each other. Most obviously Adam’s and Noah’s careers echo each other, but Abraham and Jacob also have similar experiences, and there are hints from time to time of parallels between the antediluvians and the later patriarchs. Furthermore these genealogies serve not simply to show how all the nations of the world known to ancient Israel were descended from Adam, but how they were related to Israel. This interest in lines of descent is not confined to the genealogies. The longer cycles often go into