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So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

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And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

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And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man

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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.

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ORIGINAL: jlf1961


There seems to be a lot of time not covered, and of course the question, where did the other people come from.

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ORIGINAL: Kirata

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ORIGINAL: jlf1961

Ever notice that man was created twice in Genesis?

FYI

Not two creations... two different creation stories, from two different source texts.

What Are the J, E, and P Texts of Genesis?

Hebrew Society, History, Religion, and Texts

K.

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The Alphabet of Ben Sira is considered to be the oldest form of the story of Lilith as Adam's first wife. Whether this particular tradition is older is not known. Scholars tend to date the Alphabet between the 8th and 10th centuries AD. (The attribution to the sage Ben Sira is considered false, with the true author unknown.) The amulets used against Lilith that were thought to derive from this tradition are in fact, dated as being much older. The concept of Eve having a predecessor is not exclusive to the Alphabet, and is not a new concept, as it can be found in Genesis Rabbah. However, the idea that Lilith was the predecessor is exclusive to the Alphabet. According to Gershom Scholem, the author of the Zohar, R. Moses de Leon, was aware of the folk tradition of Lilith. He was also aware of another story, possibly older, that may be conflicting.

The idea that Adam had a wife prior to Eve may have developed from an interpretation of the Book of Genesis and its dual creation accounts; while Genesis 2:22 describes God's creation of Eve from Adam's rib, an earlier passage, 1:27, already indicates that a woman had been made: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." The Alphabet text places Lilith's creation after God's words in Genesis 2:18 that "it is not good for man to be alone"; in this text God forms Lilith out of the clay from which he made Adam but she and Adam bicker. Lilith claims that since she and Adam were created in the same way they were equal and she refuses to submit to him:

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After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not good for man to be alone.' He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith immediately began to fight. She said, 'I will not lie below,' and he said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior one.' Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air.

Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: 'Sovereign of the universe!' he said, 'the woman you gave me has run away.' At once, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent these three angels Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof, to bring her back.

Said the Holy One to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, what is made is good. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.' The angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom they overtook in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.’

'Leave me!' she said. 'I was created only to cause sickness to infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for eight days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days.’

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ORIGINAL: tazzygirl

I always took the bible as a story of one people. Sort of like US history that doesnt discuss all the happenings in Europe at the same time.

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ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

Gee. It's almost like the book was compiled from more than one oral tradition, and they decided not to fight forever about which one was right.

Of course, this sort of thing is tons of fun if you are interested in talking to the morons of the Falwell Creed, but anyone who considers this a smoking gun for atheism is obviously just as dumb they are.

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ORIGINAL: vincentML

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ORIGINAL: tazzygirl

I always took the bible as a story of one people. Sort of like US history that doesnt discuss all the happenings in Europe at the same time.

Yep, time zone problem. Is why god had to rest. Jet lag yanno.

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ORIGINAL: jlf1961

and of course the question, where did the other people come from.

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ORIGINAL: jlf1961

If you, as some fundamentalists do, were to take the bible as the history of humanity from creation until the time of Christ, you then have a few questions, all raised by Genesis.

The primary one being, where did Cain's wife come from?

There is a major taboo against incest in the bible, so he didnt marry a sister.

Therefore, if man were created twice, as it seems following the Genesis account, were the first man and woman "primitive" as compared to Adam and Eve, or was the first account the creation of Adam and his first wife Lilith?