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†. Gen 4:20 . . Adah bore Jabal; he was the ancestor of those who
dwell in tents and amidst herds.
This is the Bible's very first mention of man-made portable shelters. Tents,
teepees, wigwams, etc; make it possible to roam long distances in relative
comfort while searching for foods and pastures.
Abraham and Sarah were housed in portable shelters the whole time they
lived in Canaan. With portable shelters, Enochville could be a very mobile
community, staying in one place only long enough to deplete its natural
resources before moving on to better diggings to invade, plunder, exploit,
pollute, and depredate.
Jabal wasn't the father of animal husbandry as the passage seems to
suggest. Abel was already tending flocks before Jabal was born (Gen 4:2).
Dwelling "amidst" herds describes the lifestyle of North America's early
plains Indians; whose livelihood depended a great deal upon wild buffalo.
Though they followed the herds, the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa,
Crow, Blackfoot, Comanche, and Shoshone, et el; didn't actually raise any of
their own buffalo like on a ranch.
Dwelling amidst herds is a nomadic way of life rather than one that's
domesticated; hence the need for portable shelters; and the herds (e.g.
deer, elk, wild goats, antelope, wildebeests, et al) would provide fabric for
not only the tents, but also for shoes and clothing; which would need
replacement quite often.
One of Lewis' and Clark's complaints, when they were passing through the
Oregon territory, was that moccasins rotted off their feet in the Northwest's
climate. Even without rot, the soles of moccasins are not all that resistant to
wear. Buckskins, manufactured from Elk hide and/or deerskin, fared little
better.
†. Gen 4:21 . . And the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the
ancestor of all who play the lyre and the pipe.
The word for "ancestor" is from 'ab (awb); a primitive word which means
father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application. In
this particular case, 'ab wouldn't mean literal kin, but likely analogous to an
inventor who is the first to introduce a new concept which then later
becomes widely adopted.
The word for "lyre" is from kinnowr (kin-nore') and means: to twang. So the
actual instrument itself is difficult to identify. It could have been a harp. But
then again, it may have even been something as simple as a string stretched
between a washtub and a broom stick.
The interesting thing about an ancient twanging instrument is its string. How
did the Cainites make them? Of what material? A stringed instrument is a
pretty advanced musical tool and certainly not something you would expect
to find among so primitive a people as the antediluvians.
The word for "pipe" is from 'uwgab (oo-gawb') and means: a reed
instrument of music.
A modern reed instrument is typically a woodwind that produces sound by
vibrating a thin strip of wood against the mouthpiece; like clarinets and
saxophones (hence the classification: woodwinds). But in that culture, it
could very well have been something as simple as a tube whistle made from
a single hollow section of plant stem; or several of those bundled together
like a Pan flute.
†. Gen 4:22a . . As for Zillah, she bore Tubal-cain, who forged all
implements of copper and iron.
Copper, in its natural form, is too soft and pliable for practical purposes; but
it's a classification of metals called work-hardening. In other words, by
pounding or rolling cold copper, its mechanical properties can be greatly
improved. It probably didn't take Mr. Tubal-cain long to figure that out.
Adding a little tin to copper produces bronze, which is much stronger and
tougher than pure copper.
Copper's advantage in cooking is its natural heat conduction, which is very
fast as compared to iron and/or steel. It's also an excellent conductor of
electricity, but unless they were bottling lightening in those days, copper's
electrical properties would have to wait for future exploitation.
Iron, though stronger and harder than copper, is relatively soft and pliable in
its natural condition too; but with the addition of small amounts of carbon, it
becomes steel, which is quite a bit tougher than natural iron. Whether Tubal
cain figured that out is difficult to know for sure.
†. Gen 4:22b . . And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
Her name is from Na'amah (nah-am-aw') which means pleasant, amiable, or
agreeable. A girl named Joy would probably fit that category. Na'amah
suggests that the people of Enochville were content with their way of life.
So all in all, Enochville, though unproductive in agriculture, prospered
through manufacturing and commerce instead; trading the goods and
services of their industrial base for much needed produce; the same way
that most urbanites still do even today. People in towns and cities typically
don't support themselves directly from nature. They earn a medium of
exchange in some sort of skill or profession, then trade it with merchants to
buy the things they need to survive.
The technological, and cultural, level of early Man was very high. It's
interesting that the identifying marks which evolutionary anthropologists use
to denote the emergence of a stone age culture into a civilized society were
evident in Cain's day-- animal husbandry, agriculture, trades, urbanization,
music, and metallurgy. All these civilizational technologies emerged very
early: within just a few generations of Adam; rather than thousands upon
thousands of years of human development.
I'm not saying there were never any "stone-age" peoples. Obviously there
were. But though Cain's community may have started out as cave men, by
Noah's day they were past primitive conditions and actually pretty advanced.
It's too bad the Flood wiped early Man off the map. Who can tell what he
might have accomplished had his progress not been interrupted (cf. Gen
11:6).
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 4:20 . . Adah bore Jabal; he was the ancestor of those who
dwell in tents and amidst herds.
This is the Bible's very first mention of man-made portable shelters. Tents,
teepees, wigwams, etc; make it possible to roam long distances in relative
comfort while searching for foods and pastures.
Abraham and Sarah were housed in portable shelters the whole time they
lived in Canaan. With portable shelters, Enochville could be a very mobile
community, staying in one place only long enough to deplete its natural
resources before moving on to better diggings to invade, plunder, exploit,
pollute, and depredate.
Jabal wasn't the father of animal husbandry as the passage seems to
suggest. Abel was already tending flocks before Jabal was born (Gen 4:2).
Dwelling "amidst" herds describes the lifestyle of North America's early
plains Indians; whose livelihood depended a great deal upon wild buffalo.
Though they followed the herds, the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa,
Crow, Blackfoot, Comanche, and Shoshone, et el; didn't actually raise any of
their own buffalo like on a ranch.
Dwelling amidst herds is a nomadic way of life rather than one that's
domesticated; hence the need for portable shelters; and the herds (e.g.
deer, elk, wild goats, antelope, wildebeests, et al) would provide fabric for
not only the tents, but also for shoes and clothing; which would need
replacement quite often.
One of Lewis' and Clark's complaints, when they were passing through the
Oregon territory, was that moccasins rotted off their feet in the Northwest's
climate. Even without rot, the soles of moccasins are not all that resistant to
wear. Buckskins, manufactured from Elk hide and/or deerskin, fared little
better.
†. Gen 4:21 . . And the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the
ancestor of all who play the lyre and the pipe.
The word for "ancestor" is from 'ab (awb); a primitive word which means
father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application. In
this particular case, 'ab wouldn't mean literal kin, but likely analogous to an
inventor who is the first to introduce a new concept which then later
becomes widely adopted.
The word for "lyre" is from kinnowr (kin-nore') and means: to twang. So the
actual instrument itself is difficult to identify. It could have been a harp. But
then again, it may have even been something as simple as a string stretched
between a washtub and a broom stick.
The interesting thing about an ancient twanging instrument is its string. How
did the Cainites make them? Of what material? A stringed instrument is a
pretty advanced musical tool and certainly not something you would expect
to find among so primitive a people as the antediluvians.
The word for "pipe" is from 'uwgab (oo-gawb') and means: a reed
instrument of music.
A modern reed instrument is typically a woodwind that produces sound by
vibrating a thin strip of wood against the mouthpiece; like clarinets and
saxophones (hence the classification: woodwinds). But in that culture, it
could very well have been something as simple as a tube whistle made from
a single hollow section of plant stem; or several of those bundled together
like a Pan flute.
†. Gen 4:22a . . As for Zillah, she bore Tubal-cain, who forged all
implements of copper and iron.
Copper, in its natural form, is too soft and pliable for practical purposes; but
it's a classification of metals called work-hardening. In other words, by
pounding or rolling cold copper, its mechanical properties can be greatly
improved. It probably didn't take Mr. Tubal-cain long to figure that out.
Adding a little tin to copper produces bronze, which is much stronger and
tougher than pure copper.
Copper's advantage in cooking is its natural heat conduction, which is very
fast as compared to iron and/or steel. It's also an excellent conductor of
electricity, but unless they were bottling lightening in those days, copper's
electrical properties would have to wait for future exploitation.
Iron, though stronger and harder than copper, is relatively soft and pliable in
its natural condition too; but with the addition of small amounts of carbon, it
becomes steel, which is quite a bit tougher than natural iron. Whether Tubal
cain figured that out is difficult to know for sure.
†. Gen 4:22b . . And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
Her name is from Na'amah (nah-am-aw') which means pleasant, amiable, or
agreeable. A girl named Joy would probably fit that category. Na'amah
suggests that the people of Enochville were content with their way of life.
So all in all, Enochville, though unproductive in agriculture, prospered
through manufacturing and commerce instead; trading the goods and
services of their industrial base for much needed produce; the same way
that most urbanites still do even today. People in towns and cities typically
don't support themselves directly from nature. They earn a medium of
exchange in some sort of skill or profession, then trade it with merchants to
buy the things they need to survive.
The technological, and cultural, level of early Man was very high. It's
interesting that the identifying marks which evolutionary anthropologists use
to denote the emergence of a stone age culture into a civilized society were
evident in Cain's day-- animal husbandry, agriculture, trades, urbanization,
music, and metallurgy. All these civilizational technologies emerged very
early: within just a few generations of Adam; rather than thousands upon
thousands of years of human development.
I'm not saying there were never any "stone-age" peoples. Obviously there
were. But though Cain's community may have started out as cave men, by
Noah's day they were past primitive conditions and actually pretty advanced.
It's too bad the Flood wiped early Man off the map. Who can tell what he
might have accomplished had his progress not been interrupted (cf. Gen
11:6).
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=