Genesis chapter four gives us the genealogy of Cain the murderer and the devolution of man further and further from God. Chapter five then moves to the godly genealogy of Seth and those who proclaimed the name of God in word and deed. There were ten generations from Cain. There were 10 generations from Seth, and each of the characters had many sons and daughters. The life expectancy for them all was approaching 1000 years. It’s hard to imagine how many children were born during that time. Genesis 6:1 just says, “When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them….” There are nearly 7 billion people on the planet in our society, and our life expectancy is less than 100 years. The longevity and the productive nature of those living in the days of Noah were ten times that of ours today. I’m not saying there were 7 billion people alive at that time, but there were indeed a lot of them.
Daughters are singled out in this verse as well. Is it necessary to say, “daughters were born to them?” I wouldn’t think so unless there was a reason for that. The reason is going to become apparent. In the 6th Chapter of the Book of I Enoch, we find what might be a parallel verse to Genesis 6:1 with a little more detail. It says, “And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters in those days.”[1]
When we met Lamech of Cain’s line, we saw the advancement of evil had to do with the man who first took two wives and murdered a young man. Some argue that he murdered two men, a young man and another man who wounded him. Sex and violence have gone together throughout history, and I expect the account of Lamech’s murder is not different. He took a second wife, and possibly the young man he killed apposed that, and perhaps the other man interceded to prevent it for some reason and was also killed. Now, In Genesis chapter six, we are introduced not only to bigamy but mighty men, or angels, who step into the story and take from the females on earth anyone they want. Here is the root of the harem in Arabia and the massive accumulation of wives and concubines that result in the downfall of great men, even the man after God’s heart, King David, and his son Solomon. With David, he looked down and saw that Bathsheba was beautiful and took her. Then he murdered her husband! Illicit sex and violence go together.
[1] Charles, R. H., and W. O. E. Oesterley. 1917. The Book of Enoch. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.