Kejadian 4:1

The Story of Cain and Abel

4:1 Now ¹  the man had marital relations with ²  his wife Eve, and she became pregnant ³  and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created ⁴  a man just as the Lord did!” ⁵ 

Kejadian 20:1-18

Abraham and Abimelech

20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev ⁶  region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident ⁷  in Gerar, 20:2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.

20:3 But God appeared ⁸  to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead ⁹  because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” ¹⁰ 

20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, ¹¹  would you really slaughter an innocent nation? ¹²  20:5 Did Abraham ¹³  not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ¹⁴  ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience ¹⁵  and with innocent hands!”

20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. ¹⁶  That is why I have kept you ¹⁷  from sinning against me and why ¹⁸  I did not allow you to touch her. 20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed ¹⁹  he is a prophet ²⁰  and he will pray for you; thus you will live. ²¹  But if you don’t give her back, ²²  know that you will surely die ²³  along with all who belong to you.”

20:8 Early in the morning ²⁴  Abimelech summoned ²⁵  all his servants. When he told them about all these things, ²⁶  they ²⁷  were terrified. 20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? ²⁸  You have done things to me that should not be done!” ²⁹  20:10 Then Abimelech asked ³⁰  Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?” ³¹ 

20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ³²  ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of ³³  my wife.’ 20:12 What’s more, ³⁴  she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife. 20:13 When God made me wander ³⁵  from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: ³⁶  Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”

20:14 So Abimelech gave ³⁷  sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him. 20:15 Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please.” ³⁸ 

20:16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver ³⁹  to your ‘brother.’ ⁴⁰  This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.” ⁴¹ 

20:17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children. 20:18 For the Lord ⁴²  had caused infertility to strike every woman ⁴³  in the household of Abimelech because he took ⁴⁴  Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

[4:1]  ¹ tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) introduces a new episode in the ongoing narrative.

[4:1]  ² tn Heb “the man knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.

[4:1]  ³ tn Or “she conceived.”

[4:1]  ⁴ tn Here is another sound play (paronomasia) on a name. The sound of the verb קָנִיתִי (qaniti, “I have created”) reflects the sound of the name Cain in Hebrew (קַיִן, qayin) and gives meaning to it. The saying uses the Qal perfect of קָנָה (qanah). There are two homonymic verbs with this spelling, one meaning “obtain, acquire” and the other meaning “create” (see Gen 14:19, 22; Deut 32:6; Ps 139:13; Prov 8:22). The latter fits this context very well. Eve has created a man.

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “with the Lord.” The particle אֶת־ (’et) is not the accusative/object sign, but the preposition “with” as the ancient versions attest. Some take the preposition in the sense of “with the help of” (see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV), while others prefer “along with” in the sense of “like, equally with, in common with” (see Lev 26:39; Isa 45:9; Jer 23:28). Either works well in this context; the latter is reflected in the present translation. Some understand אֶת־ as the accusative/object sign and translate, “I have acquired a man – the Lord.” They suggest that the woman thought (mistakenly) that she had given birth to the incarnate Lord, the Messiah who would bruise the Serpent’s head. This fanciful suggestion is based on a questionable allegorical interpretation of Gen 3:15 (see the note there on the word “heel”).

[4:1]  sn Since Exod 6:3 seems to indicate that the name Yahweh (יְהוָה, yÿhvah, translated Lord) was first revealed to Moses (see also Exod 3:14), it is odd to see it used in quotations in Genesis by people who lived long before Moses. This problem has been resolved in various ways: (1) Source critics propose that Exod 6:3 is part of the “P” (or priestly) tradition, which is at odds with the “J” (or Yahwistic) tradition. (2) Many propose that “name” in Exod 6:3 does not refer to the divine name per se, but to the character suggested by the name. God appeared to the patriarchs primarily in the role of El Shaddai, the giver of fertility, not as Yahweh, the one who fulfills his promises. In this case the patriarchs knew the name Yahweh, but had not experienced the full significance of the name. In this regard it is possible that Exod 6:3b should not be translated as a statement of denial, but as an affirmation followed by a rhetorical question implying that the patriarchs did indeed know God by the name of Yahweh, just as they knew him as El Shaddai. D. A. Garrett, following the lead of F. Andersen, sees Exod 6:2-3 as displaying a paneled A/B parallelism and translates them as follows: (A) “I am Yahweh.” (B) “And I made myself known to Abraham…as El Shaddai.” (A') “And my name is Yahweh”; (B') “Did I not make myself known to them?” (D. A. Garrett, Rethinking Genesis, 21). However, even if one translates the text this way, the Lord’s words do not necessarily mean that he made the name Yahweh known to the fathers. God is simply affirming that he now wants to be called Yahweh (see Exod 3:14-16) and that he revealed himself in prior times as El Shaddai. If we stress the parallelism with B, the implied answer to the concluding question might be: “Yes, you did make yourself known to them – as El Shaddai!” The main point of the verse would be that El Shaddai, the God of the fathers, and the God who has just revealed himself to Moses as Yahweh are one and the same. (3) G. J. Wenham suggests that pre-Mosaic references to Yahweh are the product of the author/editor of Genesis, who wanted to be sure that Yahweh was identified with the God of the fathers. In this regard, note how Yahweh is joined with another divine name or title in Gen 9:26-27; 14:22; 15:2, 8; 24:3, 7, 12, 27, 42, 48; 27:20; 32:9. The angel uses the name Yahweh when instructing Hagar concerning her child’s name, but the actual name (Ishma-el, “El hears”) suggests that El, not Yahweh, originally appeared in the angel’s statement (16:11). In her response to the angel Hagar calls God El, not Yahweh (16:13). In 22:14 Abraham names the place of sacrifice “Yahweh Will Provide” (cf. v. 16), but in v. 8 he declares, “God will provide.” God uses the name Yahweh when speaking to Jacob at Bethel (28:13) and Jacob also uses the name when he awakens from the dream (28:16). Nevertheless he names the place Beth-el (“house of El”). In 31:49 Laban prays, “May Yahweh keep watch,” but in v. 50 he declares, “God is a witness between you and me.” Yahweh’s use of the name in 15:7 and 18:14 may reflect theological idiom, while the use in 18:19 is within a soliloquy. (Other uses of Yahweh in quotations occur in 16:2, 5; 24:31, 35, 40, 42, 44, 48, 50, 51, 56; 26:22, 28-29; 27:7, 27; 29:32-35; 30:24, 30; 49:18. In these cases there is no contextual indication that a different name was originally used.) For a fuller discussion of this proposal, see G. J. Wenham, “The Religion of the Patriarchs,” Essays on the Patriarchal Narratives, 189-93.

[20:1]  ⁶ tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”

[20:1]  sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.

[20:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he sojourned.”

[20:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “came.”

[20:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “Look, you [are] dead.” The Hebrew construction uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with a second person pronominal particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with by the participle. It is a highly rhetorical expression.

[20:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and she is owned by an owner.” The disjunctive clause is causal or explanatory in this case.

[20:4]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[20:4]  ¹² tn Apparently Abimelech assumes that God’s judgment will fall on his entire nation. Some, finding the reference to a nation problematic, prefer to emend the text and read, “Would you really kill someone who is innocent?” See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 149.

[20:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and she, even she.”

[20:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “with the integrity of my heart.”

[20:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”

[20:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and I, even I, kept you.”

[20:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “therefore.”

[20:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or “for,” if the particle is understood as causal (as many English translations do) rather than asseverative.

[20:7]  ²⁰ sn For a discussion of the term prophet see N. Walker, “What is a Nabhi?” ZAW 73 (1961): 99-100.

[20:7]  ²¹ tn After the preceding jussive (or imperfect), the imperative with vav conjunctive here indicates result.

[20:7]  sn He will pray for you that you may live. Abraham was known as a man of God whose prayer would be effectual. Ironically and sadly, he was also known as a liar.

[20:7]  ²² tn Heb “if there is not you returning.” The suffix on the particle becomes the subject of the negated clause.

[20:7]  ²³ tn The imperfect is preceded by the infinitive absolute to make the warning emphatic.

[20:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”

[20:8]  ²⁵ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the preposition לְ (lamed) means “to summon.”

[20:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”

[20:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[20:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.

[20:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.

[20:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “And Abimelech said to.”

[20:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “What did you see that you did this thing?” The question implies that Abraham had some motive for deceiving Abimelech.

[20:11]  ³² tn Heb “Because I said.”

[20:11]  ³³ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[20:12]  ³⁴ tn Heb “but also.”

[20:13]  ³⁵ tn The Hebrew verb is plural. This may be a case of grammatical agreement with the name for God, which is plural in form. However, when this plural name refers to the one true God, accompanying predicates are usually singular in form. Perhaps Abraham is accommodating his speech to Abimelech’s polytheistic perspective. (See GKC 463 §145.i.) If so, one should translate, “when the gods made me wander.”

[20:13]  ³⁶ tn Heb “This is your loyal deed which you can do for me.”

[20:14]  ³⁷ tn Heb “took and gave.”

[20:15]  ³⁸ tn Heb “In the [place that is] good in your eyes live!”

[20:16]  ³⁹ sn A thousand pieces [Heb “shekels”] of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 11.5 kilograms, or 400 ounces (about 25 pounds).

[20:16]  ⁴⁰ sn To your ‘brother.’ Note the way that the king refers to Abraham. Was he being sarcastic? It was surely a rebuke to Sarah. What is amazing is how patient this king was. It is proof that the fear of God was in that place, contrary to what Abraham believed (see v. 11).

[20:16]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Look, it is for you a covering of the eyes, for all who are with you, and with all, and you are set right.” The exact meaning of the statement is unclear. Apparently it means that the gift of money somehow exonerates her in other people’s eyes. They will not look on her as compromised (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:74).

[20:18]  ⁴² tn In the Hebrew text the clause begins with “because.”

[20:18]  ⁴³ tn Heb had completely closed up every womb.” In the Hebrew text infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[20:18]  sn The Lord had closed up every womb. This fact indicates that Sarah was in Abimelech’s household for weeks or months before the dream revelation was given (20:6-7). No one in his household could have children after Sarah arrived on the scene.

[20:18]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “because of.” The words “he took” are supplied in the translation for clarity.