In a recent discussion of Biblical Hebrew, I came across a very interesting reading of the original Hebrew of Genesis 4:1. First, the familiar translation:
“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD [Yahweh].” (KJV)
In the original Hebrew, the word rendered ‘gotten’ is qnh, which has, as one of its meanings, “procreate, beget, bear”. This would render the verse, literally:
“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have procreated a man with Yahweh.”
On first look, this doesn’t appear to make sense. For in the same verse, we would see that:
- Adam procreated with Eve to produce Cain
- Yahweh procreated with Eve to produce Cain
Now, based on how we think, both can’t be right. The notion of Yahweh, God of Israel, literally procreating with Eve to be the father of Cain is ridiculous to modern readers, and may even be viewed as blasphemous.
Because of this, many modern interpretations of the verse take it to refer to the special cooperation mothers, as creators, have with the LORD, the great Creator of us all. This is a teaching I believe to be true.
But was that the extent of the understanding for the original Israelite readers of the text?
If not, what then, did this mean? What would the writer have been thinking?
The very satisfying answer that I’ve found, which is based on the covenant concept of what it means to take upon oneself the Name of Yahweh (which one of the Ten Commandments instructs us not to do in vain), comes from a broad understanding of Israelite imagery and symbolism that is found throughout the Old Testament and related writings. It is this understanding of the dualism that I wish to explore here.
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