Biblical Period 3 – Lamech to Adam

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This section looks at:

• GGF96 – Lamech (or Lamk) ben Methuselah (3,130-2,353 BCE)
• GGF97 – Methuselah [or Mathusale] ben Enoch (3,317-2,348 BCE)
• GGF98 – Enoch ben Jared [or Enos] (3,382-3,017 BCE)
• GGF99 – Jared ben Mahalalel (3,544-2,582 BCE)]
• GGF100 – Mahalalel [or Mahalaleel] ben Kenan (3,609-2,714 BCE)
• GGF101 – Kenan [or Cainan] ben Enosh (3,670-1,842 BCE)
• GGF102 – Enosh [or Enos] ben Seth (3,769-2,864 BCE)
• GGF103 – Seth ben Adam (3,874-2,962 BCE)
• GGF104 – Adam (4,004-3,074 BCE)

[GGF96]

GGF96 – Lamech (or Lamk) ben Methuselah (3,130-2,353 BCE)

Lamech was the son of Methuselah and Edna.

He married Betenos or Ashmua. They notably had a son, Noah (2,948-1,998 BCE), born when Lamech was 182 years old.

Some sources claim Lamech’s wives refused sex with him, because of a desire to kill off the seed of Cain,Lamech was descended from him.

He is said to have lived 777 years, dying five years before the Flood. His tomb is claimed to be 50 kms from Mihtariam in Afghanistan.

[GGF97]

GGF97 – Methuselah [or Mathusale] ben Enoch (3,317-2,348 BCE)

Methuselah ben Enoch was the son of Enoch ben Jared and Edna bint Daniel.

He married Ednah (or Elena) bint Azrail. hey had three children Eliakim, Rakeel and Lamech.

His life is described in further detail in extra-biblical religious texts such as the Book of Enoch and the Book of Moses.

Some sources describe Methuselah, with his grandson Noah, attempting to persuade the people of the earth to return to godliness.

Methuselah is notable for his longest lifespan of all those given in the Bible, reportedly dying at the age of 969.Thus, Methuselah’s name has become synonymous with longevity – or a six litre bottle of champagne (8 normal bottles).

Some have suggested it was 969 lunar months and that he was therefore just 78.5 yrs old. Ellen Bennet argued that the Septuagint Genesis 5 numbers are in tenths of years, which means Adam’s 930 years were in fact 93 years, and 969 years for Methuselah meant 96 years, and the 950 years of Noah would be 95. The assumption is that this longevity was to give girth to the genealogy.

He died the year of the Flood, the Ark had been built but he died before the Flood.

[GGF98]

GGF98 – Enoch ben Jared [or Enos or Akhnukh] (3,382-3,017 BCE)

Enoch appears in the Book of Genesis of the Pentateuch as the seventh of the ten pre-Deluge Patriarchs.

Enoch ben Jared was the son of Jared ben Malhalalel and Baraka bint Rashulal.

He married Edna bint Daniel, they had two children, Rarakiil (or Elishaa) and Methuselah, Enoch was 65 years old when they had Methuselah.

He was said to be the author of the Books of Enoch (1, 2 and 3), which is not canonical. These recount how Enoch was taken up to Heaven and was appointed guardian of all the celestial treasures, chief of the archangels, and the immediate attendant on the Throne of God. He was subsequently taught all secrets and mysteries and, with all the angels at his back, fulfils of his own accord whatever comes out of the mouth of God, executing His decrees. The Book of Giants is a Jewish pseudepigraphal work from the third century BCE and resembles the Book of Enoch.

He lived for 365 years, before he was taken by God. He was said not to see death, suggesting he was taken to Heaven while still alive.

[GGF99]

GGF99 – Jared [or Yard] ben Mahalalel (3,544-2,582 BCE)]

Jared ben Malhalalel was the son of Mahalalel ben Kenan and Dinah (or Dina) bint Barakiel.

He married Baraka (or Bereka or Barakah) bint Rashulal, and they had two children, Azrial and Enoch.

[GGF100]

GGF100 – Mahalalel [or Mahill or Malaleel] ben Cainan (3,609-2,714 BCE)

Mahalalel ben Cainan was the son of Cainan ben Enosh and Mualeleth bint Enoch.

He married Dinah (or Dina) bint Barakiel from East of Eden, they had seven sons (Cethar, Dinak, Leta, Lodo, Melie, Othim and Jared) and five daughters (Seila, Ada, Iebal, Mada and Noa).

Some sources suggest he died in Eastern Sri Lanka?

[GGF101]

GGF101 – Cainan [or Kenan or Quynan] ben Enosh (3,670-2,769 BCE)

Cainan ben Enosh was the son of Enosh ben Seth and Noam bint Seth.

He married Mualeleth bint Enoch, they had two children Rashujal and Mahalalel. Cainan fathered Mahalalel at age 70. He reportedly died at 910 years old.

[GGF102]

GGF102 – Enosh [or Enos or Henos] ben Seth (3,769-2,864 BCE)

Enosh ben Seth was the first son of Seth ben Adam and Azura bint Adam. He is on the genealogical tree that includes Jesus Christ (Luke 3:38). Some Islamic sources also show Enosh on the tree of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

He married his sister, Noam bint Seth, they had three children Mualeleth Adanya, Cainan and Barakiel. Enosh was 90 years old when Cainan was born.

[GGF103]

GGF103 – Seth ben Adam (3,874-2,962 BCE)

Seth ben Adam was the son of Adam and Eve. Adam was said to be 130 when Seth was born.

Seth is seen by Eve as a replacement given by God for Abel, whom Cain had slain. Genesis 4:25 ‘And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.’

Genesis refers to Seth as the ancestor of Noah and therefore he is the father of all mankind, because all other humans perished in the Great Flood.

He married his sister Azura bint Adam, they had three children Enosh, Noam and Niba. Though the Seder Olam Rabbah said he eventuallyhad 33 sons and 23 daughters. He was said to have had 912 years of life to achieve this.

In Greek Bible versions, Seth and Eve travel to the doors of the Garden of Eden to beg for some oil of the Tree of Mercy (i.e. the Tree of Life). Michael refuses to give them the oil, but promises to give it at the endPof time, when all flesh will be raised up, the delights of paradise will be given to the holy people and God will be in their midst.

It is said that late in life, Adam gave Seth secret teachings that would become the Kabbalah, a Jewish mystical school of thought.

Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews says Seth was virtuous and of excellent character. He says Seth’s descendants invented the wisdom of the heavenly bodies, ie astronomy. They also built the ‘pillars of the sons of Seth’, two pillars inscribed with many scientific discoveries and inventions. One was made of brick, and the other of stone, in the belief that the pillar of stone would withstand Adam’s prophecy of the Flood. Josephus reported that the pillar of stone remained in the land of Siriad in his day. Though other sources sugeest this pillar was created by Sesostris, king of Egypt.

Seth died at 912 years old, just fourteen years before Noah’s birth.

Some traditions locate Seth’s tomb in the village of Al-Nabi Shayth in the mountains above the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, where there is a mosque named after him. Others place his tomb in Bashshit Palestine.

[GGF104]

GGF104 – Adam (4,004-3,074 BCE)

The majority view among scholars is that the final text of Genesis dates from the Persian period (the 5th and 4th centuries BCE)and religious scholars show Adam’s creation as being in 4,004 BCE.

Of course today we can look back 100,000 years to the first humans emerging from the Great Rift Valley in East Africa – see Migrations for more on this.

But let’s ‘go with the flow’ and look at Adam’s reported existence. According to the Abrhamic religions both individuals were created in the idyllic Garden of Eden.

Genesis actually includes two creation stories, which are usually taken to be merely symbolic and therefore fictional.

The first Genesis creation version merely states that God created Man in his own image and then instructed them to go forth and multiply.

The second story has God create Adam from dust, and Eve from one of Adam’s rib. They are told not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but the serpent tempts Eve and she also gives some of the fruit to Adam. They do gain knowledge, but also can now experience shame and appreciate evil.

Rabbis have sought to rationalise the two versions and have suggested that when God created Adam he also created a woman from the dust, he named her Lilith. The two fell out when Adam wanted Lilith to lie under him, but Lilith insisted that Adam should lie under her, and so she fled from him, and thus Eve was created from Adam’s rib. Not sure how this works, because it sounds like there was discord in the Garden of Eden even before the taking of the Forbidden Fruit. Particularly as I did find references to Lilith coupling with the archangel Samael!

They are expelled from the Garden of Eden to wander in the Land of Nod. The Islamic version ascribes this original sin equally between Adam and Eve.

Adam married Eve. Their time there included their Original Sin and the resulting Fall of Man.

Genesis 4 narrates life outside the garden, including the birth of Adam and Eve’s first children, Cain and Abel. This chapter also describes the first murder, and the birth of Seth, Eve considered him as a God-given substitute for Abel. We call him GGF103, great grandfather 103!

They also had three daughters Azura, Awan and Leah. Cain married his sister Awan, and Seth married his sister Azura. Genesis 5 provides a genealogy from Adam to Noah.

In case we start to believe this fable, the Bible suggests that Adam lived for 930 years, which meant he would live until Noah’s father, Lamech, was 56 years old.

Elsewhere in the Bible (particularly in the Book of Enoch) we hear of the Elohim, the Nephilim and the Watchers. These are gods, giants and angels who appear to meddle with early Mankind. Some sources suggest these creatures created Man, effectively as a slave force to do their bidding, to do their work. But these watchng angels later found human females attractive and begin to mate with them. The Flood was in part to wash away this activity. But the theme was sustained by Greeks and Trojans, Etruscans and Romans – the notion of gods and humans procreating.

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