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96 The Old Testament and Christian Spirituality
(“man”) on Adam (“man”), 48 and is indicated by the initiation of
the cult, which indicates a positive human-divine relationship. On
a grander scale, Von Rad’s famous theological construct 49 of
Genesis as a history of the growth of sin 50 offers us another
perspective for interpreting this genealogy. For here we have an
instance of a new beginning (a concept which is, of course, of
central importance within the Old Testament and, broader, to
Christian theology). With Seth no victim of the curse of Cain (Gen
4:11–12), with prayer to Yahweh originating in the very next
generation after Seth, 51 and because there is further offspring (=
blessing), the overriding theme characterising this genealogy may
be formulated as: “harmony restored,” or more theologically
formulated: “grace.”
Although this genealogy is usually ascribed to J, Vermeylen
makes an interesting case for a deuteronomistic—that is, in
essence, a theological—redaction of 4:17–24 and 4:25–26 +
5:28b–29 (thus, the latter two taken together, with 5:28b–29
relocated from its present position to follow on 4:24–26 directly). 52
This redaction stresses God’s justice in rejecting exilic Israel for
their Cain-like deeds, yet includes beginning anew via Seth. 53
48
See Sasson, “A Genealogical ‘Convention’ in Biblical Chronography?” 175;
Vermeylen, “La Descendance de Caïn et le Descendance d’Abel,” 187.
49
Cf. also, with some differences, D. J. A. Clines, The Theme of the Pentateuch
(JSOT Suppl. 10. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1978).
50
Referred to also by Wilson, Genealogy and History in the Biblical World,
155; and N. A. Bailey, “Some Literary and Grammatical Aspects of
Genealogies,” in Biblical Hebrew and Discourse Linguistics (ed. R. D. Bergen;
Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1994), 269.
51
Wilson, Genealogy and History in the Biblical World, 155–56.
52
See Vermeylen, “La Descendance de Caïn et le Descendance d’Abel,” 188–
91.
53
This attractive possibility (see below) would call for greater nuance in remarks
such as those by Johnson (in The Purpose of the Biblical Genealogies, 3) on D
and genealogy.