Etymology

Cain and Abel are traditional English renderings of the Hebrew names. It has been proposed that the etymology of their names may be a direct pun on the roles they take in the Genesis narrative. Abel (hbl) is thought to derive from a reconstructed word meaning 'herdsman', with the modern Arabic cognate ibil now specifically referring only to 'camels'. Cain (qyn) is thought to be cognate to the mid-1st millennium BCE South Arabian word qyn, meaning 'metalsmith'. This theory would make the names descriptive of their roles, where Abel works with livestock, and Cain with agriculture—and would parallel the names Adam (אדם‎, ‘dm, 'man') and Eve (חוה‎, ḥwh, 'life-giver').[citation needed]

Original appearance

The oldest known copy of the biblical narrative is from the Dead Sea Scrolls, and dates to the first century BCE. Cain and Abel also appear in a number of other texts, and the story is the subject of various interpretations. Abel, the first murder victim, is sometimes seen as the first martyr; while Cain, the first murderer, is sometimes seen as an ancestor of evil. Some scholars suggest the pericope may have been based on a Sumerian story representing the conflict between nomadic shepherds and settled farmers. Modern scholars typically view the stories of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel to be about the development of civilization during the age of agriculture; not the beginnings of man, but when people first learned agriculture, replacing the ways of the hunter-gatherer.

Academic theologian Joseph Blenkinsopp holds that Cain and Abel are symbolic rather than real. Like almost all of the persons, places and stories in the Primeval history (the first eleven chapters of Genesis), they are mentioned nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible, a fact that suggests that the History is a late composition attached to Genesis to serve as an introduction. Just how late is a matter for dispute: the history may be as late as the Hellenistic period (first decades of the 4th century BCE), but the high level of Babylonian myth behind its stories has led others to date it to the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE). A prominent Mesopotamian parallel to Cain and Abel is the Sumerian myth of the Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzid, in which the shepherd Dumuzid and the farmer Enkimdu compete for the affection of the goddess Inanna, with Dumuzid (the shepherd) winning out. Another parallel is Enlil Chooses the Farmer-God, in which the shepherd-god Emesh and the farmer-god Enten bring their dispute over which of them is better to the chief god Enlil, who rules in favor of Enten (the farmer).

A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, hex, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, "curse" may refer to such a wish or pronouncement made effective by a supernatural or spiritual power, such as a god or gods, a spirit, or a natural force, or else as a kind of spell by magic or witchcraft; in the latter sense, a curse can also be called a hex or a jinx. In many belief systems, the curse itself (or accompanying ritual) is considered to have some causative force in the result. To reverse or eliminate a curse is sometimes called "removal" or "breaking", as the spell has to be dispelled, and is often requiring elaborate rituals or prayers.

Matthew 23:23; Revelation 12:9; Revelation 20:2; Enoch 68:6-8; 1 Corinthians 14:34; 1 John 2:16; Galatians 5:16; Romans 13:14; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; Jasher 1:9-10; Isaiah 29:15; Jeremiah 23:24; Revelation 6:16; 2 Esdras 16:63-66; Tobit 13:6; Genesis 2:18; 1 Peter 3:7; 1 Timothy 2:11-14; Ecclesiasticus 25:24; Mark 8:24; 2 Corinthians 11:14; 2 Peter 2:12; Jude 1:10; Mark 5:1-13; Revelation 12:12; Jubilees 15:34; John 16:21; Proverbs 31:10-31; Matthew 13:1-9; John 10:34; Psalm 82:6-7; Isaiah 46:8-10; 1 Chronicles 21:15-16

Religion is a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements; however, there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion.

Different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from the divine, sacred things, faith, a supernatural being or supernatural beings or "some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for the rest of life". Religious practices may include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities and/or saints), sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture. Religions have sacred histories and narratives, which may be preserved in sacred scriptures, and symbols and holy places, that aim mostly to give a meaning to life. Religions may contain symbolic stories, which are sometimes said by followers to be true, that may also attempt to explain the origin of life, the universe, and other phenomena. Traditionally, faith, in addition to reason, has been considered a source of religious beliefs.

There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide. About 84% of the world's population is affiliated with Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or some form of folk religion. The religiously unaffiliated demographic includes those who do not identify with any particular religion, atheists, and agnostics. While the religiously unaffiliated have grown globally, many of the religiously unaffiliated still have various religious beliefs.

The study of religion comprises a wide variety of academic disciplines, including theology, comparative religion and social scientific studies. Theories of religion offer various explanations for the origins and workings of religion, including the ontological foundations of religious being and belief.

Pure religion is having the courage to do what is right and let the consequence follow. It is doing the right things for right reasons. To be righteous or serving or loving or obedient to God's laws just to earn praise or recognition is not pure religion.

Samson was a legendary Israelite warrior and judge, a member of the tribe of Dan, and a Nazirite. His immense physical strength, which he used for 20 years against the Philistines, derived from his uncut hair.

The biblical account states that Samson was a Nazirite, and that he was given immense strength to aid him against his enemies and allow him to perform superhuman feats, including slaying a lion with his bare hands and massacring an entire army of Philistines using only the jawbone of a donkey.

Sampson had the strength of God, he was as strong as he needed to be. Whether strong enough to fight a thousand men at the same time and beat them to death with a donkey jaw, or strong enough to rip a city gate off its foundation and carry it up a hill.

In the Hebrew Bible, a nazirite or nazarite (Hebrew: נזיר‎) is one who voluntarily took a vow described in Numbers 6:1–21. ... This vow required that the person observe the following strictures: Abstain from all wine and anything else made from the grape vine plant, such as cream of tartar, grape seed oil, etc.

Samson's Hair is a symbol of power, and it comes from a long and bloody story with lots of death, and there's no happily-ever-after. The story goes that Samson was asleep in Delilah's arms when she took a bribe from some Philistines to learn the secret of Samson's strength.

The riddle Samson posed to the Philistines is the only explicit example of a riddle in the Hebrew Bible. In its context, the answer to the riddle is honey from the lion's carcass: Honey is "something to eat" and "something sweet", and lion is "the eater" and "something strong".

The riddle Samson posed to the Philistines is the only explicit example of a riddle in the Hebrew Bible. In its context, the answer to the riddle is honey from the lion's carcass: Honey is "something to eat" and "something sweet", and lion is "the eater" and "something strong".

The riddle Samson posed to the Philistines is the only explicit example of a riddle in the Hebrew Bible. In its context, the answer to the riddle is honey from the lion's carcass: Honey is "something to eat" and "something sweet", and lion is "the eater" and "something strong".

What is a nazirite of God?

: a Jew of biblical times consecrated to God by a vow to avoid drinking wine, cutting the hair, and being defiled by the presence of a corpse.

What is a nazirite of God?

26 Yea, many there be that have run out of their wits for women, and become servants for their sakes.

27 Many also have perished, have erred, and sinned, for women.

The biblical account states that Samson was a Nazarite, and that he was given immense strength to aid him against his enemies and allow him to perform superhuman feats, including slaying a lion with his bare hands and massacring an entire army of Philistines using only the jawbone of a donkey. However, if Samson's long hair were cut, then his Nazirite vow would be violated and he would lose his strength.

Samson was betrayed by his lover Delilah, who, sent by the Philistines officials to entice him, ordered a servant to cut his hair while he was sleeping and turned him over to his Philistine enemies, who gouged out his eyes and forced him to grind grain in a mill at Gaza. While there, his hair began to regrow. When the Philistines took Samson into their temple of Dagon, Samson asked to rest against one of the support pillars. After being granted permission, he prayed to God and miraculously recovered his strength, allowing him to bring down the columns, collapsing the temple and killing himself as well as all of the Philistines. In some Jewish traditions, Samson is believed to have been buried in Zorah in Israel overlooking the Sorek valley.

Where is the Garden of Eden located today?

Mesopotamia

In the bible, they are said to have flowed through Assyria, namely today's Iraq. The exact location for Gihon and Pison is unknown. Gihon is associated with the land of Cush, which is located in the northeast of the Persian Gulf. So, having some boundaries, it means that the Garden of Eden is somewhere in Mesopotamia.

Lesson Study Precepts:

Genesis 2:1-25

Genesis 1:8-9

Genesis 1:14-15

2 Corinthians 12:2

Exodus 16:23-29

Exodus 31:13-17

2 Esdras 3:5

Ecclesiasticus 19:19

Ephesians 5:9

Galatians 5:22-23

Galatians 5:16-21

Ezekiel 34:31

Romans 6:16

Tobit 8:6

Ecclesiasticus 26:22

1 Corinthians 11:8-12

1 Corinthians 11:3

1 Esdras 4:20-25

Hosea 12:10

2 Esdras 4:3

Psalms 132:9

Isaiah 61:10

The biblical account states that Samson was a Nazarite, and that he was given immense strength to aid him against his enemies and allow him to perform superhuman feats, including slaying a lion with his bare hands and massacring an entire army of Philistines using only the jawbone of a donkey. However, if Samson's long hair were cut, then his Nazirite vow would be violated and he would lose his strength.

Samson was betrayed by his lover Delilah, who, sent by the Philistines officials to entice him, ordered a servant to cut his hair while he was sleeping and turned him over to his Philistine enemies, who gouged out his eyes and forced him to grind grain in a mill at Gaza. While there, his hair began to regrow. When the Philistines took Samson into their temple of Dagon, Samson asked to rest against one of the support pillars. After being granted permission, he prayed to God and miraculously recovered his strength, allowing him to bring down the columns, collapsing the temple and killing himself as well as all of the Philistines. In some Jewish traditions, Samson is believed to have been buried in Zorah in Israel overlooking the Sorek valley.