First builders and craftsmen: ancient background to Genesis 4:17–22

Says Gen 4:17 reports a city named after Enoch. In Lamech’s line Jabal is “the father of those who dwell in tents and raise livestock”, Jubal is the father of all who play כִּנּוֹר וְעוּגָב (kinnor we‘ugav, “lyre and pipe”; BSB “harp and flute”), and Tubal-cain is “a forger of every implement of bronze and iron” (4:20–22).

Driver and Skinner describe a Phoenician account of first inventions, which they say Eusebius preserved from Philo of Byblos. In Driver’s specimens, early figures first build huts of reeds and wear skins, and later pairs discover hunting, fishing and the working of iron. King describes Sumerian and Babylonian tradition as trying to picture the beginnings of civilization. These are their views.

Uncertain How far these traditions bear on Gen 4:17–22 is open. Skinner sees a strong family likeness between the Cainite line and the Phoenician account and leaves open which is more original. Driver knew no direct Babylonian parallel to the names, though he judged an ultimate Babylonian link probable. King found no precise Sumerian equivalents to the arts ascribed to Jabal, Jubal and Tubal-cain, and placed the echo in the setting, not the names. Keil says Cain’s descendants invented the arts and carried them on “in an ungodly spirit”, yet the arts rest on powers given man for dominion. Whether Genesis presents these arts as rebellion, gift or neither is open. No dependence in either direction is claimed, no lean is taken, and this background does not fix the meaning of 4:17–22.