Question 30: When did Joseph arrive in Egypt?

Answer:

Believed to be about 1895 B.C.

Question 29: What date was the great famine in Egypt?

Answer:

Began approximately 1875 B. C.

Question 28: Who named Eve?

Answer:

Adam bestowed upon his companion the name of "Eve" (Genesis 3:20).

Question 27: Who was David’s mother?

Answer:

Her name is not given in Scripture. The reference to Abigail, one of the members of Jesse's family, in 2 Samuel 17:25, is frequently misunderstood. The Nahash there mentioned is either another name for Jesse or it refers to Nahash, king of Ammon, one of whose wives afterward became the wife of Jesse, as stated in the chronicles of the Jewish church.

Frequently asked questions and answers:

Question 26: What was the name of Cain’s wife?

Answer:

The name of Cain's wife is nowhere mentioned in the Bible. Arab traditions are preserved in one of which she is called Azura, in another Save, but these are not seriously regarded by scholars.

Question 25: What became of Aaron’s rod?

Answer:

It was preserved in the tabernacle and, according to Paul (see Hebrews 9:4), it was kept in the Ark, beside the two tablets of stone and the pot of manna. There is no mention of any other receptacle. The statement in 1 Kings 8:9 implies that by Solomon's time these relics had disappeared. It is possible however, for a different interpretation to be placed on Deuteronomy 31:26, which may mean that the rod was kept beside the Ark and not within it.

Question 24: What language did Adam and Eve speak?

Answer:

There are many mundane things beyond the reach of present human knowledge and the site of Eden and the language of our first parents are among the number. Some philologists have ventured the conjecture that the primeval language must have been a simple vocabulary whose formation is indicated in Genesis 2:19 and which was strictly limited to the natural requirements of our first progenitors; in other words, signs and sounds apprehensible by the senses. All agree that speech or the power of expressing emotions or desires was coeval with the creation of man. The earliest monuments and inscriptions yet discovered do not reach as far back into antiquity as the confusion of tongues at Babel (about B.C. 2200), previous to which (Genesis 2:1), the Biblical record states that "the whole earth was of one language and one speech," although probably there were many variations and dialects, each containing some element of the original tongue. Man's first utterances were probably what philologists’ term a "physical language," limited to the expression of simple needs and afterwards expanded to meet man's growing experience with his own nature and the world around him.

Question 23: Was Adam a red man as rumours, have it?

Answer:

The word Adam means "red" and so also does the word Edom, both having relation to the ruddiness of flesh and the colour of the clayey soil. (See Genesis 2:7.) Some commentators hold that Adam, the first man, was probably of the complexion of the Arabs or Edomites, ruddy though dark, while others take a different view. No definite theory can be formed on this subject.

Question 22: Did Adam and Eve actually eat fruit? Or is the saying a parable?

Answer:

The only source of information is the Bible narrative and it contains no intimation that it is to be understood otherwise than literally. Theologians who have preferred to regard the narrative as a parable or allegory have usually been led to do so by the suggestion that the eating of fruit which was "good for food," and "pleasant to the eyes," and was moreover within reach, was an offense too venial to have been justly visited with a punishment so severe and far-reaching. The objection however, is not well founded, because it ignores the main point involved. The gravity of the offense consisted, not in the act itself, but in the fact that Adam and Eve in committing it were consciously and wilfully violating YHVH's explicit and emphatic command. They were punished for disobedience. Even if we should hold that it took some other form than the actual and literal eating of fruit, the principle is the same. There is no valid reason for rejecting the Bible narrative or putting any other construction on the words than is there implied.

Frequently asked questions and answers:

Question 21: How are we to interpret the miracle at Ajalon?

Answer:

The passage in Joshua 10, describing the miracle of the sun and moon at the time of the battle in the valley of Ajalon, has been much discussed. Some commentators hold that it is a passage in which the inspired historian departs from his narrative to introduce a highly poetic quotation, in other words, a poetical figure of speech, not to be interpreted literally -- as though one might say that "YHVH and all nature fought on the side of Joshua." Again, the reference to the poetical book of Jasher as the source of this passage lends colour to this explanation (see verse 13). Others prefer the literal view, regarding it as a miracle in which the hours when sun and moon were both visible (the sun on the heights of Gibeon at noon and the moon in the valley) were extended into a whole day or twelve hours of light (see Macdonald's Principia and the Bible), the continued radiance of both orbs lighting the battleground. Still another interpretation is that the sun and moon were heavily obscured by storm clouds (see verse 11) and that Joshua's prayer was that they should withhold their light and that the gloom or semi-darkness of the storm might last until the battle was fought, giving the Israelites the advantage of a surprise with smaller numbers, the strength of which the enemy could not properly estimate.