[32] Among recent efforts to find and explain mythical elements, see especially Stucken, Astralmythen: H. Winckler, Geschichte Israëls, vol. ii.; and P. Jensen, Das Gilgamesch-Epos in der Weltlitteratur.
[33] Again the analogy of the modern East is instructive. Especially interesting are the traditions associating the same figure or incident with widely separated localities.
[34] See [Exodus, The]; [Levites]. On this feature see Luther and Meyer, op. cit. pp. 158 seq., 227 sqq., 259, 279, 305, 386, 443. Their researches on this subject are indispensable for a critical study of Genesis.
[35] The notion of an Eve (hawwah, “serpent”) as the first woman may be conjecturally associated with (a) the frequent traditions of the serpent-origin of clans, and (b) with evidence which seems to connect the Levites and allied families with some kind of serpent-cult (see Meyer, op. cit. pp. 116, 426 seq., 443, and art. [Serpent-worship]). The account of mankind as it now reads (ii. seq.) is in several respects less primitive (contrast vi. 1 seq.), and the present story of Cain and his murder of Abel really places the former in an unfavourable light.
[36] See the discussion between B.D. Eerdmans and G.A. Smith in the Expositor (Aug.-Oct. 1908), and the former’s Alttest. Studien, ii. (1908), passim.
[37] xxxiv. (note v. 9) indicates a possible alliance with Shechemites, and xxxv. 4 (taken literally) implies a residence long enough for a religious reform to be necessary. Yet the present aim of the narratives is to link together the traditions and emphasize Jacob’s return from Laban to his dying father (xxviii. 21; xxxi. 3, 13, 18; xxxii. 9; xxxv. 1, 27).
[38] Cf. Benjamin’s descendants in 1 Chron. viii. 6 seq. and see on the naive and primitive character of these traditions, Kittel, comment. ad loc.
[39] That there are traditions in Genesis which do not form the prelude to Exodus is very generally recognized by those who agree that the Israelites after entering Palestine took over some of the indigenous lore (whether from the Canaanites or from a presumed earlier layer of Israelites). This adoption of native tradition by new settlers, however, cannot be confined to any single period. See further, Luther and Meyer, op. cit. pp. 108, 110, 156, 227 seq., 254 seq., 414 seq., 433; on traditions related to the descent into Egypt, ib. 122 sqq., 151 seq., 260; and on the story of Joseph (ch. xxxv., xxxvii. sqq.), as an independent cycle used to form a connecting link, Luther, ib. pp. 142-154.
[40] Cf. the late “Deuteronomic” form of Judges where a hero of Kenizzite origin (and therefore closely connected with Caleb) stands at the head of the Israelite “judges”; also, from another aspect, the specifically Judaean and anti-Israelite treatment of the history of the monarchy. But in each case the feature belongs to a relatively late stage in the literary history of the books; see [Judges]; [Samuel, Books of]; [Kings].
[41] Mahalalel (son of Kenan, another form of Cain, v. 12) is also a prominent ancestor in Perez (Neh. xi. 4), and Zerah claimed the renowned sages of Solomon’s day (1 Chron. ii. 6, 1 Kings iv. 31). The story implies that Perez surpassed his “brother” clan Zerah (xxxviii. 27-30), and in fact Perez is ultimately reckoned the head of the Judaean subdivisions (1 Chron. ii. 4 sqq.), and thus is the reputed ancestor of the Davidic dynasty (Ruth iv. 12, 18 sqq.).