It's interesting to read into what we want from  the old book.  Clergy like to 
pick and choose parables   to make an argument either for or against whatever 
they're selling. Same with dietary gurus.   For example, vegetarians like to 
retell the story of Queen Esther, who, when unable to procure kosher meat when 
she was married to her mean Persian hubbie Achasveros (aka Nebudchanezzer) , 
subsisted on a diet of lentils and wheat.  The old testament goes on to describe 
her beauty as growing infintately more radiant, so of course, vegans use this 
story to promote  the benefits of a meatless diet.  I'm a sheep farmer, so I'm 
banking on our land being blessed...lol

Batsheva



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From: Jim Swayze <[log in to unmask]>

"Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. 
Fast forward: Cain kills Abel, Cain gets cursed, God replaces Abel with Seth.  
The Bible then says that "...men began to multiply on the face of the 
ground...." and also speaks of "...mighty men that were of old, the men of 
renown" (the "giants of old.")

"The house of Cain, because the earth had been cursed so as not to give them its 
strength, produced small harvests, deprived of its strength, just as it is today 
that some seeds, fruits and grasses give strength and some do not.  Because at 
that time [the descendants of Cain the farmer] were cursed and sons of the 
cursed and were dwelling in the land of curses, they would gather and eat 
produce that lacked nutrition, and those who ate these were without strength 
just like the food that they ate.  I am not the first to point out here that the 
Bible appears to capture the memory of our transition from paleolithic to 
neolithic.