Cain Construction Corp.

Genesis 4:17b - Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.

Adam -> Cain -> Enoch. And already there are enough people on the earth to fill a city! It seems that Cain was Adam's firstborn. Whether he was born a year or so after Adam was created it is impossible to tell. And I wonder too how long Adam and Eve had been around before they got the boot from the Garden. (Many people think they didn't last there very long.) Enoch was probably not Cain's firstborn even though he is the first of his children mentioned. Cain had "worked the soil" for some time before he killed Abel. I'm guessing many generations must have passed from Cain's birth to the time he built the city he named after his son. If not, what would be the need?

What does it mean to build a city? How big was it? Were the buildings mostly stone, or wood, or metal? Did it look more like an American city or a village in Kenya? What tools and machinery did he have at his disposal? How many employees did he have on the payroll? Saying Cain built a city is like saying Solomon built the Temple. He didn't do it all by himself!

I'm not going to do the math, but let's just say there were tens of thousands of people around at this time. (Remember, hardly anyone died young.) Did everyone know of the Cain Construction Corporation? (I know that only works in English.) Did everyone know Cain and that he was Adam's firstborn? Did everyone know Adam? Had the phrase "I wouldn't know him from Adam" been coined yet? Let's say a few hundred years had passed since Day 1. (Adam did live 930 years.) Is there anyone who lived a few hundred years ago from A.D. 2006 who is still recognized by virtually everyone today (even if only in pictures)? George Washington. Abe Lincoln. Just to mention a couple Americans. Were there pictures (drawings, paintings, photos, etc.) of Adam and Cain in public buildings, or on billboards, or on TV? (Yes, I'm serious.)

"He named it after his son Enoch." Why name it after your new baby? Why not after the location like Watertown, Forest Junction, or Green Bay? Was it pride that led him to name it Enoch? He was already building the city at the time Enoch was born. It seems Cain hadn't decided what to call it until the birth. I wonder why the builder and not the residents got to name it. I wonder if it had something to do with the fact that, ever after the murder, Cain would be a "restless wanderer." Maybe this was his way of giving some permanence to his otherwise fleeting (long, but fleeting) existence.