Table of Contents
Genesis says little about nations before the Flood. Chapters 4 to 6 follow families and single figures, not peoples with names and lands. Still, three groups stand out in the text: the Nephilim, the line of Cain, and the wider family of Adam that runs through Seth to Noah.
Pre-Flood groups
Nephilim
The Nephilim are described as a group of giants or mighty beings mentioned in Genesis 6:1 to 4. They are said to be the offspring of “the sons of God” and “the daughters of men.” They are often associated with the pre-flood era and are considered part of the reason for the corruption that led to the flood.
The King James Version does not keep the Hebrew word. It translates nephilim as “giants”.
Genesis 6 tells how the sons of God took wives.
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
Genesis 6:2, KJV
Genesis 6:4 names the giants and the mighty men of old.
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6:4, KJV
The very next verse gives the reason for the Flood. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5, KJV).
Cainites
Descendants of Cain, the son of Adam who killed his brother Abel. The Bible briefly mentions the line of Cain in Genesis 4, focusing on individuals rather than a nation or tribe, but it represents the early human population before the flood.
After the murder, Cain “dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden” (Genesis 4:16, KJV). He built a city and named it after his son Enoch (Genesis 4:17). His descendants are the first to be linked with crafts: Jabal with tents and cattle, Jubal with the harp and organ, and Tubalcain with brass and iron (Genesis 4:20 to 22).
Adamites
All people before the Flood descend from Adam. The line that matters most to Genesis runs through Seth, the son born after Abel’s death, down to Noah. Genesis 5 lists this line with the age of each father and his full lifespan.
Genesis 4 marks the start of worship in the line of Seth.
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
Genesis 4:26, KJV
Notable individuals
Adam
The first man created by God, according to Genesis, and the progenitor of the human race. Genesis 5:5 gives his age at death: “all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.”
Eve
The first woman, created from Adam’s rib (Genesis 2:21 to 22). She is called the mother of all living humans. In the KJV wording, “Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20, KJV).
Cain and Abel
The sons of Adam and Eve. Abel “was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground” (Genesis 4:2, KJV). Cain, the elder, kills Abel, which gives Genesis its first account of sin and punishment between people.
Genesis 4 tells the first killing in one verse.
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Genesis 4:8, KJV
Enoch
A pre-flood figure from the line of Seth, the father of Methuselah. He is not the same man as Cain’s son Enoch. He is known for walking with God and for being taken by God without dying.
And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Genesis 5:24, KJV
Methuselah
The grandfather of Noah, through his son Lamech. He lived 969 years, the longest lifespan recorded in the Bible: “all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died” (Genesis 5:27, KJV).
Lamech, descendant of Cain
A descendant of Cain, five generations after him. He is known for a boastful speech to his wives Adah and Zillah in Genesis 4:23 to 24, which reflects the growing violence of the pre-flood world. This Lamech is a different man from Methuselah’s son Lamech, the father of Noah.
Lamech boasts to his wives.
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
Genesis 4:24, KJV
