by
Damien F. Mackey
Part One:
Grappling with the Problem
“So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Cain made love to his
wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a
city, and he named it after his son Enoch”.
Genesis 4:16-17
Introduction
Pin-pointing a geography for the antediluvian patriarch, Cain - the
“Land of Nod” and the City that he is said to have built in honour of his son,
Enoch (Genesis 4:16-17) - has turned out to be quite a challenge.
Firstly, I was drawn to the idea that the
ancient cities of Sumer (southern Iraq) were Cain-ite cities. David Rohl seemed
to have a point when proposing, in his book The Lost Testament, that
ancient Eridu was called after Cain’s grandson, Irad; Uruk (Sumerian Unuki)
and Ur (Sumerian Unuki) after Cain’s son, Enoch; Badtibira (“City
of the Metal Worker”) after Tubal-Cain.
Moreover, the Babylonian
‘Noah’, Ziusudra, is associated with Shuruppak.
All ancient cities of Sumer with possible biblical connections.
“The Land of Nod” could then be the region “beyond the Euphrates”, which
tended to have sinister connotations in the Bible (e.g. Jeremiah 2:18;
Revelation 9:14).
My interest in Sumer waned somewhat, however, when I came to realise
that – thanks to an article by Creationist, Anne Habermehl – Sumer was not the
biblical “land of Shinar”.
See my subsequent:
Second attempt. I,
now thinking that ancient Jericho - one of the oldest cities in the world -
must rank as a prime candidate for Cain’s city, found that Roy Schulz had
indeed argued for Jericho’s “Pre-Pottery Neolithic” (PPN) phase to have been
what he called “Cain’s Famous Walled City” (http://www.churchofgoddiaspora.com/pre-flood_world.htm).
But I later rejected PPN
Jericho as being stratigraphically far too recent for the era of Cain.
Thirdly,
the view of Dr. Ernest L. Martin about the Land of
Nod is the one that I now accept and intend to build upon in this series. Dr.
Martin embraced - as do I - the traditional view that the Garden of Eden was
located at the site of Jerusalem. For him, the Land of Nod was the region
beyond the eastern perimeter of the Garden. He wrote about it, e.g., in “The Temple Symbolism
in Genesis”: http://askelm.com/temple/t040301.htm
Further Temple Teaching
Cain was sent into the land of Nod, East of Eden, away from the presence
of God. He became cut off from the Eternal. God then gave him a “mark” to show
that Cain was not completely forgotten and that a measure of protection would
be afforded him and his descendants. Cain became a representative of all Gentiles.
They were reckoned as being in Nod (wandering — without a fixed spiritual
home). And while they could approach the East entrance to Eden, they could not
go in. A barrier was placed around Eden. The altar which Cain and Abel
constructed in the area of Eden near the East gate (door) of the Garden was out
of bounds to those who lived in Nod.
This condition existed throughout the antediluvian period. But with the
great flood of Noah, everything was destroyed — the Garden, the altar, the
barriers, etc. When Noah and his children began to repopulate the earth, none
of these former things were retained — except in the memory of man, and only in
symbol. In the time of Moses, however, God selected the Israelites to be His
nation — in favored status to Him. Moses was ordered to build a tabernacle
which resembled the condition that existed in the pre-flood age. Outside the
tabernacle was represented the land of Nod. The court on the inside of the
tabernacle (the court of Israel) was Eden. The Holy Place was the Garden. The
Holy of Holies was the center of the Garden. The tabernacle not only
represented Eden and the Garden, but it was also a physical type of God’s
heavenly abode.
The Israelites were reckoned as being in Eden like Adam and Eve were.
However, even the privileged nation could only go to the East entrance to the
Holy Place — which represented the Garden. Into the Holy Place (the Garden)
only the Aaronic priests could go at the time of the morning and evening (the
cool of the day) sacrifices. And even the priests were barred from entering “the
midst of the Garden” — the Holy of Holies. They were only able to get close
to the curtain that separated the outer Garden from its midst.
Only once in the year was anyone allowed to enter the Holy of Holies. On
the Day of Atonement the High Priest, after many ceremonies of purification,
and after he clouded the entire inner chamber with incense so that the mercy
seat would be hidden from view, was able to push the curtain aside and briefly
step into the inner sanctum. After he did his required duties, the curtain came
down once again, and the Holy of Holies (the midst of the Garden) became closed
for another year. This showed that while the tabernacle stood, God still
reckoned barriers between Himself and mankind. 12
While Adam and Eve before they sinned were able to witness God’s
presence, their sins caused them to be sent from the Garden (the Holy Place).
Cain and his descendants were sent further East — they were expelled from Eden
and went to Nod. But when the Flood came the Garden, the altar, Eden, etc. all
disappeared from earth. Mankind now found itself without any physical area on
earth in which God dwelt. That’s why the early descendants of Noah wanted to
build a tower “to reach to heaven” (Genesis 11:1–9). They wanted to
reach God, to have access to His heavenly presence. But God would not allow it.
He had been angry with man for his ways, so He changed their languages and
scattered them into all the earth. He sent all mankind into a condition of
“Nod.”
Finally, God selected Abraham to be the father of a nation which would
be responsible for leading man (in a step-by-step way) back to God. By the time
of Moses, the Abrahamic family had now reached nationhood. Moses built the
tabernacle, and Israel was brought back into Eden once again. A middle wall of
partition was erected, however, that kept all Gentiles out. God even put
restrictions on Israel. Even they were told to stay out of the Holy Place
(representing the Garden). The Aaronic priests were allowed to go in. But no
one was permitted in the Holy of Holies except the High Priest on the Day of Atonement
— and even then he (the holiest man on earth, symbolically) was not allowed to
see the mercy seat. All of this shows that God still had several barriers which
kept many sections of mankind away from an intimate association with Him.
This estimation greatly limits the geographical boundaries so that any
search for Cain’s city of Enoch in far away Sumer, or even in much closer
Jericho, is doomed to failure.
Our attention must now turn rather to the region directly to the east of
the Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem itself.
Part Two: First Rudimentary ‘City’
“Cain dwelt thereafter in the Land of Nod. It was "on
the east of Eden," an expression which seems to mean adjoining it. Therefore,
it was not far away. Here in due time Cain's son Enoch was born. As Adam's
family increased in Eden, and Cain lived in fear that "everyone"
there sought his life for slaying Abel, he hit upon an idea. He enclosed and
"fortified" his residence, for self protection. This is the primary
meaning of the word, "city" in Hebrew”.
David J. Gibson
Scholars have suggested various regions for the biblical “Land of Nod”
(Genesis 4:16): “Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and settled
in the land of Nod, east of Eden”.
I earlier referred to both Mesopotamia and the region of Jericho, for
instance.
David Rohl, who has located the Garden of Eden as far east as the
fertile Adji Chay valley in East Azerbaijan, Iran, has identified the Land of
Nod with Noqdi, to the east of that valley.
We well-travelled moderns tend to think in global terms and vast
distances, and for us, mention of a “city”, such as the entity that Cain built,
conjures up the notion of something sizeable. However, the reality appears to
have been different.
Not only had Cain not moved far away at all from the original home, the
Land of Eden - which I have accepted to have been at the site of Jerusalem -
but Cain’s “city” may have been a very small affair. I think that David J.
Gibson may be right on track with the following observations of his (http://nabataea.net/eden8.html):
EDEN
Originally titled "The Land of Eden Located"
1964
by David J. Gibson
by David J. Gibson
Chapter Eight
Cain's City of Enoch
Now that we have arrived at what seems to be a reasonable opinion as
to the location of the Land of Eden, the identification of the four
river-heads and the approximate site of the Garden of Eden, it should be
possible from this to know where to look for the next-door region, that is,
the Land of Nod to which Cain went after he was revealed as the murderer of
his brother Abel. The Scripture account states:
"And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in
the Land of Nod, on the east of Eden." --Genesis 4:16.
It is to be noted that "the presence of the Lord" was in
Eden. Here, in the infancy of the human race the Lord's presence is connected
with a place. Many think the place was the entry to the Garden, where the
Cherubim stood with a Flaming sword. It is generally assumed that to this
sacred spot the people brought their sacrifices, as we read of the offerings
of Cain and Abel. At this place God spoke directly to the worshippers and the
worshippers spoke to Him. From this place Cain was driven and cut off for
life.
Cain dwelt thereafter in the Land of Nod. It was "on the east of
Eden," an expression which seems to mean adjoining it. Therefore, it was
not far away. Here in due time Cain's son Enoch was born. As Adam's family
increased in Eden, and Cain lived in fear that "everyone" there
sought his life for slaying Abel, he hit upon an idea. He enclosed and
"fortified" his residence, for self protection. This is the primary
meaning of the word, "city" in Hebrew. It did not at first denote
size, but an enclosed, fortified place. Cain may merely have erected a wooden
palisade about a few huts, but this was new, it was novel, it deserved a
name. He named it after his son, "Enoch." The record runs:
"And he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after
the name of his son, Enoch." --Genesis 4:17.
[End of quote]
With this in mind, it may be futile to look for any archaeological
remains of such a basic enclosure, given the ravages afterwards of the
Noachic Flood. And Gibson has made this very point: “Now obviously the city
which Cain builded and named after his son Enoch must have been destroyed by
the Flood so that the physical entity itself probably disappeared, though it
was subsequently re-founded”.
In the same article, Gibson quotes Dr. Arthur C. Custance, who thought
that the name of Cain’s city, “Enoch”, became a standard for subsequent
cities:
The subsequent history of this city we do not know: but of the name of
the city we know a very great deal. Without entering into too much detail
regarding changes in pronunciation which occur in the course of the
development of a language, it seems necessary to point out here that the sound
represented by the letter N is often reproduced (strange as it may seem) as
an R. The CH sound which terminates the name Enoch may be replaced by a K or
G, or a GH.
These changes are very common. When cuneiform was being deciphered for
the first time, it soon became apparent that some of the cities mentioned in
Biblical antiquity were still in existence as mounds and very often the
natives in the area had preserved the original name in a modified form. A
very important city in antiquity appeared under the name Uruk and a study of
cuneiform soon revealed that this could equally well be pronounced Unuk,
which was recognized at once by Sayce, and many others, as identical with the
Biblical word, Enoch.
One of the features of cuneiform writing was the use of what are
called determinatives, signs which are placed before or after certain words
to enable the reader to distinguish between names of cities and names of
people, or names of deities and names of mortals, and so forth. Thus if a
city happened to have a name which was also the name of a famous man, it was
customary to use a determinative to let the reader know whether one was
referring to the man or to the place. In the case of a man's name, the
determinative was put in front of the word; in the case of a ... The
interesting thing about the city Unuk, or Uruk, was that the determinative
was omitted. It is the only instance in which this is so. The reason for this
sole exception to the rule was not apparent at first until it was realized
after considerable study of cuneiform texts that the word had come to mean
the City par excellence, a special city, special for historical reasons.
And as such, it was not considered to stand in need of any
distinguishing~ determinative. The 'specialness' lay in the fact that it was
the name of the first City ever to have been built, and as such it was the
prototype of all others and came to be referred to, to all intents and
purposes, as The City - in somewhat the same way that people tend in England
to refer to London as 'The city'.
[End of quote]
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John the Evangelist (I John 3:12) seems to suggest that Cain may have slain
his brother Abel in a sacrificial type of fashion, by cutting his throat.
For, according to: http://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_john/3-12.htm
….
This was evidence of [Cain’s] devilish
nature. The word for ‘slay’ (σφάζειν) is a link
between this Epistle and Revelation (Revelation
6:4, &c. …), occurring nowhere else in N. T. Its original meaning was
‘to cut the throat’ (σφαγή), especially of a victim
for sacrifice. In later Greek it means simply to slay, especially with
violence.
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