Synopsis of the events described in Genesis 1-11

The Bible begins in the first chapter of Genesis with the creation of the world. Chapters 2 and 3 then describe the sin committed by Adam in the Garden of Eden. This sin brought about several major transformations in the human condition. Prior to the sin man knew only good. After the sin, man became one who knows "good and evil." Moreover, because of the commission of the sin, mankind was punished in several ways and was banished from the Garden of Eden.

Chapters 4 to 11 then chronicle the story of man outside Eden. One feature that is common to all the events in this area is that they all pertain to human sins and their consequences. Essentially four events involving five separate sins are recounted:

(1) chapter 4 - the murder of Abel by Cain and his banishment from "face of the earth"

(2) chapters 6-9 - two types of sins committed in the times of Noah and the resulting punishment of the Deluge
One of the sins in the pre-Deluge era is described as follows: "[men] took wives from wherever they pleased" (Genesis 6:2). This is understood to include adultery. The second sin in the pre-Deluge era is described as follows: "and the earth became filled with plunder" (Genesis 6:11), clearly meaning theft.

(3) end of chapter 9 - an episode involving the sons of Noah
Ham, one of Noah's sons saw his father's nakedness and told what he had seen to his two brothers, Shem and Japhet. Nothing more is said about what Ham did. However, as the rest of the story implies, what he did was wrong. After Noah awoke and discovered what his younger son, Ham, had done, he cursed one of Ham's descendants. Shem and Japhet were blessed by Noah for what they had done - namely, walking backwards into Noah's tent and covering their father.

(4) beginning of chapter 11 - the building of the Tower of Babel and the ensuing dispersal of mankind.
The fifth and final sin of this era is the most mysterious. Mankind, it is said, decided to build "a city and a tower whose top would reach the heaven." They were seeking to increase their fame, "lest they be spread out over the face of the earth.

In short, the five sins are:
(1) murder
(2) adultery
(3) theft
(4) seeing and talking (under the special circumstances of the story), and
(5) building a tower that reaches to the heaven.

Look carefully at the first three items in this list.
Do they remind you of anything?