Speculating Human Motives in Genesis as a Student of ANE History Part I Ronald Loui Ronald Loui Ronald Loui Published Jun 1, 2026 + Follow Apparently I should move all this to substack (so says AI and trusted friends, AI not being trusted nor a friend btw). But for now, trying to save these thoughts in a hurry for later discovery. Facebook for most trial ideas, LinkedIn and Quora as quasi-factbook, maybe Substack if i have the time. The timeline is mathematically and ANE-scholarly solid, the locations are easy to argue (sorry Woolley on Ur being West Semitic (I say), not Sumerian (he said), d'oh). How about motives? There are a lot of events worth puzzling over. While I am no psych expert, I'm sure i've watched enough Aronofsky movies to give a fair hearing. (Actually, technically, my cog psych class at H was one of the first, my IQ measurement prof was psych, my PhD was in cog sci, after TAing the cog sci class, and postdoc was with two of the greatest psych profs to come through StanF. But that's because measurement and decision and AI overlapped. Truth is, you would rather hear from a lit student or social worker or nurse, than a psych prof, about human motivations for action.) So why did Eve do it? Who knows? What is it she is claimed to have done, really? So much mythological obscuration. Why did Gilgamesh do it? Why did Enki? Why did Horus and Set bite and chew each other down there in the lower Nile? It's great allegory, but nothing really to interpret. Why did Cain do it? That's obvious, though it's also a good candidate for invented allegory. Ruralists really hate urbanists don't they? This guy does seem real. I can tell you that it's equiprobable that Cain and Abel were young, pre-pubescent, if that helps. Why did they all head east? Cain fled to where the ag villages were more developed. He clearly liked the "big city" such as the Khabur/Habor provided in late 22ndC BCE. Ha'adam(if you think "human"=MarTu could be someone's real name) and Hepat (if you think that's Eve's real name) went east because Karaca Dag was spewing and venting. Why the pumice would go west I do not know. Margaret Court's digging with Harvey Weiss across the region says it did, so she might know the potential for winds to shift east to west in the Jazira. Why did Enoch walk with God? Well, what he did was go back to the Balikh river basin after the volcano calmed down. His book says he was basically fascinated with the Watchers and their scientific studies. He never came back. So no one knows how long he lived. Watchers get to be called angels because that's the standard euphemism from these authors for people who father children with "human"=Amorite/MarTu women. We really should be asking why the translators circumscribed humanity so specifically within the West Semitic tribes, and Sumerian, Subartuan, Hurrian, probably Gutian peoples are all not quite human. That's worthy of a session with a therapist. Why did Lamech say such things to his wives? To me, to keep them in his control. Classic domestic abuse threat. Not good. No wonder she cheated on him with a Watcher. Genesis Apocryphon (a Dead Sea Scroll) will educate you: "Then Batenosh my wife spoke with me forcefully. [She we]pt and said, “O my brother and master, recall for yourself my pregnancy [ … … ] marital relations, and my breath within its sheath (?). (Can) I truthfully [tell you] everything?” [ … … ] then I was perturbed even more. vacat" (Reeves) Why are Cain's and Seth's lineages so similar? Error. Sorry, but tiny error during merging of sources, one of which made the original misattribution. Why are they not exactly alike, but slightly different? Small error upon tiny error. Don't let the errors compound any more. Medical records errors should be a prerequisite for seminary study. Why did the Nephilim help Noah? Because he was one of them. Bat-Enosh was just successful convincing Lamech, and Enoch was nice enough to give her cover. Note that Enoch is 45ish when Noah is born, so either he is close enough to be consulted, or the 300yrs in the Masoretic text is as suspect as it looks. Why did Noah think to build a big boat? He didn't build a boat; he knew nothing of the sort. The Mar-Tu, who know no grain, no house, and no boat! What he did know was that social unrest after calamity required a fortress, an ARG (look at the shape of the Ark of the Covenant; do you see flotation or fortification?), and that rains were returning after multi-century el-nino drought in the region after tephra deposits from Karaca Dag. That's not speculation; that's archaeology. Why did he save so many animals? He didn't. That's children's stories. He made sure he had one gender each, at least, of his flock species types, for the open aire kite pen that bore the Masoretic dimensions. He didn't have wood or bitumen or energy for an enclosure that size. Especially if it were on the piedmont at Mardin and had to be taken up the hill. Why did Ham drunk-shame Noah? Who knows? Teenagers! I can't see why anyone cares about this one unless we are doing a radical reconstruction of potential passages rehabilitating homosexuality. Not my call. Why did the diaspora take place? This is shorthand for the great Amorite migration, 19thC BCE. Read the actual ANE history. It's amazing. The medieval Eurochurch game of putting these descendant names to places on the Roman map is worse than the party game PIN THE TAIL ON THE DONKEY. Please don't drink and derive. Had to graze somewhere after the Khabur River Valley was drowned in mud. Why did they build the Tower of Babel? That's what you did for religious authority (hence political power) in southern Mesopotamian cities. They were Amorites styling themselves after Sumerians and Neo-Sumerians, even Akkadians, so they built and re-built ziggurats (and took the extant culture's theophoric suffixes too! Amorites worshiping -Sin the moon; imagine that!). We have a lot of ziggurats around Cleveland because Cesar Pelli loved that architectural form. 20thC CE Argentine, 19thC BCE Amorite, ... gotta love a ziggurat. Need a lot of non-Amorites speaking Akkadian and Sumerian, maybe Elamite (Elamo-Dravidian) and Indus isolates with Kassite and Gutian labor, if you want to build one. Amorites from the north probably bilingual in Hurro-Urartian too! Why did Terah make idols and Abram break them? Now this is interesting. Terah lived in the cult center of the moon deity. There's not really a reason for him to break them at this stage in theological schism working its way toward monotheist anti-idol jealousy. The region is clearly polytheistic (aka tolerant of diversity) at this time (look at the theophoric suffixes mixed in a single family unit). If the idols were being sold to ritualists of Baal Hadad (more likely Teshu[b/p]-cultic Hurrians), then Abram even as a young child would have reason. If you like Midrashic whispers about Abram escaping fire, that means Terah was himself a Hadadist, one who engaged in mlch-dm ritual, or dealt with some who did. That would also suggest strongly that Ter-ah was a later name change, possibly to cleanse Terai (see Sarai) or Tar-ai-el. Why did Terah move to Harran? Again, this is the moon cult center, and Josephus is explicit about Chaldean issues (not explicit about what were the issues, but explicit about the place and peoples). Perhaps the influx of organized storm god peoples would induce flight (I'm looking at you, Yamhad). Or just inter-tribal conflict. Abram gets his good science from Chaldeans according to Josephus. In any case, we know Haran died early, Nahor got the lands, and Abram accompanied Terah with his mixed BRADY BUNCH modern family. To me, this says Abram was youngest and did not inherit the lands. Why did Abram hold court at Damascus? According to Josephus, who cites others, this is a big deal. He had a tribal following of junior pastoralist lieutenants. He seems to have been avoiding the crazy Hadadists in Aleppo, the more reasonable theocrats in Tuttul, and the raiding bands in Jebel Bishri. It seems he wants to lay low, then reclaim urban authority. I wonder about his mlch performed enroute. One account says he did the deed in Damascus (sanitized as milking a cow? can you believe that cover-up?). The Masoretic account says at Moreh, then between Ai and Beth-el. No one would remember a divided bird. This is pre-Akedah Abram, so we have someone performing Canaanite rituals with a reason to do propitious prospective oblation, and an appreciative audience (Tell Mardikh sounds Hadadist to me). As the saying goes, they'd be impressed in Damascus (just made that up -- poetic, yes?). Why did they head on to Egypt? It was famine (probably drought-induced) when they arrived, they hadn't settled for long, and it was really the Eastern branch of the Nile that was in constant contact across the Sinai with Beersheba/Paran. We see a desert impediment; they saw a bedouin highway. Why did Pharaoh take Sarai? Probably Qareh the Bald. He had a lot of options, but have you read Genesis Apocryphon's praise for Sarai? You should. It's as amazing as anything in this whole sacred tale. Why did he not consummate? Dead Sea Scroll, Josephus, Masoretic, Koran, all agree on this! Clearly venereal disease manifested itself (and throughout his people). The really interesting thing is that this suggests even a kept woman had the choice, even the imperative, to remain untouched when sores were present. Hate to say it that way, but I want the truth to shock you sober. You know it's true; you just don't like hearing it. I think this is why the wombs closed later in Gerar, though I can't figure out what's the probable fix that Abraham came up with. STD must have been bigger in the 1870s BCE than in the 1970s CE. In case you missed it, my favorite passage from biblical studies: [… line 1 and first half of line 2 missing ….] … how excellent and beautiful is the expression on her face! And how pleasing [and how] delicate is the hair of her head! How beautiful are her eyes, and how pleasing is her nose and all the bloom of her face … how lovely is her breast, and how beautiful is all her fairness! Her arms, how beautiful! And her hands, how perfect! Any glimpse of her hands is to be desired! How lovely are her palms, and how long and slender are all the fingers of her hands! Her feet, how beautiful! And how perfect are her thighs! No maidens or brides who enter the bridal chamber are more beautiful than she is! The beautifulness of her beauty is superior to (that) of all (other) women, and her beauty is high above all of them! And with all this beauty she possesses much wisdom, and the work of her hands is beautiful. (Reeves) Why did Abram lie and pimp out his wife? He did nothing of the sort. Sarai was a half-sister, probably adopted by Terah and child of Nahor, so a half-sister-wife-niece, which wasn't so uncommon in ANE society. Genesis Apocryphon has an account with Lot in the mix (probably invented dialogue for actual emotional state) showing that Abram was not happy about it. Sheds tears. Why did Lot go East into Jordan (probably Moabite Plain)? This shows that coming out of Egypt, they indeed had a lot (sorry) of head of cattle and sheep. Enough men to fight over land. Why does Lot get taken by the expedition to suppress rebellion? Josephus says Lot aided the defenders, throwing his lot (sorry) with them near the Sea of Lut (sorry). Why pitch his tent near Sodom? Josephus says it was a fine city at the time. So its wickedness is post-war, a ravaged and unruly end to a fine city. Why did Abram pursue the laden, exhausted Mesopotamians to the hills of the spring Dan near Hoba belonging to Damascus? First, you really have to hand it to Josephus for all the military detail (impressing Romans!). Because Abram knew the terrain around Damascus, knew how to lead men into battle at age 42, and knew the science of military maneuver. Whatever else you think about this patriarch of the three great faiths, know that he was a warlord or became one. The way he forms alliances, counts his warriors, is received by the mayors of the surviving cities, and keeps his distance is telling. Why did Hagar get given to Abram by Sarai? Because he was a war hero. And at 37, she figures she's done (even if fertile, it's a dangerous age to be having children in ANE; ask Rachel about her later childbirth; though it seems prolific birthing did happen to some into the 30s!). Hagar is his reward; Ishmael is his genetic descendant. Note the -el theophoric. As he is soon to bind Isaac for mlch-dm, this really shows Abram is a Hadadist at this stage. Note that Yahweh, or Hashem, does not exist as a concept yet, not even among the Kenites. Why did Abram change his name to Abraham and Sarai change to Sarah, and seal it with a snip? This is really good. If you plan to have a child through Sarah, through a surrogate father, you have to promise not to sacrifice the child at altar some day when you want to gamble for your god's favor. In fact this nearly happens. It would have been on anyone's mind who was thinking about it. So you make a contract: no touching the next ones, like Zipporah later at the Inn, or Judah doing his best to preserve Selah from Bathshuah; and you join the hippies who are forswearing Canaanite/Mesopotamian/Phoenician/Hurrian/Hyksos storm-propitiating convention (think of poor Jephthah's daughter). There has to be a pre-existing counter-cultural movement, or the circumcision would signal nothing, enforced by no one. Perhaps, you might counter, it's a self-discipline thing, or a personal devotional mark, like a signum crucis in private unobserved prayer. But this cutting is tribal, public, pubic, mandatory, and traditional. So it is signaling something public, like a gang tattoo. ... at the time! But not later in life, when it's hard to see. OK, so why is it on the man's genitalia? If you think about Sarai's agency in Avaris, I suggest that women had choices in a tent of how to perform. If a man's not circumcised, she's going to withhold offering full menu. Not because it's cleaner (it is), or looks a lot better (it does), but because it means her pregnancy, which likely would result in husbandry (i choose that word here), would be safe from Canaanite mlch-dm. Everyone hip is doing it: get the peace tattoo on your loins and you're cool to join in, forbear with the born without the fore. You couldn't have an effect a dozen years later in an unknown tent with an unknowable woman, unless you thought more people cared and knew the tattoo's significance. It could be de novo tabula rasa Abe generis, but that's a long shot. As I like to say, it's not there to help Egyptian generals count slain Shasu mercenaries. That's what cutting off hands was for! I do see a problem where someone uses it to fool the woman in the tent, like a frat boy who promises to pull out then doesn't. Abraham in fact nearly pulls this trick on Sarah, and she must not have been happy about it. She probably planted seeds (oh ho ho) of his eventual doubt over rescission wrt their incision. ** Why did Abraham entertain the three strangers so lavishly and dutifully? Koran says they were beautiful men. Probably young and motile (i chose that word here). Sarah was assumed infertile and post-menopausal, when in fact she was fertile and perimenopausal. So nomadic sexual hospitality is interesting here. Sarah was assumed incapable of pregnancy, so the gift to the strangers is a practical choice. I don't know how this squares with the covenant not to sacrifice an intentionally alternately-begotten child, so choose one. She's also not had a good laugh, shall we say, in a long time. Abraham shows incredible generosity in this moment. It's really a beautiful gesture if you can think past the sexual nature of it. I've been offered that hospitality, or so it seems in retrospect, and it is always out of respect for the wife. Lot will do similarly in the next scene, but disrespecting his daughters. I ask that you remember in a tent, the hospitality is easily heard. Why did three men arrive at Abe's and two continue to Lot's? I think maybe one stayed for more laughs. How did he prophesize a boy in nine months? Could be post-hoc ex post facto gender assignment. Could be a family trend. Male X vs Y determination does seem to appear in bunches. Jacob and Leah had to work overtime to produce a girl. Why did the two angelic men want to do bad things to Sodom, this fine city now recently made wicked? It was good enough for Lot to assist, to remain in its orbit, for him to find husbands for his daughters (promissory for prepubescent it seems), and for the angels to plan to stay in the square. So why the burn? It seems the Sodomites did not present themselves too well at Lot's tent door. Gang rape, whether hetero or homo, especially when bedouin hospitality norms put protection up top, would seem to earn scorn. Especially if it is city-wide and condoned. That would be sufficient to provoke ire and fire. The conflagration however was intended as soon as they left Abe's. Was one of them personally victimized on an earlier trip through Sodom? Were the other collaterally damaged cities similarly wicked, or just in Sodom's economic and political orbit? Sometimes I feel like free market economists should catch the pigeon sulfur of irate institutional economists for giving capitalism a bad name. Sodom no doubt had many post-war failings. Why did Abimelech take Sarah when she was pregnant at 90? Well, she was 45, she was first trimester, or he had a bump love kink, and she was beautiful. At 45? Yes. I dated a Sarah above 40 who was stunning. Her Israeli cousin went dancing with us, pondering aloud, "why does my beautiful cousin Sarah deserve such a young man as her beau? Just look at her!" I was quite proud. Why did Sarah banish Hagar? That's easy. There's an old Chinese proverb about not keeping two brooms in the same corner. Mom used to take that literally as superstition. I said, hey, that's not what that fortune cookie is trying to tell you. Why did Abram suffer and keep Hagar in the very next village to the south? Because he knew Ishmael was his only genetic descendant. Sarah wore the pants in those tents. Why did Abraham nearly sacrifice Isaac? If you study molech ritual from ANE cultures, it's pretty commonplace. In fact, it appears the Southern kingdom still wrestled with and explicitly enjoined the Canaanite tradition for another thousand years. Maybe famine. Seems to happen a lot. You have to understand that in their world, you do it or everyone dies. It's a tradition of the child sacrificing for the tribe. A noble gesture, albeit made out of innocence and the straightjacket of tribal norms, under indisputable patriarchal decision. Problem of course is that it has no legitimate causal effect, so it's a bad gamble. But ask the Meso-Americans 3000yrs later if they had found a better idea. They strangled family members when there was drought and famine. Why did he stop? You know, Abraham was actually a Watcher-Chaldean-derived astronomer, a proto-scientist according to Josephus. Maybe his change of heart, or re-evaluation of contractual obligation, was actually a glimmer of scientific understanding of anthropomorphized deity statistical non-efficacy. I'd be happy to believe that. Why did Abraham buy a cave for Sarah to be buried? And his descendants? I say he loved her. I don't think he was planning the whole family mausoleum for Jacob's troops (he has an unmarried Isaac at this point, age 17, quite late!). I think he loved her and respected her like a sister. Maybe they tried to bring a child a lot (there it is again!), for a while, but suffered inbreeding depression of consanguinity. For maybe three decades. Frequency of miscarriage from autosomal regressive disorder. Sarai by the way was probably the impetus to take the Asherah suffix and join the non-molech movement. We call it Abe's schism, but Sarah does not waver (why should she?). Abraham is tempted 13.5 years after signing his name on the foreskins. Let's call this PART I and continue PART II later. **there must have been a tradition of ritual enforcement, like Bizango/Zobop of Haiti, Anyoto of Congo ... or the Night Marchers in Hawaii. Think Sicarii Zealots much later. I still claim Zipporah at the Inn shows some hidden force (human gang or group) behind the tattoo or talisman of foreskin removal. If you sacrifice this one, you die in the night. Not just signpost to woman in tent with options. This idea of secret society enforcement of apotropaic marking comes from time in the Pacific Islands. You had to wonder who enforced the taboos and why they marched at night. And my brother's father-in-law who told me the story of the Catholic priest who availed himself of a very young girl in the Philppines. He washed up the next morning on the beach. Something took him after he took her. Made a lot of sense to me. It's what Simeon and Levi did when Dinah was taken as a child.