Alice C. Linsley
Susan Burns, a reader of Just Genesis and a fellow member of Open Anthropology Cooperative, has written an interesting and informative piece on Cain and Abel. She and I agree that the textual evidence suggests that Cain and Abel were twins. Here is what Susan has written:
Genesis 4: Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, 'I have gotten a man with the help of YHWH'. She again bare his brother Abel. The Hebrew word used for again (yasaph) is an adverb meaning to continue to do a thing. Yasaph implies that Eve gave birth to Cain and continued to do the same thing by giving birth to Abel. In other words, Cain and Abel were twins. The profession of Abel was shepherd and Cain was a farmer and city builder.
The tradition of twins as the progenitors of tribal units or city builders is well documented in ancient cultures. Usually the first born ascends to the throne of his ruler father and the younger is sent away to establish a territory of his own. Most of the heroes of the Bible are sent away sons. Cain, Nimrod, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David are examples, and all but Joseph were responsible for the death of other people. Cain killed Abel. Nimrod was a mighty hunter and a kingdom builder who forged his territory through conquest. Abraham killed in combat. Moses took the life of an Egyptian slave driver, and David killed Goliath and arranged for the death of Uriah, Bathsheba's husband.
Cain was the first ruler and city builder named in Genesis. Abraham the youngest son of Terah, built his territory between Hebron and Beersheba and Engedi and Gerar. Moses the youngest son of Amram, did not receive a territory. David the youngest son of Jesse, forged a kingdom in Judah and Galilee. Joseph became a ruler in Egypt. Birth order and the status of the man's mother are factors that must be considered in understanding the pattern of sent-away sons as kingdom builders. The firt born son of the ruler's half-sister wife was never sent away. He ascended to the throne of his biological father. The first born son of the ruler's patrilineal cousin/niece bride served as a prime minister in the territory of his maternal grandfather, after whom he was named. Other sons were given gifts and sent away to establish territories of their own (Gen. 25:6).
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| Coptic twins |
There are many variations on the theme of rivalry between twins. Jacob is fearful that Esau will kill him for attempting to steal his birthright. In Egyptian mythology Geb (earth) and Nut (sky) were twins. Romulus killed Remus, and in Celtic legend Gwyn and Gwythurin duel every May.The Gemini twins, Castor and Pollux, shared a mortal and an immortal existence. Castor was killed on a cattle raid but Pollux persuaded Zeus to allow the brothers to switch places periodically. In Arabian mythology Pollux and Castor were regarded as twin peacocks.
It may be that Peleg and Joktan were twins, but the following wording does not carry the same suggestion as with Cain and Abel. "To Eber were born two sons: the first was called Peleg, because it was in his time that the earth was divided, and his brother was called Joktan. (Gen. 10:25)
Related reading: Twins, Sent-Away Sons, and Heirs to the Throne; Sent Away Sons; Noah's Sons and Their Descendants; The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of Abraham's People; From Cain to Jesus Christ; Cain's Murder of Abel; The Kushite Marriage Pattern Drove Expansion Out of Africa; Cain as Ruler
I heard a preacher or should I call him a teacher of the Word, teach that Cain and Abel were twins, but one was from Satan, and the other from Adam. Eve was totally beguiled by the Serpent. We have heard of things like that happening with test tube babies.
ReplyDeleteSanda, the notion that Cain was of Satan is not biblical. Cain received great mercy from God and his line intermarried with the line of his brother Seth. Lamech's daughter Naamah (Gen. 4) married his patrilineal cousin Methuselah (Gen. 5) and named their firstborn son Lamech after her father. This was the pattern for cousin brides. Likewise, the lines of Ham and Shem intermarried. That being the case, you would have to say that all the descendants of Cain and Seth are of the Devil, a ridiculous claim!
ReplyDeleteThe promise of the Seed (Jesus Christ) concerns "the Woman" (Gen. 3:15). Eve isn't named until Genesis 3:20. Those who teach the Word of God rightly recognize that the Woman is Mary who brought forth the Son of God.
I have read that the word "to-sef" in Genesis 4:2 can mean to continue the same action or to repeat the same action again at a later time. If Cain and Abel were twins, does it not seem strange that the first twins to come into existence are not highlighted as such? Especially since the birth of twins with different characters is emphasized in later accounts? (Esau & Jacob and Perez & Zerah)
ReplyDeleteI think Cain and Abel were not twins. I believe that the first two verses of Genesis 4 contain a prophetic type of the virgin birth of Jesus. Cain's birth is directly connected by the text to Adam "knowing" Eve. The text does not directly connect Abel's birth to Adam's knowing Eve unless the meaning of the word "to-sef" is taken to mean a continuous action (as opposed to a repetition of that action). If "to-sef" is taken to mean "the same action repeated again at a later time", then we have the birth of Abel apart from any mention of Adam knowing Eve.
The subsequent mention of Adam knowing Eve again prior to the birth of Seth would bracket Abel's birth in between two occasions of sons being born through Adam knowing Eve.
This article speculates about the possibility that Kain and Seth might have been twins. I make no definitive statement on this. I want to raise the question.
ReplyDeleteInteresting article. Thank you. Regarding some of the comments, one question: why do people insist on reading the Hebrew Scriptures as a prophetic piece, regarding the life of Jesus? Why not take the Scriptures at face value, and review them for the potential meaning they may hold in isolation? By giving everything a "Jesus prophetic" spin, layers of meaning contained in the actual text may be missed or misinterpreted entirely. Of course, everyone is entitled to their beliefs, but I ask those who continue to read the Scriptures as purely code for the coming of Jesus, to consider the face of the text, without preconceived notions of what it might be "code" for. These may be value in this, and humanistic insights that we may be missing entirely. My two cents.
ReplyDeleteAnon, You make a good point. Reading Jesus Christ back into the ancient texts is not what we should do. It often results in skewed or reductionist interpretations.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the oldest material in the Bible does echo with Messianic expectation of the Righteous Ruler whose coming was anticipated. Christians believe that Jesus fits the pattern or template. There is reason to hold this view since Jesus' ancestry confirms that he is of the Horite ruler-priest lines among whom Messianic expectation first arose.
Biblical anthropology seeks to understand antecedents and explores the beliefs of Abraham's cattle-herding Nilotic ancestors. Until we understand their belief system and religious practices better, we will continue to misread and force incorrect or inadequate interpretations on the Bible.
There is more proof that they were twins besides the translation of "continued in labor". They made their first offering at the same time so they would have been the same age. They were brothers from different fathers, and this is very real and can happen today. When the Serpent (Satan) beguiled Eve-the word beguiled in Hebrew mean to wholly seduce as to lie with a woman. Then, when God speaks with them He refers to Eve's conception! What conception?!? She had not "known" Adam yet. Next, she lays with Adam and conceives, and she is carrying twins. Her statement when Cain is born that God has given her a son is just her own misunderstanding of what happened to her. There are writings outside of the Bible that talk about the size of Cain, which is a trademark of the Nephelim/giants. The human/angel hybrids that Noah retreated from.
ReplyDeleteDeborah, You would find this article interesting:
ReplyDeletehttp://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/09/twins-in-genesis.html
The Cain of Genesis 4 is the first ruler and not the son of Eve. The English name Cain comes from Qanithi. Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have gotten/gained (qa-nithi) a man with the help of the Lord." Genesis 4:1, The Hebrew Study Bible
The human knew Havva his wife, she became pregnant and bore Kayin. She said: Ka-niti (Qanithi)/ I have gotten a man, as has YHWH. Genesis 4:1, The Schocken Bible, Vol. 1
Qany(ty) or Qan-itti comes from Nilo-Saharan languages like Oromo and ancient Egyptian. These languages share many phonemes with ancient Akkadian, the language of Nimrod's kingdom. The Akkadian itti, as in itti šarrim, means "with the king" or "for the king." It is attached to the names of royalty. Even today the Oromo of Ethiopia and Somalia attach itti to names: Kaartuumitti, Finfinneetti and Dimashqitti. That itti is associated with Nilotic rulers is evident in the name of the great Egyptian queen Nefertitti.
Kain has many linguistic equivalents: Qayan, Cain, and Kahn, as in Genghis Kahn, and probably the English word king. All the words designate a ruler. Eve says that she has gotten a "king" with the help of YHWH. Some interpret this as a Messianic reference, parallel to Gen. 3:15.