Cain, Seth, and the Early Lineages

Cain and Abel. And Cain was a farmer, but Abel was a shepherd, and the farmer did not bring the firstfruits of the fruits. Abel brought them to God; and his sacrifice was accepted. But Cain, being the first of those born to be overcome by passion, offered thus; and his sacrifice became unacceptable. And Cain, being angry at this, slew his brother through envy; and God drove him away, having made him so, and expelled him from that land.

And he, having wandered a great way, came to a place called Nod, and he practiced all manner of secret arts, sitting in ambush for those passing by, and killing them, and gathering an immeasurable multitude from the use of dogs. First, Cain devised measures, and weights, and boundaries of land, and the building of a city, for all those who at that time were enjoying an unblemished and unoccupied life.

And Adam, remaining in the place where he happened to be, made many sons and daughters, among whom there was one exceptional person, Seth, who, having reached maturity, devised many virtues, the zealous followers of which he left to his descendants. For this one was the first to discover astronomy and all the celestial arrangement, which Adam had prepared to remain in such a way even until the latest times; for Adam, about to expire, prophesied that God would wipe out the nature of the world with fire and water. And those concerning Seth, having heard this, made two pillars, constructing one from stone and the other from baked brick; and upon these they engraved all the celestial adornment, so that the discovery of their astronomy might not be lost; so that, if all things are destroyed by water, the stone pillar is preserved, but if by fire, the brick one. And when the deluge occurred, the stone pillar remained, which even until now stands in the land of Sheiread.

Cain begat Enoch, and Enoch begat Gaiad, and Gaiad begat Mahalaleel, and Mahalaleel begat Methuselah, and he begat Lamech. And Lamech took two wives, Adan and Sela, and from them he made three sons: from Adan, Jobel, who became a herdsman, and Jubal, who discovered the harp and the lyre; and from Sela, Tubal, who became a smith of bronze and iron.

But Adam, having lived ninety-two years, died. And a son of Seth hoped to call upon the name of the Lord; and having lived ninety-five years, he died. And his son Cainan, having lived ninety-ten years, passed away. And the son of him, Mahalalel, having lived seven hundred ninety-five years, died. And the son of him, Jared, having lived ninety-sixty years, passed away. And the son of him, Enoch, having pleased God, was transferred. And his son, Methuselah, having lived seven hundred and sixty-nine years, passed away. And Lamech, the son of Methuselah, having lived seven hundred fifty-three years, died. To this Lamech, a son, Noah, was born, enjoying the merits of good deeds, who persuaded the human race to be changed from wickedness into virtue; for even until the seventh generation, men inscribed God, the master of all things, upon themselves, and were mindful of justice (Gen 5). But as time went on, they strayed into all lawlessness.

Since Noah did not persuade them to turn away from wickedness, having loathed their association, he withdrew to another land. And God commands him to construct a four-sided ark, having a length of three hundred cubits, a width of fifty, and a depth of thirty, so that, having seated himself upon it along with his kin, he might escape the danger from the flood. For God willed to wipe out the wickedness of that time by such a punishment. When the flood was brought, the heights of the mountains were covered by the water. For even now, upon the summit of the Lebanon stone, those cutting for building find kinds of sea fish, which happened to be frozen into the hollows of the mountains with the mud.

The ark, having been lifted by the water, stood upon a certain peak of the mountains according to Armenia, and when the water subsided, all those in the ark went out. And the locals still call that place Abataria, and they show the remains of the ark, and they have used its asphalt for warding off evil. And Noah passed away, having lived ninety and fifty years, and his sons, fearing that all the others would migrate from the mountain (for they suspected that others might again be tempted by gluttony), persuade them to descend, and the prepared...