While the descendants of Cain resembled their father in his sinfulness
and depravity, the descendants of Seth led a pious, well-regulated
life, and the difference between the conduct of the two stocks was
reflected in their habitations. The family of Seth was settled upon the
mountains in the vicinity of Paradise, while the family of Cain resided
in the field of Damascus, the spot whereon Abel was slain by Cain.
Unfortunately, at the time of Methuselah, following the death of Adam,
the family of Seth became corrupted after the manner of the Cainites.
The two strains united with each other to execute all kinds of
iniquitous deeds. The result of the marriages between them were the
Nephilim, whose sins brought the deluge upon the world. In their
arrogance they claimed the same pedigree as the posterity of Seth, and
they compared themselves with princes and men of noble descent.[14]
The wantonness of this generation was in a measure due to the ideal
conditions under which mankind lived before the flood. They knew
neither toil nor care, and as a consequence of their extraordinary
prosperity they grew insolent. In their arrogance they rose up against
God. A single sowing bore a harvest sufficient for the needs of forty
years, and by means of magic arts they could compel the very sun and
moon to stand ready to do their service.[15] The raising of children
gave them no trouble. They were born after a few days' pregnancy, and
immediately after birth they could walk and talk; they themselves aided
the mother in severing the navel string. Not even demons could do them
harm. Once a new-born babe, running to fetch a light whereby his mother
might cut the navel string, met the chief of the demons, and a combat
ensued between the two. Suddenly the crowing of a cock was heard, and
the demon made off, crying out to the child, "Go and report unto thy
mother, if it had not been for the crowing of the cock, I had killed
thee!" Whereupon the child retorted, "Go and report unto thy mother, if
it had not been for my uncut navel string, I had killed thee!"[16]
It was their care-free life that gave them space and leisure for their
infamies. For a time God, in His long-suffering kindness, passed by the
iniquities of men, but His forbearance ceased when once they began to
lead unchaste lives, for "God is patient with all sins save only an
immoral life."[17]
The other sin that hastened the end of the iniquitous generation was
their rapacity. So cunningly were their depredations planned that the
law could not touch them. If a countryman brought a basket of
vegetables to market, they would edge up to it, one after the other,
and abstract a bit, each in itself of petty value, but in a little
while the dealer would have none left to sell.[18]
Even after God had resolved upon the destruction of the sinners, He
still permitted His mercy to prevail, in that He sent Noah unto them,
who exhorted them for one hundred and twenty years to amend their ways,
always holding the flood over them as a threat. As for them, they but
derided him. When they saw him occupying himself with the building of
the ark, they asked, "Wherefore this ark?"