Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Revdpickrel AT wmconnect.com]

In a message dated 7/15/2006 3:08:24 PM Central Daylight Time, 
kwrandolph AT gmail.com writes:


> Is this still that small a family? After all, we are talking 235 years
> after the fall into sin. How many other sons of Adam and Eve had been
> born, only not listed because their descendants all perished in the
> Flood? The daughters were not listed other than the generic notice in
> 5:4. By this time several generations of Qain's family were listed,
> thus the implication is that there were several hundreds, if not
> thousands, by that time. After all, who were the other people that
> Qain was afraid of when he murdered his brother?

Karl,

Actually, Karl, according to Genesis 5:3 we're talking about 130 years from 
the creation of Adam to Seth, not 235 years.  Still a small family.   
Applying 
modern standards of measurement which says population doubles every ten years 
that would mean by the time Seth was born the earth's population was 8,192.  
It's hard to imagine that they increased any faster, since all the burden was 
on Adam and Eve to be fruitful: Cain was in the land of wandering having 
babies, Abel was dead, and Seth was a newborn.  It is Seth that began to pray 
(call 
on the name of the Lord).  Cain's descentants became murders: the first 
record 
of a serial killer was recorded in Cain's seventh generation.

Doug.
Rev. Doug Pickrel, Litt.D.
Tejas Valley
San Antonio, Texas