It's a real pain for Mister Cain.

But not the end; perhaps the beginning ...

I like the hunky men; very physical!

Cain committed the first murder so he had to be punished.

You are placed under a curse and can no longer farm the soil: You will be a homeless wanderer on the earth. So Cain went away from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod.

Isn't that a kiddes' phrase for sleeping - 'he's in the land of Nod.'?

'Nod' is an ancient Hebrew word for "Wandering." Cain and his people became nomads.

But the bible suggests that God has a way of making good come from bad; and we are told that Cain "built a city and named it after his son Enoch." And it is very likely that he "Wandered" and "built his city" in Mesopotamia; the name means "between the rivers" - near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; just "up the road from" the Garden of Eden.

But one man couldn't build a city, singe handed.

Agreed. But don't think of a city as a huge place; perhaps a better translation might be "and Cain settled in one place." It's unlikely that it will ever be proved, definitely, but it all fits!

A map of Mesopotamia. Each black dot is the site of a really ancient excavation. The picture shows some typical ruins from, possibly, 2000 years BC buy many settlements are much, much older.

So you reckon that this is some sort of ancient family history?

Probably not as accurate as a true family tree, but giving the basic essentials so future generations could understand what happened and how "civilisation" began to develop from primitive times.

But I've got a question you can't answer!

Try me?

Cain had a son, Enoch, right?

Ye-e-e-s?

So where did Mrs Cain come from. Surely not Adam and Eve? Marrying your own sister is ...

Incest. And very definitely wrong in the Bible.

In some societies, such as those of Ancient Egypt and others, brother–sister, father–daughter, and mother–son, cousin-cousin, uncle-niece, aunt-nephew, and other permutations of relations were practiced among royalty as a means of perpetuating the royal lineage. In addition, the Balinese and some Inuit tribes have altogether different beliefs about what constitutes illegal and immoral incest. However, parent-child and sibling-sibling unions are almost universally forbidden. Children born of close incestous unions have greatly increased risk of congenital disorders, death and disability at least in part due to genetic diseases caused by the inbreeding.

I'll have a go at answering on Sunday : be patient!

 Next Bible Blog : Sunday 18th November