Did Genesis occur in the 12th Century BCE?

Question

This passage from the Old Testament is in regards to the great, great, great, great grandson of the Biblical Cain (first son of Adam and Eve), named "Tubal-Cain."

"And Zillah she also bare Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron..." - Genesis 4:22 Young's Literal Translation Bible

If one dates the Bible according to the listed generations, it states that the creation story took place in the 4th millenium BCE. Now, the discovery of iron in the Palestinian/Holy Land region was not until the 12th century. Does this passage dictate that is when Genesis occured? Or perhaps simply that the author lived in those days? This of course would rule out Moses' authorship.

I would love to hear theories or facts on this!

Answer 1

~Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks , Anthony Phillips, Mike Rutherford and Chris Stewart got together and formed Genesis in the late '60's and released their first album in '69. Phil Collins joined later. The current version is just Banks, Rutherford and Collins.

The Global Environmental & Earth Science Information System (Genesis) is an evolving NASA/JPL program which as only been around since the advent of space flight.

Hyundai intends to release the V-8 Genesis sedan in the US in 2008.

Genesis computers have been around for about 10 years.

These were the only historical references to Genesis that I could find.

Oh, but I was able to find historical references to things like the last ice age ending 10,000 years ago, about 7,000 years before your mythology says there was anything to cover with ice. Then there's that hocus pocus about carbon dating junk like rocks (but forget about the "moon rocks" - nobody ever really landed on the moon: the cheese wouldn't support the weight of a man, let alone a spacecraft), fossils, dinosaur bones and things like that that pushes the age of the planet a few weeks further back, and don't forget the foolishness the laws of physics tell us (ya know, things like the speed of light and the fact that we can see stars and galaxies which are millions of light years away (consider how long the light traveled for us to be able to see it)) which would add even a few more months to the time line, but what is science in the face of superstition? Yes, I would have to agree, the universe is only 3,200 years old and the Shang dynasty did not rule the Yellow River region of China in the 18th century bce, King Menes didn't rule Egypt in 3150 bce and Khufu (Cheops) clearly couldn't have built his pyramid in the 2520's bce. I wish all those heretics like Einstein, Galeleo, Newton, Copernicus and them other fools would just keep their ideas to themselves. Goobleskeera be praised.

Answer 2

The stories would have taken place much earlier. However, they were written down and edited over the course of several centuries. As best as we can tell, most of the written Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy) only began to take its current form at about the time of the monarchy (which would have been around the 12th century). And many books were not put into their final form until the Babylonian exile or afterwards.

So, the important thing is that you find anachronistic references, because those references would have made sense to the people living at the time the passage was written down or edited, not at the time it actually occurred. You'll find this phenomenon throughout the Old Testament, especially with regards to geographic placenames.

Answer 3

I think most people these days, including most Church of England clerics, see Genesis as an allegory of the creation, rather than a literal story.

Other than creationists, who mostly believe Bishop Usher's calculation that the universe was created at 9:00 on October 3rd 4004 BC, everyone else I know treats it this way.

Answer 4

Another viewpoint is that Genesis did not occur. At least not literally.

It is, however, a beautiful and symbolic story of the origins of the universe. Many symbols are not easily understood, unless you speak ancient Hebrew.

But here is one to interest you. The word "adama" is Hebrew for clay. A play on words on the name given to the first man, who was made from clay.

Doesn't that make Genesis somewhat more "fulfilling"?

Rob

Answer 5

It illustrates to NOT take every passage of the bible LITERALLY.

Did Jonah really live in a whale, has anyone since? Or is it a metaphor?

As men we can't even report an eyewitness to a crime in the same way, how could we possibly get this perfect?

Try and keep an open mind while trying to understand whats an actual date and whats a metaphor.

Answer 6

that's extra in all probability that the tale of Genesis replaced into no longer meant to be taken actually and that the tale of introduction replaced into like all different introduction myths in that it replaced into meant to describe what took place interior the years until now residing memory. this is consistent with possibility, one extra occasion of why the introduction tale interior the Bible should not be taken actually. the 1st man or woman to jot down the tale down could have noted issues that have been around whilst they wrote the tale down. human beings residing after the invention of iron does no longer inevitably remember a time until now iron. Moses's authorship isn't likely at best and does no longer face as much as close scrutiny even with this tidbit of advice.

Answer 7

Why is this in "History"?