[Note:
Nationalgeographic.com does not research or
copyedit dispatches.]
The
following dispatch was supplied by Dr. Fredrik
Hiebert, Chief Archaeologist of the Black Sea 2000
Expedition.
Since
the report of the discovery of the habitation
site (site 82) and its initial reporting the following has
happened: We were granted permission from the
Turkish authorities to move to a further stage of
investigation—sampling and actual testing of some of
our observations. Thus, when we went in and
investigated the site further, we found that
suggested mud slabs were actually stone, and that
the suggested stone artifacts were actually wood,
etc. We now have samples from the site which we
collected. (They are in my refrigerator at the
moment.) I am sending them for scientific analysis.
Scientific Method in Action
We
are in the process of learning about this flooded
coastline. Every exposed rock and stone we see was
clearly part of the landscape when this was dry land.
It is very exciting to be the first to see this landscape
since it flooded. With the discovery of this site, we
now are in a position to fit it into our larger picture of
the ancient cultures of the Black Sea area.
Archaeologists
use the scientific method. Our
assignment of this site as an ancient habitation site is
a hypothesis. To test this hypothesis, we first need
to have a model (something which is only partially
known or unknown) in our heads of what the objects
we could see were, and how they came to lie
together on the floor of the Black Sea.
While
the video images taken from the ROVs look just
like ancient structures that we had seen on land, we
had to consider other scenarios that could have
produced a similar arrangement. Other interpretations
that we must consider are that we were observing a
natural geological outcrop that had accumulated wood
over the years, a broken-up shipwreck, or even the
debris from a modern depth charge.
Our
job as scientists is now to devise tests that
would allow us to exclude these interpretations and/or
to offer support to our hypothesis the site was a
human-built and used archaeological site. Using still
cameras, we compiled a photographic map of all the
features that we could see. Armed with this
tantalizing picture, we approached the Turkish
Ministry of Culture for permission to sample the site
for scientific analysis. We were granted permission
and the Northern Horizon returned to the site
location. The opportunity to visit this submerged site
was the thrill of a lifetime.
Twist of the Depths!
We
jury-rigged a special recovery device for Little
Hercules—an experimental addition that was put
together on the boat.
It
worked! We watched on the video while a flexible
probe touched and lifted some of the objects. The
texture, density, and shape of the objects on the
screen became clear as Little Herc circled only a few
feet above the Black Sea floor. For now, this is the
closest that we will ever get to actually “seeing” the
site with our own eyes. Later, a sampling bag allowed
us to raise a few carefully chosen artifacts and other
objects to the surface for examination and testing. In
addition to these objects, we collected samples of the
mucky deposit on the surface of the site.
What
did this device allow us to learn? First of all, we
found that the sedimentary blocks that appeared to
be clay are actually stone, not mud. Second we
retrieved several of the artifacts, and they turned out
to be wood, not stone.
Many
Neolithic and Bronze Age buildings have such
stone foundations, just as many have wood and mud
type architecture. We have to understand that people
in the past used many types of building techniques,
depending on the situation (I like to use the Three
Little Pigs concept) during the same period. A culture
can build buildings out of sticks, brick and stone. It is
quite likely that the stones could have made a solid
foundation for a building that was partially
constructed under the ground, like a shallow pithouse.
This new hypothesis is based upon learning from our
testing and revising our model. Following this new
scenario, the original surface might have been eroded
by water to leave the surface that we see today.
Our
closer look at the wooden artifacts confirms our
first impression that they are the result of shaping by
humans. They have smooth, symmetrical shapes and
unmistakable traces of drilling to produce the holes
visible on the videos. We don’t know a lot about
ancient wooden tools since wood is rarely preserved
in any form, but we can compare these objects with
the tools for woodworking that have been found at
sites on land, and with wooden objects produced by
craftsmen in today’s traditional societies.
Scientific Analysis Begins
With
samples in hand, we rapidly developed a plan for
the analysis of materials that might represent an
ancient land environment but which have also been in
a cold, wet, Black Sea environment for an unknown
number of years. Once we had consulted with an
expert on conserving waterlogged wood samples, we
proceeded with our highest priority, dating the wood
samples using the supersensitive accelerator mass
spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon technique. Only tiny
samples are used for this technique. We chose
fragments of six worked and natural wooden objects
to submit to the laboratory. (Extracting these
fragments did not destroy the objects.)
One
test of the integrity of an archaeological site is
whether a series of radiocarbon dates fall in a cluster
in time. If we are told that the dates are quite recent,
or represent a wide range of dates, we will have to
reconsider our hypothesis of how the site was formed.
Dates
will be reported to us in a matter of weeks. In
the meantime, we are reaching out to a variety of
scholars who we hope will be able to help us
understand what an undersea site might look like.
Using a new, refined model of what to expect if site
82 is an ancient structure, we plan to study the
artifacts and deposits at a number of levels. The
muck will be analyzed to determine its microscopic
structure, its phosphate content (a signal for human
occupation and trash), its possible content of charred
or waterlogged seeds, bones, and shells, and any
occurrence of pollen or silica cell wall remains of crops
or other land plants. The wood itself will be identified
and compared to modern and prehistoric forest cover
in northern Turkey. At the same time, we will be
examining the contours of the Black Sea floor to most
precisely locate site 82 in its geographic context,
both during the period it would have been on dry land,
and since the time it must have flooded.
Our
visual “fix” on site 82 using remote video
technology was immediate and compelling. Now, we
are excited to be able to test and evaluate our
impressions, and to tie these finds to our other
research projects on ancient Black Sea peoples.
—Dr. Fredrik Hiebert
Go
to 1999 Dispatches
© 2000 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.
Overview
Two senior scientists from Columbia University have proposed
a theory that a
massive transfer of water occurred about 5600 BCE - over seven
and a half
millennia ago. They wrote: "Ten cubic miles of water poured
through each day,
two hundred times what flows over Niagara Falls." "The Bosporus
flume roared
and surged at full spate for at least three hundred days." 60,000
square miles of
land were inundated. 1 The Black Sea shoreline significantly
expanded to the north
and east. The lake's its water level was raised many hundreds
of feet. It changed
from a fresh-water landlocked lake into a salt water lake connected
to the world's
oceans.
They have drawn on the findings of experts in agriculture, archaeology,
genetics,
geology, language, development of textiles and pottery, etc.
They postulate that
this deluge had catastrophic effects on the people living on
the shore of the Black
Sea. It triggered mass migrations across Europe and into the
Near East, Middle East
and Egypt. It may have been the source of many flood stories
in the area. Some
researchers believe that the story of Noah's flood in the Biblical
book of Genesis is
a myth that had its origin in this cataclysmic event.
A book by William Ryan and Walter Pitman describes one of the
most fascinating
scientific puzzles of recent years. We found it far more riveting
than any detective
novel. 1
Religious significance
About 300 cultures around the world have stories of a massive
flood. 2 In
Judeo-Christian countries, the most famous is the story of Noah's
Flood, as
recorded in the Bible: Genesis, chapters 6 to 8.
The story of the worldwide flood of Noah has fueled conflicts
between geologists
and Christians since the early 19th century - long before Darwin
was born.
Conservative Christians generally
believe that the the book of Genesis was
written by Moses under the inspiration
of God. Thus, the original Hebrew
text of Genesis was preserved
from all error. The worldwide flood happened
just as Moses recorded it: all
humans and animals were exterminated, except
for those who made it to safety
on the ark: 2 or 7 animals of each "kind," and
Noah, his wife, and family. Considering
the percentage of the human race
who were killed, it can be argued
that the universal flood was the largest
genocide in history, involving
the extermination of all almost every man,
woman, youth, child, infant and
newborn. The catastrophic filling of the
Black Sea might have happened,
but it is unrelated to the Noahic flood for
three reasons:
The
timing is wrong. The Noahic flood happened circa 2350 BCE; the
Black Sea deluge apparently happened circa 5600 BCE, over three
millennia earlier. 3
The
area covered by the flood is wrong. The Noahic flood was
universal -- it covered the entire world to a level above that of the
tallest mountains. The Black Sea merely enlarged the borders of the
lake to its present size, and raised it level by only a few hundred feet.
The Genesis account states that God's intention was to exterminate the
entire human race in the most complete act of genocide ever
performed; he left only 8 people alive: Noah, his wife, three sons and
three daughters-in-law. In order to accomplish this, then entire world
must have been submerged in water.
God
intentionally triggered the physical processes that would lead to
the extermination of all of the land animals and all but eight humans in
the flood because of humanity's sinful behavior. It was not an event
that simply happened naturally, due to the rise in ocean levels.
The reality of the worldwide flood
forms a vital part of the belief system of
conservative Christians -- particularly
those who are Creation Scientists.
They have based their theories
of astrophysics, geology, paleontology,
linguistics, and anthropology
upon the creation, flood and Tower of Babel
stories in the book of Genesis.
In particular, they hold the universal flood
responsible for the deposit of
massive amounts of sediment in successive
layers. This, in turn, solidified
to produce the layers of rock observed by
geologists.
Liberal Christians typically regard
the Noahic, Babylonian, and hundreds of
other flood stories as a myths.
Many might linked in some way with a
historical flood. The legend of
a universal, worldwide flood, as in the
Genesis account, might be an interesting
myth with spiritual significance;
however, it did not happen in
reality. There is no source of sufficient water
to produce a world-wide flood
that covered the highest mountains. Even if it
did happen, there is no place
to which the flood waters could subside.
Genesis was written over an interval
of many centuries by at least five
author/editors. The universal
flood story was derived from an earlier
Babylonian myth by two of these
authors. The Genesis flood myth is
obviously based on an earlier
Babylonian myth; there are many
correspondences between the two
legends. The Babylonian myth appears to
be based on an earlier legend
that, in turn, might well have been based on
dimly remembered memories of the
Black Sea catastrophe.
What happened to the Black Sea?
The theory presented by Ryan & Pitman is partly based on
generally agreed
scientific findings, and partly on their observations at the
Black Sea. The dates will
not make much sense to conservative Christians and others who
believe in
"creation science." This is the belief that God created the
earth and the rest of the
universe less than 10,000 years ago. We will use the dates used
by the 95% of
scientists who believe in an "old earth" -- one which coalesced
about 4.5 billion
years ago.
Circa 5 million BCE: What is now
the Mediterranean Sea was a largely dry
valley. A narrow height of land
between what is now Spain and Northern
Africa held back the Atlantic
Ocean. The height of land collapsed -- perhaps
due to an earthquake, and the
Atlantic Ocean flowed in to form the
Mediterranean Sea.
120,000 to 18,000 BCE: During the
last ice age, sheets of ice up to two
miles thick covered much of the
northern parts of North America, Europe and
Russia. So much water had been
withdrawn from the world's oceans that
their level was about 400 feet
(120 meters) lower than it is today.
18,000 BCE: Temperatures started
to warm again. The ice at the southern
boundaries of the glaciers began
to melt. Some of the water fed what is
called the New Euxine Lake --
a fresh water lake located within the area of
today's Black Sea. It had a small
outlet to the Sea of Marmara and thence to
the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas.
13,000 BCE: The flow of freshwater
from the glaciers into this lake had
almost stopped.
10,500 to 9400 BCE: Both the temperature
and rainfall dropped in the
region -- an event called the
Younger Dryas. The flow of fresh water into the
New Euxine lake almost stopped.
The lake level dropped, due to
evaporation. Eventually, the lake
level fell below its outlet to the Sea of
Marmara. The New Euxine Lake then
became a landlocked, fresh water lake.
Various tribes in the Near East
were experiencing drought conditions. They
gravitated to the shores of this
and other large lakes where the water supply
was fresh and plentiful. They
built villages, hunted, fished and learned to
cultivate grain crops. They may
even have experimented with primitive
irrigation methods.
9400 BCE: Decent levels of temperature and rainfall returned once more.
6200 BCE: Another ice age arrived.
With it was a lessening of rainfall which
produced difficult times for those
farmers throughout the Middle East who
were not situated beside a reliable
water supply. Many "farming villages in
Anatolia and along the Fertile
Crescent were abandoned, while others
dwindled." 1 Villagers from many
cultures gravitated in large numbers to the
New Euxine lake. Along the shores
of the lake there would have been villages
with farmers and hunters from
many cultures in the region. They spoke "many
different languages -- Proto-Semitic,
Proto-Indo-European,
Proto-Kartvalian and others..."
Circa 5650 to 5500 BCE: Warmth
and rain returned once more. The New
Euxine lake was still landlocked
and fresh. But the Mediterranean Sea and Sea
of Marmara had gradually
risen to a level some 426 feet (130 meters) higher
than the lake. It was held back
only by a small rise of land at the Bosporus
River -- now the Bosporus Straight
near present-day Istanbul, Turkey.
Eventually, the ocean level rose
high enough to slosh over into the Euxine
Lake. It would have cut a small
channel down to the lake. "The rivulet
became a gentle brook, flowing
ever more swiftly, scouring and tugging
more forcefully at the bottom
and walls of its channel." In a short time, the
flow would reach 10 cubic miles
of water per day -- 200 times the flow of
the present Niagara Falls. Its
velocity would have reached 50 miles per hour
(over 80 km/hour)! Its noise would
have been audible 120 miles (200 km)
away. The lake level would have
risen about six inches a day. The shoreline
would have expanded up to a mile
each day in some areas. The effect on the
multiple cultures who had settled
on the lake shore would have been
catastrophic.
Verification of this theory:
Their theory has been verified in a number of ways:
In 1999-summer, maritime explorer
Robert D. Ballard and his team located
the ancient coastline, almost
exactly where Ryan and Pitman said that they
would find it. The team dredged
up samples of rocks from the old shore line
of the New Euxine Lake. They found
seven distinct species of salt-water
mollusks, all of which were carbon
dated as being from 2,800 to 6,820 years
old. They also found two species
of freshwater mollusks which ranged from
7,460 to 15,500 years old. This
supports the theory that the Black Sea
switched from being a fresh water
lake to a salty sea about 7,000 years ago.
A survey of the floor of the Black
Sea shows that the river beds of the
Dniester, Dnieper, Danube, Don,
Volga and other rivers continue beyond the
present sea shore for as much
as a hundred miles. The river beds all stop at
the same level. This would have
been the ancient shoreline of the New
Euxine Lake.
A number of features have been
detected on the bottom of the Black Sea
near its old shoreline. They are
shaped like tells -- a characteristic shape of
the remains of ancient towns or
cities.
At one site, some 150 meters (500
feet) under water, archeologists found
more than 30 stone blocks, pieces
of wood and other objects -- possibly
ceramics. The site "appeared uniquely
rectangular." The stone blocks did not
appear to be part of a natural
geological formation. They tentatively
conclude that they have found
a site that was once occupied by people. 10
A tell near Ilipinar which is south
of the Bosporus Straight, has been
excavated. At the approximately
5500 BCE level the excavation reveals a
sudden change in pottery design.
Archeologists have studied other tells in the
area which also showed similar
abrupt changes in pottery at the same time.
This shows that one society was
overrun by another culture at about the
same time that the New Euxine
Lake was flooded. Presumably the more
recent culture were refugees from
the flooded lake.
The next logical step will be to search for the remains of villages
and sunken boats
from the 6th millennium BCE. 4,5
Human consequences of the deluge
The fields in all the villages which surrounded the lake would
have been quickly
inundated. Most or all of the fish life in the lake would die
as the salt level became
intolerable to the fresh water species. The salinity would eventually
be high
enough to support salt-water species. The people would have
had to scatter
immediately in all directions in order to survive. Ryan and
Pitman suggest that
groups of immigrants migrated into islands in the Aegean, and
up the Dniester,
Dnieper, Danube, Don and Volga rivers. This would have led them
into much of
Europe, the Balkans, and what is now Russia. Other groups migrated
to areas of
what is now Turkey, Egypt, the Levant (now Israel, Jordan, Lebanon,
Palestine),
northern Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Anatolia (now Turkey). Within
a few years,
the lake level reached equilibrium, at more-or-less its present
value.
Did the Noahic flood story originate in the Black Seas event?
As noted above, conservative Christians generally believe that
God prevented the
authors of Genesis from making any errors in writing. They believe
that the Noahic
flood must have happened precisely as the Bible says. The story
was derived from
the events of a world-wide flood, circa 2350 BCE. It was not
based on a local flood
of the Black Sea in the 6th millennium BCE. To many conservative
Christians, the
6th millennium BCE did not exist, since they believe that the
world was created
circa 4004 BCE.
Many mainline Christians, liberal Christians, secularists and
others are open to the
theory that the Genesis flood story was not based on an actual,
world-wide flood.
Archeologists have found two truly ancient versions of the flood
story which were
written down "over two millennia after the [Dead Sea] event:"
One in Sumerian "the language of
the first known writing, a language with
no known roots and no known descendants"
and
The other In Akkadia, "one of the
ancient tongues of the Semitic language
group to which the Arabic dialects
and Hebrew belong."
Linguists are able to trace elements of languages back before
they were first
written down. William Ryan and Walter Pitman claim that "It
is possible through
linguistics to tie these people together, with speakers of other
languages at
about the time of the flood and to the region of the Black Sea."
6
The Babylonian flood myth in the Epic of Gilgamesh is generally
regarded as having
been derived from these earlier flood stories. The Epic dates
back to the third
millennium BCE. The Epic, in turn, appears to be a main source
of the flood stories
in Genesis. According to the Documentary Hypothesis, there were
originally two
stories written in Hebrew by two unknown authors, called "J"
and "P." These were
interleaved into the single Genesis account by a redactor (editor)
called "R." There
are about 20 points of similarity between the Bible story and
the flood story in the
Epic of Gilgamesh. 5 The Hebrew version is a monotheistic re-writing
of the
original Babylonian polytheistic text.
There were other flood stories in ancient times. For example
"The Greeks had the
story of Deucalion, son of Titan Prometheus, who was king of
Phthia during the
time Zeus destroyed the human race in his own anger-inspired
deluge. [Zeus']...
flood did the job in only nine days. Deucalion and his
wife, Pyrrha were the lone
survivors, thanks to a warning by Prometheus. Deucalion
constructed a boat,
which, after the inundation, came to rest on the top of Mt.
Parnassus." 7
Recent developments:
2000-FEB-17: Search for Noah's
Ark: According to ReligionToday: "The
explorer who discovered the wreck
of the Titanic wants to find Noah's Ark.
Robert Ballard will look in the
Black Sea near the Bosphorous where a
cataclysmic flood is believed
to have occurred 7,500 years ago. Ballard, 57,
will use a sonar exploration vessel,
undersea search equipment, and a fleet
of submarine robots, the Los Angeles
Times said. He has discovered the
wrecks of the Lusitania, the Nazi
battleship Bismarck, U.S. and Japanese
warships in the Pacific, and ancient
Roman and Phoenician ships. Work
begins in a few months." 8
2000-JUL: Article in National Geographic:
The National Geographic
magazine has published an article
titled "Black Sea Flood" in its 2000-JUL
issue. It describes a massive
flooding of the Black Sea by Mediterranean
seawater -- perhaps started by
an earthquake.
Related essays on this web site:
Writer(s) of the book of Genesis: Noah and the ark The flood
Who wrote the five books of Moses?
-- The documentary and literalist
hypotheses
Comparison of the Babylonian and
Hebrew flood stories
References
1.William Ryan and Walter Pitman, "Noah's Flood:
The new scientific
discoveries about the event that
changed history," Sinon & Schuster, (!998)
Read reviews or order this book
safely from Amazon.com online book store.
2.Norman Cohn, "Noah's Flood: The Genesis story
in Western thought," Yale
University Press, (1996). Read
reviews or order this book This is a very
attractive book with many colored
illustrations.
3.Holy Bible, Scofield Reference Edition, Oxford
University Press, (Copyright
date 1917).
4."Ballard & the Black Sea: The search for Noah's
flood," at:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/blacksea/
5.Frank Lorey, Impact #285: The Flood of Noah and
the Flood of Gilgamesh",
Institute for Creation Research,
El Cajon, CA (1997) Online at:
http://www.icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-285.htm
6.William Ryan and Walter Pitman, op. cit., Page
200.
7.AANEWS for 1999-NOV-23.
8.ReligionToday for 2000-FEB-17. They provide free
newsletters to which you
can subscribe at: http://www.ReligionToday.com.
These summaries are part
of GOSHEN.net
9."Seeking Noah," TV program on The Learning Channel
(TLC) for 2001-SEP-20.
10.John Wilford, "Black Sea Clues to Biblical-era Flood,"
New York Times
Service, at: http://www.iht.com/articles/34271.html
Copyright © 1999 to 2001 inc., by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 1999-NOV-20
Latest update: 2001-OCT-4
Author: B.A. Robinson
According to Jewish and Christian tradition, the first five books of
the Hebrew
Scriptures (Old Testament) were written by Moses under the inspiration
of God.
God inspired Moses to write the truth and prevented him from
making any errors.
Many conservative Christians and Jews continue with this belief.
However,
mainline and liberal theologians generally accept the "Documentary
Hypothesis"
which asserts that the Pentateuch was written by a group of
authors, from diverse
locations in Palestine, over a period of centuries. Each wrote
with the goal of
promoting his/her own religious views:
J: a writer who used Yahweh/Jehovah as the divine name.
E: a writer who used Elohim as the divine name. *
P: a writer who added material of major interest to the priesthood.
D: the author of the book of Deuteronomy. *
R: a redactor who welded the contributions
of J, E and P together into the
present Pentateuch.
* Not present in Genesis.
The authors of Genesis seem have picked up part of their story
from Hindu legends
of the creation and early history of humanity. Stories of Hindu
heros Adimo, Heva,
Sherma,, Hama and Jiapheta apparently were replicated into legends
about Adam,
Eve, Shem Ham, and Japeth. 1
The first ten chapters of the book of Genesis are reprinted below.
2 The original
authors, according to the Documentary Hypothesis, are indicated
in color: J, P,
and R. We follow the identification by R.E. Friedman. 3
CHAPTER 1
1 (P) In the beginning God created the heaven
and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was upon the face of
the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there
was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good:
and God divided the light from the
darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness
he called Night. And the
evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in
the midst of the waters, and let it
divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided
the waters which were under the
firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and
it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And
the evening and the morning were
the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven
be gathered together unto one
place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and
the gathering together of the waters
called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth
grass, the herb yielding seed, and the
fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself,
upon the earth: and
it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and
herb yielding seed after his kind, and
the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his
kind: and God saw that it
was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the
third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the
firmament of the heaven to divide
the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons,
and for days,
and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament
of the heaven to give light upon
the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater
light to rule the day, and the
lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the
heaven to give light upon the
earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night,
and to divide the light from the
darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the
fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth
abundantly the moving creature that
hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open
firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every
living creature that moveth, which
the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every
winged fowl after
his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful,
and multiply, and fill the waters in
the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the
fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth
the living creature after his kind,
cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his
kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after
his kind, and cattle after their
kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his
kind: and God saw
that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing
that creepeth upon
the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in
the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto
them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the
fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the
earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you
every herb bearing seed, which is
upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which
is the fruit of a tree
yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to
every fowl of the air, and to every
thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I
have given every green
herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made,
and, behold, it was very good.
And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
CHAPTER 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,
and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work
which he had made; and he
rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified
it: because that in it he had
rested from all his work which God created and made.
4 (R) These are the generations of the heavens
and of the earth when they were
created, (J) in the day that the LORD God made the earth and
the heavens,
5 And every plant of the field before it was
in the earth, and every herb of the
field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to
rain upon the earth,
and there was not a man to till the ground.
6 But there went up a mist from the earth,
and watered the whole face of the
ground.
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust
of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward
in Eden; and there he put the
man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground made the LORD God
to grow every tree that is pleasant
to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the
midst of the garden,
and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10 And a river went out of Eden to water the
garden; and from thence it was
parted, and became into four heads.
11 The name of the first is Pison: that is
it which compasseth the whole land of
Havilah, where there is gold;
12 And the gold of that land is good: there
is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon:
the same is it that compasseth the
whole land of Ethiopia.
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel:
that is it which goeth toward the
east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
15 And the LORD God took the man, and put
him into the garden of Eden to dress
it and to keep it.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying,
Of every tree of the garden
thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:
for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that
the man should be alone; I will
make him an help meet for him.
19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed
every beast of the field, and
every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what
he would call
them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that
was the name
thereof.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and
to the fowl of the air, and to every
beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help
meet for him.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to
fall upon Adam, and he slept: and
he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken
from man, made he a woman,
and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh: she shall
be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father
and his mother, and shall cleave unto
his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his
wife, and were not ashamed.
CHAPTER 3
1 (J) Now the serpent was more subtle than
any beast of the field which the
LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God
said, Ye shall
not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We
may eat of the fruit of the trees of
the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God hath said,
Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye
shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise,
she took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with
her; and he did
eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and
they knew that they were
naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves
aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God
walking in the garden in the cool of
the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence
of the LORD
God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said
unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden,
and I was afraid, because I was
naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast
naked? Hast thou eaten of the
tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest
to be with me, she gave me
of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What
is this that thou hast done? And
the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent,
Because thou hast done this, thou
art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field;
upon thy belly shalt
thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and
the woman, and between thy seed
and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise
his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly
multiply thy sorrow and thy
conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy
desire shall be to thy
husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast
hearkened unto the voice of thy
wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee,
saying, Thou shalt
not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow
shalt thou eat of it all the
days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring
forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb
of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread, till thou return unto the ground;
for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return.
20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because
she was the mother of all
living.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the
LORD God make coats of skins, and
clothed them.
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man
is become as one of us, to know
good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take
also of the tree of
life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from
the garden of Eden, to till the
ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed
at the east of the garden of Eden
Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep
the way of the
tree of life.
CHAPTER 4
1 (J) And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived,
and bare Cain, and said, I
have gotten a man from the LORD.
2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And
Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain
was a tiller of the ground.
3 And in process of time it came to pass,
that Cain brought of the fruit of the
ground an offering unto the LORD.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings
of his flock and of the fat thereof.
And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had
not respect. And Cain was very wroth,
and his countenance fell.
6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou
wroth? and why is thy countenance
fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?
and if thou doest not well, sin
lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou
shalt rule over him.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and
it came to pass, when they were in
the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew
him.
9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel
thy brother? And he said, I know
not: Am I my brother's keeper?
10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice
of thy brother's blood crieth
unto me from the ground.
11 And now art thou cursed from the earth,
which hath opened her mouth to
receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall
not henceforth yield unto thee her
strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment
is greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day
from the face of the earth; and from
thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond
in the earth; and it
shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay
me.
15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever
slayeth Cain, vengeance
shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon
Cain, lest any
finding him should kill him.
16 And Cain went out from the presence of
the LORD, and dwelt in the land of
Nod, on the east of Eden.
17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived,
and bare Enoch: and he builded a
city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his
son, Enoch.
18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad
begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat
Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.
19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the
name of the one was Adah, and
the name of the other Zillah.
20 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father
of such as dwell in tents, and of such
as have cattle.
21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was
the father of all such as handle the
harp and organ.
22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an
instructer of every artificer in brass and
iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and
Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of
Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my
wounding, and a
young man to my hurt.
24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly
Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare
a son, and called his name Seth:
For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of
Abel, whom Cain
slew.
26 And to Seth, to him also there was born
a son; and he called his name Enos:
then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
CHAPTER 5
1 (R) This is the book of the generations of
Adam. In the day that God created
man, in the likeness of God made he him;
2 Male and female created he them; and blessed
them, and called their name
Adam, in the day when they were created.
3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years,
and begat a son in his own
likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten
Seth were eight hundred years:
and he begat sons and daughters:
5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine
hundred and thirty years: and he
died.
6 And Seth lived an hundred and five years,
and begat Enos:
7 And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight
hundred and seven years, and begat
sons and daughters:
8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred
and twelve years: and he died.
9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:
10 And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight
hundred and fifteen years, and
begat sons and daughters:
11 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred
and five years: and he died.
12 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat
Mahalaleel:
13 And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel
eight hundred and forty years, and
begat sons and daughters:
14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred
and ten years: and he died.
15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years,
and begat Jared:
16 And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared
eight hundred and thirty years, and
begat sons and daughters:
17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight
hundred ninety and five years: and
he died.
18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two
years, and he begat Enoch:
19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight
hundred years, and begat sons and
daughters:
20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred
sixty and two years: and he died.
21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and
begat Methuselah:
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat
Methuselah three hundred years,
and begat sons and daughters:
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred
sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not;
for God took him.
25 And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty
and seven years, and begat Lamech:
26 And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech
seven hundred eighty and two
years, and begat sons and daughters:
27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine
hundred sixty and nine years: and he
died.
28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and
two years, and begat a son:
29 (J) And he called his name Noah, saying,
This same shall comfort us concerning
our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which
the LORD hath
cursed.
30 (R) And Lamech lived after he begat Noah
five hundred ninety and five years,
and begat sons and daughters:
31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred
seventy and seven years: and
he died.
32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and
Noah begat Shem, Ham, and
Japheth.
CHAPTER 6
1 (J) And it came to pass, when men began to
multiply on the face of the earth,
and daughters were born unto them,
2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of
men that they were fair; and they
took them wives of all which they chose.
3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always
strive with man, for that he also
is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4 There were giants in the earth in those
days; and also after that, when the
sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare
children to them,
the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually.
6 And it repented the LORD that he had made
man on the earth, and it grieved
him at his heart.
7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom
I have created from the face of
the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and
the fowls of the air;
for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the
LORD.
9 (P) These are the generations of Noah: Noah
was a just man and perfect in his
generations, and Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth.
11 The earth also was corrupt before God,
and the earth was filled with
violence.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold,
it was corrupt; for all flesh had
corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all
flesh is come before me; for the earth
is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy
them with the
earth.
14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms
shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt
pitch it within and without with pitch.
15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt
make it of: The length of the ark shall
be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and
the height of it thirty
cubits.
16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and
in a cubit shalt thou finish it above;
and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof;
with lower, second, and
third stories shalt thou make it.
17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood
of waters upon the earth, to destroy
all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven;
and every thing that is
in the earth shall die.
18 But with thee will I establish my covenant;
and thou shalt come into the ark,
thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh,
two of every sort shalt thou bring into
the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and
female.
20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle
after their kind, of every creeping
thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come
unto thee, to keep
them alive.
21 And take thou unto thee of all food that
is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to
thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God
commanded him, so did he.
Continue with Chapter 7
References:
1.Kesey Graves, "The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors:
Christianity Before
Christ," Adventures Unlimited
Press, (2001), Page 291. Read reviews or order
this book safely from Amazon.com
online book store
2.The book of Genesis from the King James Version
of the Bible.
3.R.E. Friedman, "Who Wrote the Bible?" HarperCollins,
(1997), Pages 246-247.
Read reviews or order this book
safely from Amazon.com online book store
4.R.E. Friedman, "The hidden book in the Bible:
The discovery of the first
prose masterpiece," Haper San
Francisco. Review/order this book. The
author traces the "J" component
of the first four books of the Bible. He
writes: "Readers have an
opportunity to see the first great prose writer's
full achievement; an epic work
of the struggle between God and humans.
and between good and bad."
According to Jewish and Christian tradition, the first five books of
the Hebrew
Scriptures (Old Testament) were written by Moses under the inspiration
of God.
God inspired Moses to write the truth and prevented him from
making any errors.
Many conservative Christians and Jews continue with this belief.
However,
mainline and liberal theologians generally accept the "Documentary
Hypothesis"
which asserts that the Pentateuch was written by a group of
authors, from diverse
locations in Palestine, over a period of centuries. Each wrote
with the goal of
promoting his/her own religious views:
J: a writer who used Yahweh/Jehovah as the divine name.
E: a writer who used Elohim as the divine name. *
P: a writer who added material of major interest to the priesthood.
D: the author of the book of Deuteronomy. *
R: a redactor who welded the contributions
of J, E and P together into the
present Pentateuch.
* Not present in Genesis.
The authors of Genesis seem have picked up part of their story
from Hindu legends
of the creation and early history of humanity. Stories of Hindu
heros Adimo, Heva,
Sherma,, Hama and Jiapheta apparently were replicated into legends
about Adam,
Eve, Shem Ham, and Japeth. 1
The first ten chapters of the book of Genesis are reprinted below.
2 The original
authors, according to the Documentary Hypothesis, are indicated
in color: J, P,
and R. We follow the identification by R.E. Friedman. 3
CHAPTER 1
1 (P) In the beginning God created the heaven
and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was upon the face of
the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there
was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good:
and God divided the light from the
darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness
he called Night. And the
evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in
the midst of the waters, and let it
divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided
the waters which were under the
firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and
it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And
the evening and the morning were
the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven
be gathered together unto one
place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and
the gathering together of the waters
called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth
grass, the herb yielding seed, and the
fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself,
upon the earth: and
it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and
herb yielding seed after his kind, and
the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his
kind: and God saw that it
was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the
third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the
firmament of the heaven to divide
the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons,
and for days,
and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament
of the heaven to give light upon
the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater
light to rule the day, and the
lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the
heaven to give light upon the
earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night,
and to divide the light from the
darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the
fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth
abundantly the moving creature that
hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open
firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every
living creature that moveth, which
the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every
winged fowl after
his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful,
and multiply, and fill the waters in
the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the
fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth
the living creature after his kind,
cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his
kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after
his kind, and cattle after their
kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his
kind: and God saw
that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing
that creepeth upon
the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in
the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto
them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the
fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the
earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you
every herb bearing seed, which is
upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which
is the fruit of a tree
yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to
every fowl of the air, and to every
thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I
have given every green
herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made,
and, behold, it was very good.
And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
CHAPTER 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,
and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work
which he had made; and he
rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified
it: because that in it he had
rested from all his work which God created and made.
4 (R) These are the generations of the heavens
and of the earth when they were
created, (J) in the day that the LORD God made the earth and
the heavens,
5 And every plant of the field before it was
in the earth, and every herb of the
field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to
rain upon the earth,
and there was not a man to till the ground.
6 But there went up a mist from the earth,
and watered the whole face of the
ground.
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust
of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward
in Eden; and there he put the
man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground made the LORD God
to grow every tree that is pleasant
to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the
midst of the garden,
and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10 And a river went out of Eden to water the
garden; and from thence it was
parted, and became into four heads.
11 The name of the first is Pison: that is
it which compasseth the whole land of
Havilah, where there is gold;
12 And the gold of that land is good: there
is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon:
the same is it that compasseth the
whole land of Ethiopia.
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel:
that is it which goeth toward the
east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
15 And the LORD God took the man, and put
him into the garden of Eden to dress
it and to keep it.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying,
Of every tree of the garden
thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:
for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that
the man should be alone; I will
make him an help meet for him.
19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed
every beast of the field, and
every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what
he would call
them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that
was the name
thereof.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and
to the fowl of the air, and to every
beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help
meet for him.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to
fall upon Adam, and he slept: and
he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken
from man, made he a woman,
and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh: she shall
be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father
and his mother, and shall cleave unto
his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his
wife, and were not ashamed.
CHAPTER 3
1 (J) Now the serpent was more subtle than
any beast of the field which the
LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God
said, Ye shall
not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We
may eat of the fruit of the trees of
the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God hath said,
Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye
shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise,
she took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with
her; and he did
eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and
they knew that they were
naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves
aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God
walking in the garden in the cool of
the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence
of the LORD
God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said
unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden,
and I was afraid, because I was
naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast
naked? Hast thou eaten of the
tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest
to be with me, she gave me
of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What
is this that thou hast done? And
the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent,
Because thou hast done this, thou
art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field;
upon thy belly shalt
thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and
the woman, and between thy seed
and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise
his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly
multiply thy sorrow and thy
conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy
desire shall be to thy
husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast
hearkened unto the voice of thy
wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee,
saying, Thou shalt
not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow
shalt thou eat of it all the
days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring
forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb
of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread, till thou return unto the ground;
for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return.
20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because
she was the mother of all
living.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the
LORD God make coats of skins, and
clothed them.
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man
is become as one of us, to know
good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take
also of the tree of
life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from
the garden of Eden, to till the
ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed
at the east of the garden of Eden
Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep
the way of the
tree of life.
CHAPTER 4
1 (J) And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived,
and bare Cain, and said, I
have gotten a man from the LORD.
2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And
Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain
was a tiller of the ground.
3 And in process of time it came to pass,
that Cain brought of the fruit of the
ground an offering unto the LORD.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings
of his flock and of the fat thereof.
And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had
not respect. And Cain was very wroth,
and his countenance fell.
6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou
wroth? and why is thy countenance
fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?
and if thou doest not well, sin
lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou
shalt rule over him.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and
it came to pass, when they were in
the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew
him.
9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel
thy brother? And he said, I know
not: Am I my brother's keeper?
10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice
of thy brother's blood crieth
unto me from the ground.
11 And now art thou cursed from the earth,
which hath opened her mouth to
receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall
not henceforth yield unto thee her
strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment
is greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day
from the face of the earth; and from
thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond
in the earth; and it
shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay
me.
15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever
slayeth Cain, vengeance
shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon
Cain, lest any
finding him should kill him.
16 And Cain went out from the presence of
the LORD, and dwelt in the land of
Nod, on the east of Eden.
17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived,
and bare Enoch: and he builded a
city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his
son, Enoch.
18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad
begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat
Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.
19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the
name of the one was Adah, and
the name of the other Zillah.
20 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father
of such as dwell in tents, and of such
as have cattle.
21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was
the father of all such as handle the
harp and organ.
22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an
instructer of every artificer in brass and
iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and
Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of
Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my
wounding, and a
young man to my hurt.
24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly
Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare
a son, and called his name Seth:
For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of
Abel, whom Cain
slew.
26 And to Seth, to him also there was born
a son; and he called his name Enos:
then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
CHAPTER 5
1 (R) This is the book of the generations of
Adam. In the day that God created
man, in the likeness of God made he him;
2 Male and female created he them; and blessed
them, and called their name
Adam, in the day when they were created.
3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years,
and begat a son in his own
likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten
Seth were eight hundred years:
and he begat sons and daughters:
5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine
hundred and thirty years: and he
died.
6 And Seth lived an hundred and five years,
and begat Enos:
7 And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight
hundred and seven years, and begat
sons and daughters:
8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred
and twelve years: and he died.
9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:
10 And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight
hundred and fifteen years, and
begat sons and daughters:
11 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred
and five years: and he died.
12 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat
Mahalaleel:
13 And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel
eight hundred and forty years, and
begat sons and daughters:
14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred
and ten years: and he died.
15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years,
and begat Jared:
16 And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared
eight hundred and thirty years, and
begat sons and daughters:
17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight
hundred ninety and five years: and
he died.
18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two
years, and he begat Enoch:
19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight
hundred years, and begat sons and
daughters:
20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred
sixty and two years: and he died.
21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and
begat Methuselah:
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat
Methuselah three hundred years,
and begat sons and daughters:
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred
sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not;
for God took him.
25 And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty
and seven years, and begat Lamech:
26 And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech
seven hundred eighty and two
years, and begat sons and daughters:
27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine
hundred sixty and nine years: and he
died.
28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and
two years, and begat a son:
29 (J) And he called his name Noah, saying,
This same shall comfort us concerning
our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which
the LORD hath
cursed.
30 (R) And Lamech lived after he begat Noah
five hundred ninety and five years,
and begat sons and daughters:
31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred
seventy and seven years: and
he died.
32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and
Noah begat Shem, Ham, and
Japheth.
CHAPTER 6
1 (J) And it came to pass, when men began to
multiply on the face of the earth,
and daughters were born unto them,
2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of
men that they were fair; and they
took them wives of all which they chose.
3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always
strive with man, for that he also
is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4 There were giants in the earth in those
days; and also after that, when the
sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare
children to them,
the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually.
6 And it repented the LORD that he had made
man on the earth, and it grieved
him at his heart.
7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom
I have created from the face of
the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and
the fowls of the air;
for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the
LORD.
9 (P) These are the generations of Noah: Noah
was a just man and perfect in his
generations, and Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth.
11 The earth also was corrupt before God,
and the earth was filled with
violence.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold,
it was corrupt; for all flesh had
corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all
flesh is come before me; for the earth
is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy
them with the
earth.
14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms
shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt
pitch it within and without with pitch.
15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt
make it of: The length of the ark shall
be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and
the height of it thirty
cubits.
16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and
in a cubit shalt thou finish it above;
and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof;
with lower, second, and
third stories shalt thou make it.
17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood
of waters upon the earth, to destroy
all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven;
and every thing that is
in the earth shall die.
18 But with thee will I establish my covenant;
and thou shalt come into the ark,
thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh,
two of every sort shalt thou bring into
the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and
female.
20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle
after their kind, of every creeping
thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come
unto thee, to keep
them alive.
21 And take thou unto thee of all food that
is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to
thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God
commanded him, so did he.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/jepd_gen.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/genes/dna_detectives/adam_and_eve/index.shtml
The Truth About Adam and Eve
DNA can be used to reveal
many things. It can shed light
on historical events and provide
the evidence needed to solve
crimes. But could DNA tell us
the truth about Adam and Eve?
The trouble with sex
DNA is a valuable tool when it
comes to reconstructing our
ancestry. We can trace the links
between ourselves and our
ancestors through the DNA we
share with them. The trouble is
that sex gets in the way.
Sex mixes genes (through
recombination) and shuffles
chromosomes such that
everyone's genetic make-up is unique. We share only half of our genes
with each of our parents, one quarter with each of our grandparents. The
trail becomes increasingly hard to follow with every generation.
Fortunately there are two exceptions to this rule:
Y chromosome DNA and mitochondrial DNA
Mother knows best
Mitochondria – the energy producing factories inside our cells – have
their own DNA. You inherit all of your mitochondrial DNA from your
mother. She in turn inherited all of her mitochondrial DNA from her
mother – your grandmother. This DNA evidence provides an unbroken
link back to your earliest ancestors.
The 'molecular clock'
Mitochondrial DNA is not passed on from generation to generation
completely unchanged. Every so often a copying mistake is made –
usually just a single letter in the genetic code. These mistakes have
occurred at a fairly constant rate throughout our ancestry, providing
scientists with a sort of 'molecular clock'.
By comparing the number of copying mistakes – or mutations – between
two individuals, you can work out how long ago they shared the same
ancestral mother.
In search of Eve
In the 1980s a scientist called
Allan Wilson carried out such a
comparison. He looked at the
mitochondrial DNA of 135
women from all around the
world. By comparing the
number of copying mistakes
separating each woman from
each other woman, he arrive
at a startling conclusion:
Through our maternal line we
all share the same common
ancestor who lived around
150,000 years ago.
By one estimate this shared ancestor is your 10,000th great
grandmother – and everyone else's 10,000th great grandmother as well.
She has come to be known as 'Mitochondrial Eve'.
http://archives.mundoacuatico.com/jun01/18junnoaharch.PDF