As I read the Bible….

Something that jumps out at me as I read the Bible, is that it rings of myth. I don’t mean myth as in fake. I mean myth as an explanatory device to provide context to the lives of nomadic shepherds who worshiped an Aries-like god of that region. When the people go to war, God goes to war, too. This may seem overly obvious to some, but a lot of Roman Catholic “natural law” is interpreted literally when it clearly shouldn’t be. The story of Onan is a great example. While I haven’t gotten to that story yet in my project, Onan has to impregnate his sister-in-law. In other words if he doesn’t fulfill his duty to impregnate her, his brother-in-laws’ clan dies out. Onan “pulling out” isn’t the problem. It’s his refusal to mate and provide progeny (or integrate another clan) that angers God.

As in Chapter 4, which I have presented, tribes are represented by people.

• Zillah -> Tubal-cain – made tools of bronze and iron and had a sister named (Naamah)

This probably better read as the sons of “Tubal-cain” were bronze workers along with a cooperative (ie sister clan Naamah) clan that probably did similar things. So why are the clans brother and sister and not just brothers. My speculation would be of one of relationship. In other stories, patriarch siblings, like Esau and Jacob, are competitors (ie have territorial disagreements and such). The brother-sister relationship seems to be a co-op or a type of subordination (at least that is what I think so far).