Question Corner

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 22, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 38.

“Enquire and make search and ask diligently.”

861. Mark on Cain. Gen. 4:15.

WHAT was the mark put upon Cain? Some say he was made black; others, idiotic. I. E. H.

What difference does it make? The Lord does not minister to our curiosity. There are not less than nine different suggestions made as to what mark was placed upon Cain, from the letter tau to a long horn, all of which are well termed by Clarke, “frivolous.” The Revised Version reads, “And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain,” that is, as an assurance that he would not be killed.

862. Gen. 8:22; 10:25.

WILL you kindly explain Gen. 8:22 and Gen. 10:25? These were questions raised in Sabbath-school. C. E. A.

We do not know how language could tell any more clearly the facts stated in Gen. 8:22. It simply says that while the earth remains, the seasons shall pursue their accustomed rounds; and have they not ever since? Gen. 10:25 informs us that in the fifth generation from Noah—Shem, Arphaxad, Salah, Eber, Peleg—the earth was divided, that is, as recorded in Gen. 11:9, when God scattered mankind over the earth.

863. Abram’s Birth—Terah’s Age.

HOW CAN you say in lesson 11, “Additional Study,” that Terah was born in A.M. 1879, and Abraham in A.M. 2009, when it is said, “And Terah lived 70 years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran” (Gen. 11:26)? 1879+70=1949 instead of 2009. A. E. K.

Notice: Terah was born, according to the record of Genesis 11, in A.M. 1879. When 70, he begat Abraham, Nahor, and Haran. Terah died at the age of 205. Gen. 11:32. Abram went to Canaan when 75 years old. Gen. 12:4. But he did not go to Canaan till his father died. Acts 7:4. If he went the same year his father died, Abram must have been begotten 75 years before, or when Terah was 130, instead of 70. This is harmony if we understand that Abram was not the first begotten, but mentioned first because of his after career. Terah did not beget any boys till 70, and then begat three. Abram may have been the youngest, begotten when his father was 130 years old; 1879+130=2009.