Magdlyn

Sarcasm noted.

Belief is not at issue. Historical research and scholarship is. IMO. Thank you.

Artemus

So I take it that this idle speculation is totally ludicrous?

Dean Anderson

You forgot one of the most important lessons in the Cain and Abel story...

Don't try and sacrifice veggies to Yahweh- his lusts are only satisfied by fresh steaming BLOOD!

Dean Anderson

I think such speculation is justified.

While you're at it - you may also want to consider whether the Genesis 1 creation story and the Genesis 2 creation story were both made independantly and then stitched together afterwards.

Although the early books of Genesis have been put together at some point in a form which makes them look like a sequential narrative, we can by no means infer that they were designed to be like this when written.

Fr.Andrew

(Fr Andrew): I think you're right. I've read the notion that the story of Cain (Hebrew-Kayin, meaning artisan or craftsman) and Able (Hebel in Hebrew, meaning "breath" or "puff of air"--as in something transient...i.e., here briefly, only to disappear) reflects memories of the cultural clash between and eventual passing from a nomadic way of life into a more agrarian society.