Bible in 90, Bonus 01: Identity crisis

*image courtesy of coscurro at stock.xchng

First, I’d like to note that I usually link up as much stuff as I can (including linking Bible citations to biblegateway.com), so if you notice something in red, click it for more info.

The following comes from a friend at church who is doing the challenge:

So a couple things I need clarified in the 1st days reading.  This may seem like “small potatoes” but I’m such a stickler for needing to “picture” what I read.  Your help would be greatly appreciated.

1 – Lamech referenced in Genesis 4:18-19 and 5:28.  Same man?

2 – Milcah (daughter of Haran) referenced in Genesis 11:27-29.  Is she Lot’s sister?  Did Nahor marry his brother’s child?

Ok, that first one really freaked me out for a minute!  However, two key verses (4:17 & 5:6) unlock the mystery.  These two verses tell us that the two passages are following two different genealogical lines.  The first Lamech, the murderer, is in the line of Cain.  The second Lamech, Noah’s father, is in the line of Seth.  Seth’s line of course is the righteous line that we follow down to Noah, Abraham, David, and eventually Jesus.

As for the second question, you’re spot on.  Nahor and Haran were brothers, and Milcah was Haran’s daughter.  So yes, she was lot’s sister (though we don’t know if they were full or half-siblings, Haran may have had multiple wives) And yes, she was Nahor’s wife.  So, Nahor married his niece.  Keep two things in mind here –

1. Abram married his half-sister (see 20:11-13) and
2. Neither of these marriages was forbidden yet.  The commands against marrying close family came hundreds of years later (see Lev. 18:6-18).  One of the classic questions about Genesis is “Who was Cain’s wife?”  Gen. 4:17 says that Cain knew his wife and she bore him children.  Well, the answer is, one of Adam and Eve’s daughters (possibly granddaughters) was his wife.  This was not forbidden by God until later in the course of His revelation to mankind.