<< Well the Bible, as we know, is hardly a text on genetics, but the idea that the birds were imprinted by environmental factors certainly is close to Lamarck than anyone else I can think of. The quote said "in heat" - is that KJV? I've never heard a bird person say birds went into heat. >>
Not birds -- goats, cows, and sheep. "Flocks" of sheep. Jacob had made an agreement with his father-in-law Laban that they split up the flocks. Jacob was to take those that looked a certain way. So -- he engaged in this unique "breeding" technique to create more of "his" kind of sheep, and make himself rich at the expense of Laban.
It's the New International Version. The KJV just says, "When they looked at the rods they conceived."
Giving rise to the Orthodox commentary on artificial insemination: "Spare the rod and spoil the child."
So we had some "unnatural selection" going on. He must have realized on some level, that certain traits were "inherited".
While the ancient Jews were simple people with simple lives, they were not necessarily stupid. Some of them were also quite artistic as revealed in some of the Psalms and The Song of Solomon.
I would think that the average IQ has increased a little over the last 6000 years, simply due to better childhood nutrition and other factors, but I doubt that the giants of the bible were any less intelligent than your average Freeper.
Has anyone seen any studies in this area?