The other end of Chav-ah’s pair of bookends is Naam-ah. These two famous women support the names of the patriarchal record of the ‘Generations of Adam.’ Chav-ah (Eve) is at the head of her Mother House. I have coined this phrase thus with the meaning, ‘all those of the same kin’, that is, ‘uterine sisters and brothers and kin springing from her.’ 1
Naam-ah acts as sturdy support at the other end of Chav-ah’s weighty list of male character’s names, particularly Seth’s linage. Just as the three sons of Adah and Zillah are the founders of the human vocation, all aspects of human culture, linked to their archetypal occupation. This is in contrast to divine mythological creators of cultural roles that characterise many mythological beginnings tales.
The Root of Naam-ah’s Name
Naam-ah’s name comes from the Hebrew root n’m: ‘to sing’. This would make Naam-ah the ancestral singer, the archetypal founder of vocal music and the arts: music, poetry, psalmody, prophetic. There is an intimate connection between women composing and presenting solo and group songs accompanied by the prophetic throughout the OT Scriptures, carried through into the NT.
Indeed it is claimed that musical diversity is the natural state of Jewish culture. Singing women of Israel in the Hebrew scriptures are accompanied by drums and timbrels, dancing and worship, reciting blessings, prophetic utterance. They became the doorkeepers in the keeping alive of ancient stories in the oral tradition.
Singing Women
Examples are Miraim, Deborah, the Levite women singers in the wilderness sanctuary and the temple in Jerusalem, and many others. Indeed, wherever worship happens, singing women are found widely across cultures beginning with mothers crooning to their infants to women working together and every other aspect of life and community where women are involved.
Chav-ah’s two male genealogies are Cain and Seth. Seth was born after Cain murdered her second son, Abel.
Chev-ah’s two sons: Cain and Seth
Cainite Line
Two women, Adah and Zillah, are recorded within Cain’s linage. No doubt there were any number of men the sisters could have chosen, (names not recorded), but these two women made Lamech famous by their choice of him. Other than this, Lamech’s only other claim to fame suggests he was infamous, a violent perpetrator, boasting he had killed a man. This shows Lamech was a man not unlike Cain his father.
The sisters’ main purpose in choosing Lamech the Cainite and inviting him into their tents was for him to sire children at their bidding. This was the way of women 2 of endogamous unions. [i] It ensured their individual interest were met in building up their own Mother House and staying on their land.
This is the first record of this kind of matrimonial arrangement where uterine sisters choose one husband. [ii] The sisters’ son’s achievements are remarkable and are recorded in a previous paper, Adah and Zillah. 3 Their mothers’ influences on them is obvious. 4 Only one daughter is recorded: Naam-ah, born to Zill-ah.
Chav-ah’s Cainite and Shemite Line united in Naam-ah
In due course, Naam-ah of Zill-ah the Cainite took her distant cousin, Noe of Shem’s line, into her tent (B’reshith Rabba). 5
Her background is identified as Noe’s wife [iii] Before the deluge, Naam-ah’s three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, sired by Noe were born. At the proper time, these three sons of Naam-ah met with cousins from (unnamed) Sethite women who received their siring partners into their woman’s tent.
Following the flood, Naam-ah’s sons at their wives’ bidding produced children. These three sons 6 of Mother Naam-ah, Shem, Ham [iv] and Japheth, sired by Noe, are recognised by the Jews as the tribal heads of all nations. 7
Cain and Shem of Chav-ah’s linage united through Mother Naam-ah
To recap, the matrimonial arrangement of the Cainite woman Naam-ah with the Shemite, Noe, united Cain and Seth’s two lines of Mother Chav-ah, prior to the flood. This union saved the famous Kenite tribe (Cainites) and the Shemites, that is, the Semitic race, from extinction. [v]
The salvation of these two races of people was solely due to Naam-ah choosing Noe. We do not know if she knowingly made this choice. I name Naam-ah, and other women like her, women champions, saviours in Israel.
Finally, these three couples, together with mother Naam-ah and her husband Noe entered the ark. These eight were safe from the great flood (1656 BC). Thus the human race began again with Naam-ah as its ‘Mother of All Living.’
Chav-ah, Ad-ah, Zill-ah, and Naam-ah.
Thus ends Chav-ah’s matriline. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did research it. More on this in the next publication in this series: Paper 1b/ Chav-ah’s Matriline: Looking Backwards and Forward
END
ENDNOTES
[i] Endogamy can serve as a form of self-segregation. A community can use it to resist integrating and completely merging with surrounding populations. Minorities can use it to stay ethnically homogeneous over a long time as distinct communities within societies that have other practices and beliefs. Judaism traditionally mandates religious endogamy, requiring that both marriage partners be Jewish while allowing for marriage to converts.
Orthodox Judaism maintains the traditional requirement for endogamy in Judaism as a binding part of Judaism’s religious beliefs. Whilst the more liberal Jewish religious movements are far more permissive with regard to interfaith marriage and conversion requirements. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogamy.
The isolationist practices of endogamy may lead to a group’s extinction, as genetic diseases may develop that can affect the increasing population. However, this disease effect would tend to be small. Unless there is a high degree of close inbreeding, or if the endogamous population becomes very small in size.
ENDNOTES
[ii] You will note I’ve turned the interpretation around. The patriarchal interpretation infers the women are passive bystanders waiting and hoping some man will choose them. Then he can carry them off to his father’s house and kin to bear children ultimately build up his tribe. It’s not the Jewish way.
ENDNOTES
The Code of Jewish Law clearly states that a child of a Jewish mother is Jewish, regardless of the father’s lineage (or whatever else may show up in a DNA test), while the child of a non-Jewish mother is not Jewish. Matrilineal descent has been a fundamental principle of Torah since the Jewish people came into existence.
It’s up to the reader to interpret, but take note, the patriarchal interpretation of marriage doesn’t fit the image we have been given of Jesus returning for His bride. Jesus came to us and is returning to us. We will marry and Jesus will join us with our kin. The bride will live with her husband amongst her kin on this earth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrilineality_in_Judaism.
ENDNOTES
[iii] I note the feminine ‘ah’ wherever women’s names are used. The spelling of No-ah ends in the feminine ‘ah’. I will call ‘Noah’ the male equivalent ‘Noe’ from here on in my writings. There is debate amongst some scholars whether this No-ah is a woman or a man. (there is another Noah in the Scriptures and it denotes a daughter (of Zelophehad, Num 36: 5-11, etc.)
Some notable Jewish Rabbis have made some progress in this regard. According to rabbinical interpretation, this is due to the text itself. The Rabbis interpretation accepts it as the ‘male sons of Noah’ going into her tent. This misdemeanour happened following the flood when No-ah drank too much. There, Ham uncovered No-ah’s nakedness, a euphemism for improper sexual conduct. If No-ah is a woman, she is the Matriarch who re-started the human race after the deluge and not Naam-ah.
For our reading here I have made a choice. Either Naam-ah or No-ah is the post deluge ‘Mother of All Living’. Either way, Naam-ah is a notable matriarch in the matriline of Eve through to Sar-ah. As no one can know for sure it’s a matter of what happens to fit your particular slant on the subject. My goal here is to build an argument for the matrilineal line from Eve to Sar-ah and how this translates into the NT. I have therefore chosen Naam-ah.
This conversation is liable to upset those who set in their fundamentalist doctrine. For them, all conjecture is disconcerting. But I’m simply here to share what I have found through my research and join the discussion. My main work is to trace the ‘woman’s seed’ through the genealogy of the Semites leading to Mary. I, therefore, present the argument here and leave Naam-ah and No-ah for the woman reader to ponder further.
ENDNOTES
[iv] I have posted this article below to bring a better understanding of the issue of inequality in the church. Issues of injustice such as inequality regarding gender, race, slavery, children born out of wedlock, inheritance rights, divorce, nepotism … the list is long. Where past mistakes are rectified gives us an opportunity to rejoice. Below is Dake’s family statement in regards to what was part of an outdated version of ‘The Dake Annotated Reference Bible’.
About Finis Dake
Finis Dake grew up in an era where this was definitely a topic of debate in Christian and social circles. Some fought for an end to injustice, some fought to keep the status quo. Racism and the use of Biblical text to explain, support, or justify racism was simply a reality of the time and place.
Nor is Dake alone in this regard, for the footnote on the 1945 edition Scofield Bible I obtained contains questionable interpretations of the story of Noah, Shem, and Ham in Genesis, which also seems to have been noted by Dake.
https://www.amazon.com/review/R5L4VGU3BCJLC
Warm regards
Patricia
A note from the Dake family website explains, “…And so in the fall of 1996, we discussed the matter as a family. We made a unanimous decision to edit or remove any note that could be misconstrued as a racist comment. The first printing to reflect these changes happened in January 1997.”
“30 reasons for segregation of races”.
The Dake Annotated Reference Bible KJV (Page 159 of the 1967 edition) notes in one of the side list. Finis J Dake wrote (The Dake Annotated Reference Bible KJV) is titled “30 reasons for segregation of races”. The Dake family removed this list. Recent editions no longer include it. Among the 30 reasons given are:
“1. God wills all races to be as he made them, any violation of God’s original purpose manifests insubordination to him (Acts 17:26, Rom 9:19-24) 2. He made everything to reproduce after his own kind (Gen 1:11-12, 6:20, 7:14) 3. God originally determined the bounds of the habitations of nations (Act 17:26, Gen 10:5, 32, 11:8, Dt 32:8) Kind means type and colour or he would have kept them all alike to begin with. 4. Miscegenation means the mixture of races, especially black and white races, or those of outstanding type of colour.
The Bible even goes farther than opposing this. It is against different branches of the same stock intermarrying such as Jews marrying other descendants of Abraham (Ezra 9-10, Neh 9-13, Jer 50:37, Ezek 30:5) 5. Abraham forbad Eliezer to take a wife for Isaac of Canaanites (Gen 24:1-4). 6. Abraham sent all his sons of the concubines, and even of his second wife, far away from Isaac so their descendants would not mix (Gen 25:1-6). 19.
Jews recognised as separate people in all ages because of God’s choice and command (Mt 10:6 Jn 1:11). Equal rights in the gospel give no right to break this eternal law. 29. Wearing Garments of mixed fabrics forbidden (Dt 22:11 Lev 19:19) 30. Christians and certain other people of a like race are to be segregated (Mt 18:15-17 I Cor 5:9-13,6:15, 2 Cor 6:14-18, Eph 5:11, 2 Thess 3:6-16, I Tim 6:5, 2 Tim 3:5[….]” (page 159 of NT).
ENDNOTES
[v] The interweaving of marriages between Chav-ah’s two lines, Cain and Seth, through Naam-ah, helps us understand why, later, the Kenites and Israel were friends. I show in my paper on the Kenites that members of this tribe frequently inter-married with Judahites.
The Kenites were Bedouin, (though not all), and this meant moving continually. Marriage between these two tribes was especially prominent amongst those Kenites living in Judah’s territory in the South. I am surmising they stayed in Judahite territory enjoying the protection this offered them. More on this when we read ‘The Kenites’ due for publication as soon as possible on my website.
The first instance of Kenites is when Abraham sired children with a Midianite woman, Keturah, mother of Midian. Later, Zipporah the Kenite woman and priest of the monotheistic God, YWJH, invited Moses into her tent. This physical union pre-empts the later spiritual union of Hobab the Kenite a priest of Midian with Moses and finally Israel.
Zipporah was one of the seven daughters of Jethro, a Kenite shepherd who was a priest of Midian (Ex 2: 18). Zippor-ah also a Priest first taught Moses the ways of YWJH when she acted as a priest in circumcising her son and saving Moses’ life. We will learn more of this in my paper ‘The Kenite Mothers’ (published in late 2020).
FOOTNOTES
- Born of the same mother but not having the same father.
- This is obvious from the record where Leah and Rachel informed Jacob when they wanted him to do likewise. “Very well,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.” (Gen 30:15)
- The descendants of Adah and Zillah were responsible for mediating the arts of civilization: the establishment of pastoralism, the development of instruments, and the forging of bronze and iron.
Moreover, the name “Cain” (קַיִן, qayin) comes from a root that means “metalworker, smith” in other Semitic languages such as Aramaic, Palmyrene, Nabataean, and Arabic.
- Return to my previous paper on these two sisters, Ad-ah and Zill-ah.
- Gen Rab: a religious text from Judaism’s classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical interpretations of the Book of Genesis (B’reshith in Hebrew).
- Shem, the forefather of the middle peoples (Semitic). Ham, forefather of the southern peoples (Hamitic) Ham’s descendants are interpreted by Flavius Josephus and others as having populated Africa and adjoining parts of Asia.
Japheth, the forefather of the northern peoples (Japhetic Eurasia): In the hands of early Christian writers they became apocalyptic hordes, and throughout the Medieval period variously identified as the Vikings, Huns, Khazars, Mongols, Turanians, or other nomads.
- The Generations of Noe or Table of Nations: This is a genealogy of the sons of Noe, (Gen 10:9) and their dispersion into many lands after the flood focusing on the major known societies.