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Genesis

About this book

Cain and Abel

Chapter 4

1 Now the man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created a man just as the Lord did!”⁠ 2 Then she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel took care of the flocks,⁠ while Cain cultivated the ground. 3 At the designated time Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground for an offering to the Lord. 4 But Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock—even the fattest of them. And the Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering,⁠ 5 but with Cain and his offering he was not pleased. So Cain became very angry, and his expression was downcast. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? 7 Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door.⁠ It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.”⁠ 8 Cain spoke to his brother Abel.21⁠ While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.⁠ 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?”⁠ 10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!⁠ 11 So now you are banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you try to cultivate the ground it will no longer yield its best for you. You will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.” 13 Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to endure!⁠ 14 Look, you are driving me off the land today, and I must hide from your presence. I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me!” 15 But the Lord said to him, “All right then, if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.”⁠ Then the Lord put a special mark on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. 16 So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Cain's Descendants

17 Cain was intimate with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech. 19 Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the first of those who live in tents and keep livestock. 21 The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who play the harp and the flute. 22 Now Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who heated metal and shaped all kinds of tools made of bronze and iron.⁠ The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah. 23 Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me! You wives of Lamech, hear my words! I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for hurting me. 24 If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much, then Lamech seventy-seven times!”

Seth and His Family

25 And Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him.” 26 And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people began to worship the Lord.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.1 III:4 and Genesis 4:22

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Genesis describes Tubal-Cain as the first to work with metal, connected to his siblings who made music and tools. In Ugaritic tradition, the god Kothar-wa-Hasis is a builder who also supports musicians, highlighting how crafting was a gift from the gods.

Passages

KTU 1.1 III:4

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Then they indeed set their faces towards Kothar-wa-Hasis, towards Egypt, of all of which he is god. Create the throne of his dwelling, Egypt the land of his inheritance, over a thousand miles, ten thousand leagues. At the feet of Kothar they bowed and fell down, they paid him homage and honoured him. And they said to Kothar-wa-Hasis, they declared to Hayin, who is the ambidextrous craftsman: “Message of Bull El your father, word of the Wise One, your progenitor: Kothar, build, place in the foundry, prepare in the mountain a dwelling. Grasp your spear and your mace; let your feet hasten to me, let your legs hurry to me, towards the mountain, towards Mount Throne. put […] Hurry! Hasten! [Rush!] [To me let your feet hasten], to me let your [legs] hurry, [towards the mountain], For I have a word that I would say to you, a message that I would repeat to you: A word of tree and whisper of stone, the sighing of the heavens to the earth, of the deep to the stars. A word unknown to men, and which the multitudes of the earth do not understand. Come, and I shall reveal it in the midst of my divine mountain, Sapan.”
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Genesis 4:22

Hebrew Bible
17 Cain was intimate with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech. 19 Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the first of those who live in tents and keep livestock. 21 The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who play the harp and the flute. 22 Now Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who heated metal and shaped all kinds of tools made of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

References

"... smiths and griots perform similar rites for the dead, and myths ascribe their arts to a common origin, as do the myths of the Songhai. For the Hausa, sons of marriages of women from among the smiths and non-smith men are musicians, as are their own descendants. The Ugaritic text RS 24.252 calls musicians and singers the “friends” of the smith god Kothar-wa-Hasis, and the Canaanites ... Many of these elements appear in the biblical traditions associated with smiths, Kenites, and Midianites. The term “smiths” is not meant to limit the profession of the “Cain” group: among the Teda of Chad, the Congo Ekonda, the Kapsiki, the Shona, and the West African Bambara, Fula, Hausa, Mandinka, and Soninke, the same people are miners, smelters, blacksmiths, metalworkers, and tinkers—workers in gold, silver, iron, copper, or brass ... Cain’s offspring are all cultural heroes. Enoch is the creator of cities. Jabal is “the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.” Jubal is “the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe…Tubal-Cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron.” The biblical smiths are thus musicians, as well ..."
Robert D. Miller II, Yahweh: Origin of a Desert God (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2021), 175–176.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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KTU 1.1 III:4 and Genesis 4:22

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