It seems to have a priestly ring, this forbidding and preventing
ordinary mortals to become intelligent. The story is so framed as to
express the line of conduct of the higher towards the lower, of the
slave towards his master, of the laborer towards his lord; and the
19th verse expresses the subjugation of the poor ignorant creature:
"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return
unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art,
and unto dust shalt thou return." It is the church and the priest that
have taken care to keep the dust in the eyes of the masses. They are
the cherubim with a flaming sword that keep the masses away from the
tree of life.
Chapter iv relates to the crime of murder. God instigates the
crime. Abel kept sheep. Cain tilled the ground. Cain brought vegetables
to God, and Abel brought the firstlings of his flock and fat. God's
taste ran in the meat line; he was somewhat of an epicurean. He
respected Abel and his offering, but did not respect Cain's. Then God
asks Cain why he is cross, and after Cain kills his brother Abel, he,
God, says: Where is thy brother Abel? And God dispossesses Cain and
drives him east of Eden to Arabia. A very arbitrary landlord this God.
Chapter v: The fourth chapter winds up with Enos the son of Seth. Verse
26: "Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord." Now, Adam lived
930 years, Seth 912 years, and Enos 905 years. God during this period
was wholly occupied with these people. Murder is the only incident
of importance during the first thousand years. God takes a long rest
for nearly 2,000 years before anything of importance occurs.
This chapter treats of the genealogy, age, and death of the patriarchs
from Adam to Noah.
The records of creation are by no means harmonious. There are no less
than one hundred and twenty opinions on the subject. The difference
between the latest and remotest dates is no less than 3,268 years. Here
are some of the dates of the supposed creation of the world. They
may be interesting to some, as showing the uncertainty and inaccuracy:
Hebrew, 4004 B.C.
Septuagint, 5873 ,,
Talmudistic, 5344 ,,
Scaliger, 3950 ,,
Petovias, 3984 ,,
Dr. Hale, 5411 ,, etc.
Here we give the genealogy of Adam and his line:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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