" animals, which he sacrifices at the end of the ordeal.
I don't think it's unreasonable to assume the story does contain metaphor and hyperbole. Numbers were used for different reasons in texts from this time. Thus "Forty days and forty nights" is poetic license for a "long time". Likewise, the ages given in genealogies I don't think were meant to be literal ages, but a recognition that in the olden days when man and God were more intimate, man lived and prospered greatly as opposed to the "now' generations. Every generation looks to the past of what it considers a "golden age".
Likewise, I don't think the story is meant to mean that God literally flooded the whole world. Especially, if you take the stance that much of this is from the Hebrew people's point of view. He's frustrated with the wickedness of the people that he has taken into his fold, their corruption. It's their "world" that he's washing away to start anew. Because the greater world gets re-populated in a whole hurry.
Ham's Sin: Among fundamentalists, the argument of Ham's sin is one of homosexuality and incest. Yet, that's not actually evident in this reading. It could simply be one of callousness and neglect. He sees his father naked yet does nothing about it but talk about it to his brothers. They on the other hand take steps to cover their father up, they perform an act of kindness and decency. The primary purpose though is again to explain the relationship of the Hebrew people with the neighbors, in this case, those descended from Ham and his brothers.
Hopefully, more tomorrow as we catch up on my first week of reading.
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