Cain, Abel, and Shem...

[Andrew Dinn]

jm writes:

> I think 'a might've meant Seth, not Shem.  

I too think I might have meant Seth but I am still not totally sure.
I decided to use Adam, Eve etc as a test case for a program which
computes family relationships. So I picked up Genesis and scanned it
looking for grand children. I think I only found Enoch son of Cain and
added a fictional Shem when I needed to test out my definition for
cousin. Or maybe I mistranscribed Seth and Enoch was an invention.
Who knows?

Anyway, the reference to Shem, Ham et al was fortuitous and reminds me
of another Biblical name I checked out at the same time, Ishmael whose
story seems to represent another of those divergences of the tribes
which echo the Cain/Abel split. I also recall the story of Lot, his
wife and his daughters. Anyone ever found an interesting way to make
something out of Lot's crying (over his own careless spilling of the,
err . . . milk of humankind-ness) and the crying of Lot 49.


Andrew Dinn
-----------
And though Earthliness forget you,
To the stilled Earth say:  I flow.
To the rushing water speak:  I am.