Ascension Presents with Fr. Mike Schmitz- YouTube. Day 3, 2024
Genesis 5-6 and Psalm 136
Catching up now!
Genesis 5 goes into the generations of Adam and his third son, Seth, born after Cain. The genealogical verses are difficult to take. I have to think that the somewhat tedious descriptions of these family lines meant a lot more to Jewish people of the time. The extraordinary years of each of the men (936 years, etc.), I think, could be understood as the years of the family generations of each of the noted men. I do not take these long ages as being the literal age of these men when they finally shuffled off their mortal coils.
Genesis 6 describes the Sethite line and the Cainite genealogical lines. Fr. Schmitz says that the Sethite line may be known as the sons of God, and the Cainite line could be seen as the daughters of men. Seth was born in Adam’s image and likeness, and as Adam was formed in the image and likeness of God, Seth’s line is the sons of God. The Cainite line is not recalled in Genesis 4 as being made in the image of Adam, and Cain’s line is corrupted by the sin of killing his brother, Abel.
Cain’s line produces murderers and polygamists. The Nephilim may refer to this fallen line. The word Nephilim comes from the Jewish word ‘nephal’ which means ‘to fall’. Seth’s line produces men like Enoch and Noah, who are obedient to God. Intermarrying occurred between these two lines, and some of Seth’s lines also became broken, and the world filled with corruption. So God steps in to cut out the cancerous lines. The upcoming flood could be read as God being vengeful, but it could also be read as God stepping in to try to correct the mess that humans made of things in such short order.
Genesis 6 then shows Noah being tasked with building the Ark to very specific dimensions. The direction from God can be seen as God, once more, offering hope and guidance. Noah, like Adam before the fall, ‘walks with God’. More to this tomorrow, no doubt.
Psalm 136 is a song of praise with a consistent refrain (‘for his steadfast love endures forever’) after each statement of what God has created and given to us and what he has done for us. In an oral language tradition, songs would be used to help people remember who it is we belong to. The psalm harkens back to the same language used in Genesis 1 and 2 and to the initial acts of God at the beginning of the time of humans.
It will be interesting to see more of how the Psalms were probably used as teaching texts to an illiterate place to give an overview of the teachings of the Bible in a repetitious and easy-to-recall fashion. I know the psalms are still a regular part of the weekly mass readings, and most of them would be read at least once across the liturgical year during specific masses.
It sure is a complicated nad highly interrelated text, and we have only read the first six chapters!
Rebekah Martin
Citations:
The Bible in a Year & More: Fr. Mike & Jeff Cavins. (2021c, June 13). Day 3: Noah’s Ark — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs41k9YG7tQ
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