Genesis 4

[1] 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 Tubal-cain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain 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.

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So Adam and Eve finally have sex, and they have two boys. We hear nothing of their childhood. We simply see them as adults. One is a shepherd, the other, a vegetable farmer.

First problem: agriculture is with us from the beginning of humankind--something we know from archaeology to be false.

Second problem: why would the creator of all things need an offering from any human? How does this even make sense? At first glance, it looks like God wants lamb meat and fat over vegetables, but it's really about the quantity or quality of the offering. Cain didn't offer enough or didn't have a good crop. Something. But how did he even learn the skill of farming in the first place? Adam? Anyway, this nonsensical, unnecessary offering to the creator of all things isn't accepted, and because of the rejection, Cain kills his brother. He doesn't work harder or give God more; he kills his brother, because apparently, psychopaths go back to the second generation of humans.

So...God figures out that Cain killed Abel...let's stop right there. Does God have prescience? Can he know the future? By all accounts from believers, yes, he does know the future. He has a "plan". So wouldn't he know that the rejection of Cain's offering would end in fratricide? Anyway, the first murder in the Bible occurs, and God punishes Cain by making him unable to make a living off farming. Cain expresses concern that people will want to kill him. Which people? Adam and Eve? Sounds reasonable, since parents might want to take vengeance where the murder of their offspring is concerned. God puts a mark of protection on Cain, though, so people will see it and know that vengeance will be visited on them sevenfold if they kill Cain. What the hell? I'd say God's against the death penalty, but we will get to parts of the Bible later that contradict this notion, and one of them is in Genesis.

Cain moves out of Eden and into Nod, which apparently has a population, because he had sex with his wife there...unless he took his sister with him. If Adam and Eve were literally the first people on Earth, then Cain would have had to marry his sister; he would have had no choice in the matter. He has a son, then builds and names a city after that son. A city. There are enough people on the planet for maybe a small gathering of huts at this point, and Cain builds a city. Clearly, the ancient Hebrews believed something very different about the population of the Earth than the biblical literalists do today. Perhaps they believed Hebrews were specially created? I don't know.

Next, we get a history of the descendants of Cain, and an explanation of the founding of some lifestyles, arts, and crafts. We get the father of all nomadic herders, Jabal. There's also Jubal, who is the father of harp and organ musicians (not early human inventions). Then comes Tubal-cain, who's into brass and iron. Hey folks! No Stone Age in the Bible--or at least a very short-lived one.

And then comes Lamech.

Lamech killed a young man. The Bible doesn't say why...but for some reason, Lamech believes that he will be protected, and that anyone who slays him will have vengeance visited upon him 77 times. This is another puzzle to me. If someone slays someone, how does one take vengeance more than once? Or are we talking fate worse than death here? I'd love to know what this sort of thing really meant to the ancient Hebrews.

After going through some of the descendants of Cain, whose line would have ended with the flood that comes later, we go back to Adam and Eve, who have a kid named Seth. Seth has Enos, and with Enos, humans began to...what? It says "call upon the name of the Lord," which some have interpreted as prayer, but in my theology classes and in seminars I've attended about the Bible, calling upon the name of the deity had magical implications. People could use the name to curse others and perform magic. In either case, we're talking about magic. We're either talking about using the name of a deity to perform magic, or we're talking about using this deity as a wish-granting Djinn.