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Hi, I raised this question in a chat room and some people were giving feedback but I don't know if I understood them and also it was confusing in the chat room setting anyway. So here is a question that is BUGGING me:
In Genesis 4:20-21, it says that Jabal and Jubal are the ancestors of all those who live in tents and all those who play the lyre (respectively).
But later in Genesis 6-7, the flood kills everything and everyone outside the ark (right? or are there other views here? 7:21-23 seems pretty clear to me that everything outside the ark died, but I'm up for hearing alternative views).
I assume that Genesis 4:20-21 was written after the flood (bad assumption?).
So here's the question: Is there any meaningful sense in which these men, the two named individuals, are really the "ancestors" of those who live in tents and play the lyre?
(Also, they were of the line of Cain, not Seth, so it's not even like their descendants are preserved through Noah... or am I misunderstanding something?)
Isn't this a clear error in Scripture? Or is there some way to read this that I'm missing?
Anyway I can't find an answer to this one anywhere. I was getting sick of looking through all the different websites so I thought this might be more fruitful.
Someone in the chat room said that the flood story is a spiritual story - I just wasn't sure what that means. Someone else said something about how being a person's ancestor doesn't indicate a direct line, and so I think they were saying that in some way the ancestry of tent-dwellers and lyre-players can still go back to those two individuals. I'm interested in hearing more about that but I just wasn't sure how that would actually work.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated. This is one of several "burning questions" I have about the Bible. I'm wrestling a lot with the doctrine of biblical inerrancy and so I'm trying to get at least my big questions worked out. Unless - does anyone think it's okay not to believe in inerrancy?
Thanks for the help.
In Genesis 4:20-21, it says that Jabal and Jubal are the ancestors of all those who live in tents and all those who play the lyre (respectively).
But later in Genesis 6-7, the flood kills everything and everyone outside the ark (right? or are there other views here? 7:21-23 seems pretty clear to me that everything outside the ark died, but I'm up for hearing alternative views).
I assume that Genesis 4:20-21 was written after the flood (bad assumption?).
So here's the question: Is there any meaningful sense in which these men, the two named individuals, are really the "ancestors" of those who live in tents and play the lyre?
(Also, they were of the line of Cain, not Seth, so it's not even like their descendants are preserved through Noah... or am I misunderstanding something?)
Isn't this a clear error in Scripture? Or is there some way to read this that I'm missing?
Anyway I can't find an answer to this one anywhere. I was getting sick of looking through all the different websites so I thought this might be more fruitful.
Someone in the chat room said that the flood story is a spiritual story - I just wasn't sure what that means. Someone else said something about how being a person's ancestor doesn't indicate a direct line, and so I think they were saying that in some way the ancestry of tent-dwellers and lyre-players can still go back to those two individuals. I'm interested in hearing more about that but I just wasn't sure how that would actually work.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated. This is one of several "burning questions" I have about the Bible. I'm wrestling a lot with the doctrine of biblical inerrancy and so I'm trying to get at least my big questions worked out. Unless - does anyone think it's okay not to believe in inerrancy?
Thanks for the help.