A Monotonous Cycle Revisited, Part 4

Cain complained to יְהֹוָ֑ה (yehôvâh):

Masoretic Text

Septuagint
Genesis 4:14 (Tanakh) Genesis 4:14 (NET) Genesis 4:14 (NETS)

Genesis 4:14 (English Elpenor)

Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive (נָ֤ע) and a wanderer (וָנָד֙) in the earth; and it will come to pass, that whosoever findeth me will slay me.’ Look, you are driving me off the land today, and I must hide from your presence.  I will be a homeless (nûaʽ, נע) wanderer (nûd, ונד) on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me!” If today you are driving me out from off the earth and I shall be hidden from your face, then I shall be groaning (στένων) and trembling (τρέμων) on the earth, and it will be that anyone who finds me will kill me.” If thou castest me out this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from thy presence, and I shall be groaning (στένων) and trembling (τρέμων) upon the earth, then it will be that any one that finds me shall slay me.

The Hebrew word in the Masoretic text translated fugitive in the Tanakh was נָ֤ע (nûaʽ) and wanderer was וָנָד֙ (nûd).  I ran both (without vowel points) through Morfix.

Morfix

Hebrew NET/Tanakh Forms Definition
נע homeless/fugitive נָע to move; to advance; to fluctuate, to range
נָע moving, mobile

Morfix

Hebrew NET/Tanakh Forms Definition
ונד wanderer נֵד (literary) pillar of water, wall of water
נָד (flowery) to wander, to roam; (literary) to move back and forth

The Septuagint had στένων (a form of στένω), translated groaning, and τρέμων (a form of τρέμω), translated trembling.  Given that one of the things we are told about Cain after this is that he was building a city, it seems prudent to question the fidelity of the Masoretic text here, not because Cain said it.  Cain could have predicted his future in error.  But Cain was merely quoting [Table] יהוה (yehôvâh).

Masoretic Text

Septuagint
Genesis 4:12 (Tanakh) Genesis 4:12 (NET) Genesis 4:12 (NETS)

Genesis 4:12 (English Elpenor)

When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive (נָ֥ע) and a wanderer (וָנָ֖ד) shalt thou be in the earth.’ When you try to cultivate the ground it will no longer yield its best for you.  You will be a homeless (nûaʽ, נע) wanderer (nûd, ונד) on the earth.” For you will till the earth, and it will not continue to yield its strength to you; you will be groaning (στένων) and trembling (τρέμων) on the earth.” When thou tillest the earth, then it shall not continue to give its strength to thee: thou shalt be groaning (στένων) and trembling (τρέμων) on the earth.

Perhaps one could argue that Cain disobeyed a command to become a fugitive and a wanderer by building a city rather than that he proved divine foreknowledge false.  But given that Cain was already groaning and trembling that whosoever findeth me will slay me, the rabbis seem to have a better argument than the Masoretes for more original text.  The murderer, Cain, had become acutely aware how easy it was to kill or be killed.

The writer of Hebrews wrote of Jesus (Hebrews 2:14, 15 NET):

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.

The Lord (yehôvâh, יְהֹוָ֗ה) responded to Cain’s groaning and trembling.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint
Genesis 4:15, 16 (Tanakh) Genesis 4:15, 16 (NET) Genesis 4:15, 16 (NETS)

Genesis 4:15, 16 (English Elpenor)

And HaShem said unto him: ‘Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.’  And HaShem set a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should smite him. But the Lord said to him, “All right then, if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.”  Then the Lord put a special mark on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. And the Lord God said to him, “Not so!  Anyone who kills Kain will let loose seven acts of vengeance.”  And the Lord God allocated a sign to Kain so that no one who found him would do away with him. And the Lord God said to him, Not so, any one that slays Cain shall suffer seven-fold vengeance; and the Lord God set a mark upon Cain that no one that found him might slay him.
And Cain went out from the presence of HaShem, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Then Kain went away from the presence of God and lived in the land of Naid over against Edem. So Cain went forth from the presence of God and dwelt in the land of Nod over against Edem.

If Cain had come groaning and trembling to me, I’m in no position to promise to kill his murderer and six of his murderers’ family or friends.  I probably would have responded something like, “You made the world this way, live in it.”  And I may have thought that was the best course of action for Cain’s own benefit.  The prodigal son came to his senses suffering in the world he had made for himself (Luke 15:14-19 NET).

Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need [Table].  So he went and worked for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.  He was longing to eat the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.  But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food enough to spare, but here I am dying from hunger! [Table]  I will get up and go to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.”’ [Table]

Does such insight come, I wonder, apart from the word of God, a father’s teaching about the word of God or the indwelling Holy Spirit? especially when it involves something more than running away from home?  Cain was banished from the presence of the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה).  His situation was more like that of sinners born after the law was given.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint
Isaiah 59:1-4 (Tanakh) Isaiah 59:1-4 (NET) Isaiah 59:1-4 (NETS)

Isaiah 59:1-4 (English Elpenor)

Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak to deliver you; his ear is not too deaf to hear you. Is not the Lord’s hand strong to save?  Or has he made his ear heavy so as not to listen? Has the hand of the Lord no power to save? or has he made his ear heavy, so that he should not hear?
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God; your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers. Rather, your sinful acts separate between you and God, and because of your sins he has turned his face away from you so as not to show mercy. Nay, your iniquities separate between you and God, and because of your sins has he turned away [his] face from you, so as not to have mercy [upon you].
For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. For your hands are stained with blood and your fingers with sin; your lips speak lies, your tongue utters malicious words. For your hands have been defiled with blood, and your fingers with sins, and your lips have spoken lawlessness, and your tongue plots unrighteousness. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with sins; your lips also have spoken iniquity, and your tongue meditates unrighteousness.
None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. No one is concerned about justice; no one sets forth his case truthfully.  They depend on false words and tell lies; they conceive of oppression and give birth to sin. No one speaks righteous things, nor is there true judgment; they trust in vanities, and they speak empty words, because they conceive trouble and give birth to lawlessness. None speaks justly, neither is there true judgment: they trust in vanities, and speak empty [words]; for they conceive trouble, and bring forth iniquity.

Though the law was not yet given, this promise of vengeance on anyone who would kill Cain was intended to function, I assume, as a deterrent.  We hope the punishments of law will function this way in those who have not yet received (through faith in Jesus Christ) God’s own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,[1] the righteousness of God, the fruit of his Spirit.  Paul wrote (Romans 13:1-4 NET):

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except by[2] God’s appointment, and the authorities[3] that exist have been instituted by God.[4]  So the person who resists such authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur[5] judgment (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct[6] but for bad[7]).  Do you desire not to fear authority?  Do good and you will receive its commendation because it is God’s servant for your well-being.  But be afraid if you do wrong because government does not bear the sword for nothing.  It is God’s servant to administer punishment on the person who does wrong.

Unable to farm for a living, Cain built the city of Enoch.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint
Genesis 4:17b (Tanakh) Genesis 4:17b (NET) Genesis 4:17b (NETS)

Genesis 4:17b (English Elpenor)

and he builded a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after his son Enoch. and he was building a city and named the city after the name of his son Henoch. and he built a city; and he named the city after the name of his son, Enoch.

Time passed.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint
Genesis 4:18 (Tanakh) Genesis 4:18 (NET) Genesis 4:18 (NETS)

Genesis 4:18 (English Elpenor)

And unto Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael; and Mehujael begot Methushael; and Methushael begot Lamech. To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael.  Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech. Then to Henoch was born Gaidad, and Gaidad was the father of Maiel, and Maiel the father of Mathousala, and Mathousala the father of Lamech. And to Enoch was born Gaidad; and Gaidad begot Maleleel; and Maleleel begot Mathusala; and Mathusala begot Lamech.

Lamech recalled part of the story of the mark of Cain.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint
Genesis 4:23, 24 (Tanakh) Genesis 4:23, 24 (NET) Genesis 4:23, 24 (NETS)

Genesis 4:23, 24 (English Elpenor)

And Lamech said unto his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech; for I have slain a man for wounding (לְפִצְעִ֔י) me, and a young man for bruising (לְחַבֻּֽרָתִֽי) me; Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me!  You wives of Lamech, hear my words!  I have killed a man for wounding (petsaʽ, לפצעי) me, a young man for hurting (chabbûrâh, לחברתי) me. Now Lamech said to his own wives: “Ada and Sella, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to my words, because I have killed a man for a wound (τραῦμα) to me, and a young man for a welt (μώλωπα) to me, And Lamech said to his wives, Ada and Sella, Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, consider my words, because I have slain a man to my sorrow (τραῦμα) and a youth to my grief (μώλωπα).
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much, then Lamech seventy-seven times!” because seven times vengeance has been exacted by Kain, but by Lamech seventy times seven.” Because vengeance has been exacted seven times on Cain’s behalf, on Lamech’s [it shall be] seventy times seven.

The English translation of the Elpenor Septuagint—because I have slain a man to my sorrow and a youth to my grief—is similar to the KJV translation of the Masoretic text—for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.  They leave me with an impression of Lamech as an ironic moral philosopher lamenting his murders.  But that makes his next statement difficult to unravel: Because vengeance has been exacted seven times on Cain’s behalf, on Lamech’s [it shall be] seventy times seven (Elpenor English) or If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

I asked a friend for her understanding of Lamech’s statement, unaffected by translations other than the KJV.  She apparently took to my wounding and to my hurt as King James English for wounding me and bruising me.   She also assumed a man and a young man were one and the same person.

“I believe the avenger system is already at work,” she wrote.  “A descendent of Able accosted Lamech to avenge his father’s or grandfather’s or great-grandfather’s death.  Lamech is severely wounded, but in the process kills the avenger.  Lamech has not killed in anger as Cain did, but in self-defense.  Therefore, he says God will put a higher protective value upon his life than that of Cain.”

It seems more natural to me to accept the alternative translations that portray Lamech as a murderous egoist.  Cain’s groaning and trembling has vanished from Lamech’s memory.  Though one might argue that his egoism is propelled by his fear of death, he didn’t wait for God to take vengeance on his murderer or hope that the threat of vengeance would act as a deterrent.  He took lethal action himself at every provocation: I have slain a man for wounding me, and a young man for bruising me.  He and his followers made the world God destroyed in the flood.

Masoretic Text

Septuagint
Genesis 6:11-13 (Tanakh) Genesis 6:11-13 (NET) Genesis 6:11-13 (NETS)

Genesis 6:11-13 (English Elpenor)

And the earth was corrupt before G-d, and the earth was filled with violence. The earth was ruined in the sight of God; the earth was filled with violence. Now the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was full of wrongdoing. But the earth was corrupted before God, and the earth was filled with iniquity.
And G-d saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. God saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful. And the Lord God saw the earth, and it was ruined, for all flesh had ruined his way upon the earth. And the Lord God saw the earth, and it was corrupted; because all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.
And G-d said unto Noah: ‘The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. So God said to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them.  Now I am about to destroy them and the earth. And God said to Noe, “The time of all humankind has come before me, for the earth has become full of wrongdoing by reason of them, and see, I am going to ruin them and the earth. And the Lord God said to Noe, A period of all men is come before me; because the earth has been filled with iniquity by them, and, behold, I destroy them and the earth.

It matters very little whether Lamech was the bleeding edge of this wave of violence, wrongdoing and iniquity or its hapless victim, killing only in self-defense.  Either interpretation serves as a marker to presage this coming destruction.

Paul wrote believers in Rome (Romans 5:12-19 NET):

So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin when there is no law.  Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type of the coming one) transgressed [Table].  But the gracious gift is not like the transgression.  For if the many died through the transgression of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many!  And the gift is not like the one who sinned.  For judgment, resulting from the one transgression, led to condemnation, but the gracious gift from the many failures led to justification.  For if, by the transgression of the one man, death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!

Consequently, just as condemnation for all people came through one transgression, so too through the one righteous act came righteousness leading to life for all people.  For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of one man many will be constituted righteous.

So also it is written, Paul wrote believers in Corinth, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.[8]  Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters, he continued, Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.[9]  As Jesus told Nicodemus: What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’[10]

A table comparing Paul’s quotation from Genesis 2:7 in the Septuagint follows.

1 Corinthians 15:45a (NET Parallel Greek)

Genesis 2:7b (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 2:7b (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐγένετο ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος Ἀδὰμ εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν

1 Corinthians 15:45a (NET)

Genesis 2:7b (NETS)

Genesis 2:7b (English Elpenor)

The first man, Adam, became a living person the man became a living being the man became a living soul

Tables comparing Genesis 4:14; 4:15; 4:16; 4:17; 4:18; 4:23; 4:24; Isaiah 59:1; 59:2; 59:3; 59:4; Genesis 6:11; 6:12; 6:13 and 2:7 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Genesis 4:14; 4:15; 4:16; 4:17; 4:18; 4:23; 4:24; Isaiah 59:1; 59:2; 59:3; 59:4; Genesis 6:11; 6:12; 6:13 and 2:7 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables of comparing Romans 13:1-3 in the NET and KJV follow.

Genesis 4:14 (Tanakh)

Genesis 4:14 (KJV)

Genesis 4:14 (NET)

Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it will come to pass, that whosoever findeth me will slay me.’ Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. Look, you are driving me off the land today, and I must hide from your presence.  I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me!”

Genesis 4:14 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)

εἰ ἐκβάλλεις με σήμερον ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ προσώπου σου κρυβήσομαι καὶ ἔσομαι στένων καὶ τρέμων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἔσται πᾶς ὁ εὑρίσκων με ἀποκτενεῗ με εἰ ἐκβάλλεις με σήμερον ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ προσώπου σου κρυβήσομαι, καὶ ἔσομαι στένων καὶ τρέμων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἔσται πᾶς ὁ εὑρίσκων με, ἀποκτενεῖ με

Genesis 4:14 (NETS)

Genesis 4:14 (English Elpenor)

If today you are driving me out from off the earth and I shall be hidden from your face, then I shall be groaning and trembling on the earth, and it will be that anyone who finds me will kill me.” If thou castest me out this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from thy presence, and I shall be groaning and trembling upon the earth, then it will be that any one that finds me shall slay me.

Genesis 4:15 (Tanakh)

Genesis 4:15 (KJV)

Genesis 4:15 (NET)

And HaShem said unto him: ‘Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.’  And HaShem set a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should smite him. And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.  And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. But the Lord said to him, “All right then, if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.”  Then the Lord put a special mark on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down.

Genesis 4:15 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ κύριος ὁ θεός οὐχ οὕτως πᾶς ὁ ἀποκτείνας Καιν ἑπτὰ ἐκδικούμενα παραλύσει καὶ ἔθετο κύριος ὁ θεὸς σημεῗον τῷ Καιν τοῦ μὴ ἀνελεῗν αὐτὸν πάντα τὸν εὑρίσκοντα αὐτόν καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Κύριος ὁ Θεός· οὐχ οὕτως, πᾶς ὁ ἀποκτείνας Κάϊν ἑπτὰ ἐκδικούμενα παραλύσει. καὶ ἔθετο Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς σημεῖον τῷ Κάϊν τοῦ μὴ ἀνελεῖν αὐτὸν πάντα τὸν εὑρίσκοντα αὐτόν.

Genesis 4:15 (NETS)

Genesis 4:15 (English Elpenor)

And the Lord God said to him, “Not so!  Anyone who kills Kain will let loose seven acts of vengeance.”  And the Lord God allocated a sign to Kain so that no one who found him would do away with him. And the Lord God said to him, Not so, any one that slays Cain shall suffer seven-fold vengeance; and the Lord God set a mark upon Cain that no one that found him might slay him.

Genesis 4:16 (Tanakh)

Genesis 4:16 (KJV)

Genesis 4:16 (NET)

And Cain went out from the presence of HaShem, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Genesis 4:16 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐξῆλθεν δὲ Καιν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ᾤκησεν ἐν γῇ Ναιδ κατέναντι Εδεμ ἐξῆλθε δὲ Κάϊν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ᾤκησεν ἐν γῇ Ναὶδ κατέναντι ᾿Εδέμ

Genesis 4:16 (NETS)

Genesis 4:16 (English Elpenor)

Then Kain went away from the presence of God and lived in the land of Naid over against Edem. So Cain went forth from the presence of God and dwelt in the land of Nod over against Edem.

Genesis 4:17 (Tanakh)

Genesis 4:17 (KJV)

Genesis 4:17 (NET)

And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bore Enoch; and he builded a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. Cain was intimate with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch.  Cain was building a city, and he named the city after his son Enoch.

Genesis 4:17 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἔγνω Καιν τὴν γυναῗκα αὐτοῦ καὶ συλλαβοῦσα ἔτεκεν τὸν Ενωχ καὶ ἦν οἰκοδομῶν πόλιν καὶ ἐπωνόμασεν τὴν πόλιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Ενωχ Καὶ ἔγνω Κάϊν τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, καὶ συλλαβοῦσα ἔτεκε τὸν ᾿Ενώχ. καὶ ἦν οἰκοδομῶν πόλιν καὶ ἐπωνόμασε τὴν πόλιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, ᾿Ενώχ

Genesis 4:17 (NETS)

Genesis 4:17 (English Elpenor)

And Kain knew his wife, and after she had conceived she bore Henoch, and he was building a city and named the city after the name of his son Henoch. And Cain knew his wife, and having conceived she bore Enoch; and he built a city; and he named the city after the name of his son, Enoch.

Genesis 4:18 (Tanakh)

Genesis 4:18 (KJV)

Genesis 4:18 (NET)

And unto Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael; and Mehujael begot Methushael; and Methushael begot Lamech. And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael.  Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

Genesis 4:18 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐγενήθη δὲ τῷ Ενωχ Γαιδαδ καὶ Γαιδαδ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Μαιηλ καὶ Μαιηλ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Μαθουσαλα καὶ Μαθουσαλα ἐγέννησεν τὸν Λαμεχ ἐγεννήθη δὲ τῷ ᾿Ενὼχ Γαϊδάδ, καὶ Γαϊδὰδ ἐγέννησε τὸν Μαλελεήλ, καὶ Μαλελεὴλ ἐγέννησε τὸν Μαθουσάλα, καὶ Μαθουσάλα ἐγέννησε τὸν Λάμεχ

Genesis 4:18 (NETS)

Genesis 4:18 (English Elpenor)

Then to Henoch was born Gaidad, and Gaidad was the father of Maiel, and Maiel the father of Mathousala, and Mathousala the father of Lamech. And to Enoch was born Gaidad; and Gaidad begot Maleleel; and Maleleel begot Mathusala; and Mathusala begot Lamech.

Genesis 4:23 (Tanakh)

Genesis 4:23 (KJV)

Genesis 4:23 (NET)

And Lamech said unto his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech; for I have slain a man for wounding me, and a young man for bruising me; And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me! You wives of Lamech, hear my words!  I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for hurting me.

Genesis 4:23 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:23 (Septuagint Elpenor)

εἶπεν δὲ Λαμεχ ταῗς ἑαυτοῦ γυναιξίν Αδα καὶ Σελλα ἀκούσατέ μου τῆς φωνῆς γυναῗκες Λαμεχ ἐνωτίσασθέ μου τοὺς λόγους ὅτι ἄνδρα ἀπέκτεινα εἰς τραῦμα ἐμοὶ καὶ νεανίσκον εἰς μώλωπα ἐμοί εἶπε δὲ Λάμεχ ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ γυναιξίν· ᾿Αδὰ καὶ Σελλά, ἀκούσατέ μου τῆς φωνῆς, γυναῖκες Λάμεχ, ἐνωτίσασθέ μου τοὺς λόγους, ὅτι ἄνδρα ἀπέκτεινα εἰς τραῦμα ἐμοὶ καὶ νεανίσκον εἰς μώλωπα ἐμοί

Genesis 4:23 (NETS)

Genesis 4:23 (English Elpenor)

Now Lamech said to his own wives: “Ada and Sella, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to my words, because I have killed a man for a wound to me, and a young man for a welt to me, And Lamech said to his wives, Ada and Sella, Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, consider my words, because I have slain a man to my sorrow and a youth to my grief.

Genesis 4:24 (Tanakh)

Genesis 4:24 (KJV)

Genesis 4:24 (NET)

If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much, then Lamech seventy-seven times!”

Genesis 4:24 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:24 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ὅτι ἑπτάκις ἐκδεδίκηται ἐκ Καιν ἐκ δὲ Λαμεχ ἑβδομηκοντάκις ἑπτά ὅτι ἑπτάκις ἐκδεδίκηται ἐκ Κάϊν, ἐκ δὲ Λάμεχ ἑβδομηκοντάκις ἑπτά

Genesis 4:24 (NETS)

Genesis 4:24 (English Elpenor)

because seven times vengeance has been exacted by Kain, but by Lamech seventy times seven.” Because vengeance has been exacted seven times on Cain’s behalf, on Lamech’s [it shall be] seventy times seven.

Isaiah 59:1 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 59:1 (KJV)

Isaiah 59:1 (NET)

Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak to deliver you; his ear is not too deaf to hear you.

Isaiah 59:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 59:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)

μὴ οὐκ ἰσχύει ἡ χεὶρ κυρίου τοῦ σῶσαι ἢ ἐβάρυνεν τὸ οὖς αὐτοῦ τοῦ μὴ εἰσακοῦσαι ΜΗ οὐκ ἰσχύει ἡ χεὶρ Κυρίου τοῦ σῶσαί; ἢ ἐβάρυνε τὸ οὖς αὐτοῦ τοῦ μὴ εἰσακοῦσαι

Isaiah 59:1 (NETS)

Isaiah 59:1 (English Elpenor)

Is not the Lord’s hand strong to save?  Or has he made his ear heavy so as not to listen? Has the hand of the Lord no power to save? or has he made his ear heavy, so that he should not hear?
Isaiah 59:2 (Tanakh) Isaiah 59:2 (KJV)

Isaiah 59:2 (NET)

But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God; your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.

Isaiah 59:2 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 59:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἀλλὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ὑμῶν διιστῶσιν ἀνὰ μέσον ὑμῶν καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν ἀπέστρεψεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν τοῦ μὴ ἐλεῆσαι ἀλλὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ὑμῶν διϊστῶσιν ἀναμέσον ὑμῶν καὶ ἀναμέσον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν ἀπέστρεψε τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἀφ᾿ ὑμῶν τοῦ μὴ ἐλεῆσαι

Isaiah 59:2 (NETS)

Isaiah 59:2 (English Elpenor)

Rather, your sinful acts separate between you and God, and because of your sins he has turned his face away from you so as not to show mercy. Nay, your iniquities separate between you and God, and because of your sins has he turned away [his] face from you, so as not to have mercy [upon you].

Isaiah 59:3 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 59:3 (KJV)

Isaiah 59:3 (NET)

For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. For your hands are stained with blood and your fingers with sin; your lips speak lies, your tongue utters malicious words.
Isaiah 59:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 59:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)

αἱ γὰρ χεῗρες ὑμῶν μεμολυμμέναι αἵματι καὶ οἱ δάκτυλοι ὑμῶν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις τὰ δὲ χείλη ὑμῶν ἐλάλησεν ἀνομίαν καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα ὑμῶν ἀδικίαν μελετᾷ αἱ γὰρ χεῖρες ὑμῶν μεμολυσμέναι αἵματι καὶ οἱ δάκτυλοι ὑμῶν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, τὰ δὲ χείλη ὑμῶν ἐλάλησεν ἀνομίαν, καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα ὑμῶν ἀδικίαν μελετᾷ

Isaiah 59:3 (NETS)

Isaiah 59:3 (English Elpenor)

For your hands have been defiled with blood, and your fingers with sins, and your lips have spoken lawlessness, and your tongue plots unrighteousness. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with sins; your lips also have spoken iniquity, and your tongue meditates unrighteousness.

Isaiah 59:4 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 59:4 (KJV)

Isaiah 59:4 (NET)

None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. No one is concerned about justice; no one sets forth his case truthfully.  They depend on false words and tell lies; they conceive of oppression and give birth to sin.

Isaiah 59:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 59:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐδεὶς λαλεῗ δίκαια οὐδὲ ἔστιν κρίσις ἀληθινή πεποίθασιν ἐπὶ ματαίοις καὶ λαλοῦσιν κενά ὅτι κύουσιν πόνον καὶ τίκτουσιν ἀνομίαν οὐθεὶς λαλεῖ δίκαια, οὐδέ ἐστι κρίσις ἀληθινή· πεποίθασιν ἐπὶ ματαίοις καὶ λαλοῦσι κενά, ὅτι κύουσι πόνον καὶ τίκτουσιν ἀνομίαν

Isaiah 59:4 (NETS)

Isaiah 59:4 (English Elpenor)

No one speaks righteous things, nor is there true judgment; they trust in vanities, and they speak empty words, because they conceive trouble and give birth to lawlessness. None speaks justly, neither is there true judgment: they trust in vanities, and speak empty [words]; for they conceive trouble, and bring forth iniquity.

Genesis 6:11 (Tanakh)

Genesis 6:11 (KJV)

Genesis 6:11 (NET)

And the earth was corrupt before G-d, and the earth was filled with violence. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. The earth was ruined in the sight of God; the earth was filled with violence.

Genesis 6:11 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 6:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐφθάρη δὲ ἡ γῆ ἐναντίον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐπλήσθη ἡ γῆ ἀδικίας ἐφθάρη δὲ ἡ γῆ ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἐπλήσθη ἡ γῆ ἀδικίας

Genesis 6:11 (NETS)

Genesis 6:11 (English Elpenor)

Now the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was full of wrongdoing. But the earth was corrupted before God, and the earth was filled with iniquity.

Genesis 6:12 (Tanakh)

Genesis 6:12 (KJV)

Genesis 6:12 (NET)

And G-d saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. God saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful.

Genesis 6:12 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 6:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶδεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς τὴν γῆν καὶ ἦν κατεφθαρμένη ὅτι κατέφθειρεν πᾶσα σὰρξ τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ εἶδε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἦν κατεφθαρμένη, ὅτι κατέφθειρε πᾶσα σὰρξ τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

Genesis 6:12 (NETS)

Genesis 6:12 (English Elpenor)

And the Lord God saw the earth, and it was ruined, for all flesh had ruined his way upon the earth. And the Lord God saw the earth, and it was corrupted; because all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.

Genesis 6:13 (Tanakh)

Genesis 6:13 (KJV)

Genesis 6:13 (NET)

And G-d said unto Noah: ‘The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. So God said to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them.  Now I am about to destroy them and the earth.

Genesis 6:13 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 6:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸς Νωε καιρὸς παντὸς ἀνθρώπου ἥκει ἐναντίον μου ὅτι ἐπλήσθη ἡ γῆ ἀδικίας ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ καταφθείρω αὐτοὺς καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ εἶπε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Νῶε· καιρὸς παντὸς ἀνθρώπου ἥκει ἐναντίον μου, ὅτι ἐπλήσθη ἡ γῆ ἀδικίας ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ καταφθείρω αὐτοὺς καὶ τὴν γῆν

Genesis 6:13 (NETS)

Genesis 6:13 (English Elpenor)

And God said to Noe, “The time of all humankind has come before me, for the earth has become full of wrongdoing by reason of them, and see, I am going to ruin them and the earth. And the Lord God said to Noe, A period of all men is come before me; because the earth has been filled with iniquity by them, and, behold, I destroy them and the earth.

Genesis 2:7 (Tanakh)

Genesis 2:7 (KJV)

Genesis 2:7 (NET)

Then HaShem G-d formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Genesis 2:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 2:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἔπλασεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐνεφύσησεν εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ πνοὴν ζωῆς καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν καὶ ἔπλασεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἐνεφύσησεν εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ πνοὴν ζωῆς, καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν

Genesis 2:7 (NETS)

Genesis 2:7 (English Elpenor)

And God formed man, dust from the earth, and breathed into his face a breath of life, and the man became a living being. And God formed the man [of] dust of the earth, and breathed upon his face the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.

Romans 13:1-3 (NET)

Romans 13:1-3 (KJV)

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.  For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

Πᾶσα ψυχὴ ἐξουσίαις ὑπερεχούσαις ὑποτασσέσθω. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἐξουσία εἰ μὴ ὑπὸ θεοῦ, αἱ δὲ οὖσαι ὑπὸ θεοῦ τεταγμέναι εἰσίν πασα ψυχη εξουσιαις υπερεχουσαις υποτασσεσθω ου γαρ εστιν εξουσια ει μη απο θεου αι δε ουσαι εξουσιαι υπο του θεου τεταγμεναι εισιν πασα ψυχη εξουσιαις υπερεχουσαις υποτασσεσθω ου γαρ εστιν εξουσια ει μη υπο θεου αι δε ουσαι εξουσιαι υπο του θεου τεταγμεναι εισιν
So the person who resists such authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

ὥστε ὁ ἀντιτασσόμενος τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ διαταγῇ ἀνθέστηκεν, οἱ δὲ ἀνθεστηκότες ἑαυτοῖς κρίμα λήμψονται ωστε ο αντιτασσομενος τη εξουσια τη του θεου διαταγη ανθεστηκεν οι δε ανθεστηκοτες εαυτοις κριμα ληψονται ωστε ο αντιτασσομενος τη εξουσια τη του θεου διαταγη ανθεστηκεν οι δε ανθεστηκοτες εαυτοις κριμα ληψονται
(for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad).  Do you desire not to fear authority?  Do good and you will receive its commendation For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.  Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

NET Parallel Greek

Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text

(οἱ γὰρ ἄρχοντες οὐκ εἰσὶν φόβος τῷ ἀγαθῷ ἔργῳ ἀλλὰ τῷ κακῷ). θέλεις δὲ μὴ φοβεῖσθαι τὴν ἐξουσίαν· τὸ ἀγαθὸν ποίει, καὶ ἕξεις ἔπαινον ἐξ αὐτῆς οι γαρ αρχοντες ουκ εισιν φοβος των αγαθων εργων αλλα των κακων θελεις δε μη φοβεισθαι την εξουσιαν το αγαθον ποιει και εξεις επαινον εξ αυτης οι γαρ αρχοντες ουκ εισιν φοβος των αγαθων εργων αλλα των κακων θελεις δε μη φοβεισθαι την εξουσιαν το αγαθον ποιει και εξεις επαινον εξ αυτης

[1] Galatians 5:22b, 23a (NET) Table

[2] The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had ὑπὸ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had απο (KJV: of).

[3] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εξουσιαι here (KJV: the powers).  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[4] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article του preceding God.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[5] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had λήμψονται here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ληψονται (KJV: receive).

[6] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had τῷ ἀγαθῷ ἔργῳ in the dative case here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had των αγαθων εργων in the genitive case (KJV: to good works).

[7] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had τῷ κακῷ in the dative case here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had των κακων in the genitive case (KJV: to the evil).

[8] 1 Corinthians 15:45 (NET)

[9] 1 Corinthians 15:50a (NET) Table

[10] John 3:6, 7 (NET)

Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 2

I studied ʽâbar through Genesis.  Nothing so far justifies translating it forgiven in Nathan’s response to David’s confession—Yes, and the Lord has forgiven (ʽâbar, העביר; Septuagint: παρεβίβασεν) your sin.[1]  But ʽâbar kept some evocative company for anyone studying the Torah in Hebrew (Genesis 6:5-7, 11-13 NET).

But the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth.  Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time.  The Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended.  So the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”

The earth was ruined in the sight of God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, האלהים); the earth was filled with violence.  God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful.  So God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) said to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them.  Now I am about to destroy them and the earth.

His chosen method of destruction was water: I am about to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them.  Everything that is on the earth will die[2]  The waters completely overwhelmed the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters.[3]  So [He] destroyed every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky.  They were wiped off the earth.  Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived.  The waters prevailed over the earth for 150 days.[4]

Then ʽâbar was the action of the wind that proceeded (if not caused) the recession of the waters of this destruction: But God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) remembered Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark.  God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) caused a wind to blow (ʽâbar, ויעבר; Septuagint: ἐπήγαγεν) over the earth and the waters receded.[5]

The next occurrences of ʽâbar are found in the story of Abram/Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3 NET):

Now the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you [Table].  Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing [Table].  I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, and all the families of the earth will bless one another by your name” [Table].

So Abram left, just as the Lord had told him to do,[6] and ʽâbar was what Abram did as he obeyed yehôvâhAbram traveled (ʽâbar, ויעבר; Septuagint: διώδευσεν[7]) through the land as far as the oak tree of Moreh at Shechem.[8]

I am the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה), He said to Abram still clearly within the word of the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) that came to Abram in a vision,[9] who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.[10]  O sovereign (ʼădônây, אדני) Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה), by what can I know that I am to possess it?[11] Take for me a heifer, He answered, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.[12]

I suppose it is possible that Abram took all these for him and then cut them in two and placed each half opposite the other[13] outside of the vision of verses 1-9.  Perhaps I am meant to take—When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away[14]—in precisely that mundane way.  Then when the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him[15] and Abram had a second vision.

My problem with this interpretation is that as Abram slept nocturnal birds of prey came to feast upon the carcasses of the heifer, the goat, the ram, the dove and the pigeon he had protected all day for yehôvâh in the real world, even as Abram heard and saw something completely different in a dream.  I am more inclined to take the text at face value and assume that Abram acted within the vision of Genesis 15:1 and that he was a dream within a vision deep in Genesis 15:13-16 (NET):

Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country.  They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years [Table].  But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve.  Afterward they will come out with many possessions [Table].  But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age [Table].  In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit [Table].

Then ʽâbar was the action of a smoking firepot with a flaming torch in a vision designed to overcome the doubts of Abram the believer:[16] When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed (ʽâbar, עבר; Septuagint: διῆλθον) between the animal parts.[17]  It would have been disconcerting, to say the least, if Abram woke up the next morning to find the bones picked clean by nocturnal birds and other scavengers.

That day, the vision concluded, the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) made a covenant with Abram: “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River [Table]– the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, [Table] Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, [Table] Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites [Table].”[18]

This brings me to the beginning of the Parashat Vayera (פרשת וירא), Genesis 18:1-22:24.  Ben Zion Katz, a pediatrician and self-proclaimed recreational Bible scholar, in an essay—“God’s Appearance to Abraham: Vision or Visit?”—posted on TheTorah.com contrasted “The Traditional Approach” to “A Peshat Reading” of Genesis 18.  In the traditional approach Abraham interrupted a vision of God to entertain three guests.  “This reading thus exemplifies the performance of two mitzvot – visiting the sick and welcoming guests.”

Even when I searched the Bible for mitzvot I was never quite this clever.  I certainly recognized Abraham’s hospitality but had serious doubts and questions about Lot’s practice of the same with two of the same men.  And I didn’t see “visiting the sick” here until I read Dr. Katz article: “God is ‘visiting’ Abraham (in a vision) because Abraham was recuperating from his circumcision.”  As long as I searched the Bible for rules to obey I, like Nicodemus, didn’t seeI tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God[19]—as the take away message of the Old Testament.

I was taught that I must be born again.  I was taught to mock Nicodemus’ dull-wittedness: How can a man be born when he is old?  He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?[20] And, How can these things be?[21] But I didn’t understand Jesus’ retort either (John 3:10-12 NET):

Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things?  I tell you the solemn truth, we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony.  If I have told you people about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

I was George McFly in the diner in “Back to the Future.”  I felt as bullied by Jesus as he did by Biff Tannen.  When Jesus turned his attention to Nicodemus, like Biff’s followers turned on Marty, I could feel like a winner for a moment, piling on Nicodemus.  But only for a moment, for Jesus was soon back to bullying me as his words seemed at the time.  God come to earth, mocking everyone who was not God.

The revolution came when I began to see Jesus as a baby and a child learning everything anew.  He studied the Hebrew Bible, what I call the Old Testament, and from it through the Holy Spirit learned the solemn truth (John 3:5-8 NET):

unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’  The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

You must all be born from above, because no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.[22]  God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh.  By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.[23]

Dr. Katz continued:

Although clever and ethically uplifting, the traditional reading is not the peshat, the plain meaning of the text. The peshat reading, which is in consonance with modern literary analysis, is rather straightforward.  In verse 1, we are given an introduction that God appeared to Abraham.  That appearance then begins in verse 2, and of the 3 “people” Abraham sees, one is God personified while the other 2 are angels or messengers of God.

My lord (ʼâdôn, אדני), Abraham said, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass (ʽâbar, תעבר; Septuagint: παρέλθῃς[24]) by and leave your servant.[25]  Here ʽâbar became the action that yehôvâh would take if He did not favor Abraham.  Let a little water be brought so that you may all wash your feet and rest under the tree,[26] Abraham continued.  It sounds to me as if Abraham wished to honor his guests in a manner in keeping with the favor their consenting to be his guests implied.  But in the “traditional” commentary Abraham was seen as a strict adherent 430 years before the law:

and bathe your feet: He thought that they were Arabs, who prostrate themselves to the dust of their feet, and he was strict not to allow any idolatry into his house.  But Lot, who was not strict, mentioned lodging before washing, as it is said (below 19:2): “and lodge and bathe your feet.” – [from Gen. Rabbah 54:4]

And let me get a bit of food, Abraham continued, so that you may refresh yourselves since you have passed (ʽâbar, עברתם; Septuagint: ἐξεκλίνατε[27]) by your servant’s home.  After that you may (ʽâbar, תעברו; Septuagint: παρελεύσεσθε[28]) be on your way.[29]  Here even the “traditional” commentary recognized the honor Abraham perceived:

because you have passed by: For I request this from you [i.e., to sustain your hearts] because you have passed by me [i.e., have stopped in my home] to honor me.

If yehôvâh consented not to ʽâbar by Abraham, Abraham’s hospitality would become the reason that yehôvâh ʽâbar Abraham’s tent.  All right, yehôvâh and his two companions replied, you may do as you say.[30]

After Sarah died Abraham negotiated with Ephron for a field with a cave to bury her body.  It was a curious negotiation.  As a wanderer in the promised land Abraham owned no property.  As a respected prince Ephron was willing to give him the property, but Abraham insisted that he would pay full price.  Here ʽâbar was according to the standard of that price: So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price and weighed out for him the price that Ephron had quoted in the hearing of the sons of Heth – 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard (ʽâbar, עבר; Septuagint: δοκίμου) measurement at the time.[31]  The note in the NET reads: “Heb ‘passing for the merchant.’  The final clause affirms that the measurement of silver was according to the standards used by the merchants of the time.”

I’ll continue in the next essay.

[1] 2 Samuel 12:13b (NET) Table

[2] Genesis 6:17 (NET)

[3] Genesis 7:18 (NET)

[4] Genesis 7:23, 24 (NET)

[5] Genesis 8:1 (NET)

[6] Genesis 12:4a (NET)

[7] διώδευσεν, a form of διοδεύω

[8] Genesis 12:6a (NET)

[9] Genesis 15:1 (NET)

[10] Genesis 15:7 (NET)

[11] Genesis 15:8 (NET)

[12] Genesis 15:9 (NET) Table

[13] Genesis 15:10 (NET) Table

[14] Genesis 15:11 (NET) Table

[15] Genesis 15:12 (NET) Table

[16] For what does the scripture say?Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:3 NET, quoting Genesis 15:6 NKJV)

[17] Genesis 15:17 (NET) Table

[18] Genesis 15:18-21 (NET)

[19] John 3:3 (NET) Table

[20] John 3:4 (NET)

[21] John 3:9 (NET)

[22] Romans 3:20 (NET)

[23] Romans 8:3, 4 (NET)

[24] παρέλθῃς, a form of παρέρχομαι

[25] Genesis 18:3 (NET)

[26] Genesis 18:4 (NET)

[27] ἐξεκλίνατε, a form of ἐκκλίνω

[28] παρελεύσεσθε, another form of παρέρχομαι

[29] Genesis 18:5a (NET)

[30] Genesis 18:5b (NET)

[31] Genesis 23:16 (NET)

Fear – Genesis, Part 5

I think I am safe using the word fear to describe Jacob’s prognostication that Simeon and Levi…had brought ruin on him by making him a foul odor among the inhabitants of the land, that the Canaanites and the Perizzites…would join forces against him and attack him, and both he and his family would be destroyed![1]  It was not a prophecy; it did not come to pass.  It was a rational appraisal of the likely response of men born of Adam (then Noah).  And it was a righteous expectation of the law God gave Noah and his sons after the flood (Genesis 9:5, 6 NET).

For your lifeblood I will surely exact punishment, from every living creature I will exact punishment.  From each person I will exact punishment for the life of the individual since the man was his relative.  Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God’s image God has made humankind.

Simeon and Levi had perpetrated the kind of violence that brought the flood in the first place (Genesis 6:11-13 NET).

The earth was ruined in the sight of God; the earth was filled with violence.[2]  God saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful.  So God said to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them.  Now I am about to destroy them and the earth.”

It is a fearful thing to contemplate a God with the power and the will for such destruction (Genesis 6:5-7 NET).

But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth.  Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time.  The Lord regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended.  So the Lord said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”

But if I take the Lord’s reasons and offense seriously, his relative tolerance of human evil after the flood is just as fearful a thing if in a different way (Genesis 8:21, 22 NET).

I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, even though the inclination of their minds is evil from childhood on.  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.  While the earth continues to exist, planting time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.

And thus the law: Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed.[3]

Though Simeon’s and Levi’s die hard antics seem more like justice for Dinah to my religious mind (compared to David’s inaction regarding Tamar, or Jacob’s silence), the most likely outcome for Dinah did not look good.  Both the evil of men and the righteousness of God’s law conspired to catch her up in the violent retribution due Simeon and Levi, or she might have become like one of the slave women her brothers took from Shechem.  But Jacob, Dinah, Simeon, Levi and all of their family found favor (or, grace) in the sight of the Lord.[4]

I have appropriated what the Bible said about Noah to Jacob, Dinah, Simeon, Levi and all of their family.  This would have been unthinkable to my religious mind.  It assumed that Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord because Noah was a godly man; he was blameless among his contemporaries.  He walked with God.[5]  Now I am more and more convinced that my religious mind had the cart before the horse.  Noah was a godly man, blameless among his contemporaries, and walked with God because Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.  In that light it is not much of a stretch to see the similarity here.

Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once to Bethel and live there.  Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”[6]  This was God’s solution despite the fact that Simeon and Levi at least (and perhaps at most) should have died according to his own law.  I am not accusing God of wrongdoing.  He never bound Himself to law when it came to showing favor or mercy.  I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy,[7] He said to Moses.  And when Paul analyzed the Gospel that my religious mind was so intent on converting to a new law, he reiterated that point and added, So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.[8]

So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have among you.  Purify yourselves and change your clothes.  Let us go up at once to Bethel.  Then I will make an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress and has been with me wherever I went.”[9]

When I see it in this context the Gospel of Jesus Christ mitigates my fear concerning God’s “tolerance” of human evil after the flood.  The Gospel does not belong, and is perverted and misunderstood, in the world created by religious minds.  Where it belongs, where it becomes the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe[10] is in the real world of human sin.  I was surprised, given my religious prejudices, that Abel Ferrara and Zoë Lund had walked this ground before me in the movie she wrote and he directed “Bad Lieutenant” (1992), starring Harvey Keitel in the title role.

Bad LT was not merely a bad cop, he was a hardcore sinner, without natural affection.  Bad LT’s decadence was so demoralizing I cried out loud, “Why am I watching this?”  About that time one of the ‘B’ stories came to the forefront when Bad LT overheard a nun’s confession.

The nun had been raped on the altar in her church.  She seemed to react like any other woman might react while being raped.  She was a bit less modest in the examination room than I might have expected, but nothing so extreme that I did anything but note the fact.  Her confession, however, was totally unexpected.  A curious thing happens when someone actually believes she has been forgiven by the Sovereign God and that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.[11]

“Those boys,” she said, “those sad raging boys.  They came to me as the needy do.  And like many of the needy they were rude.  Like all the needy they took.  And like all the needy they needed.  Father, I knew them.  They learn in our school and they play in our school yard and they are good boys….Jesus turned water to wine.  I ought to have turned bitter semen into fertile sperm, hatred to love, and maybe to have saved their souls.  [Bad LT exited then and did not hear the rest of her confession.]  They did not love me, but I ought to have loved them, for Jesus loved those who were vile to Him.  And never again shall I encounter two boys whose prayer was more poignant, more legible, more anguished.”

Later Bad LT came to speak to the nun as she prayed, first prostrate then on her knees, in church.  “Listen to me, Sister,” he said, “listen to me good.  The other cops will just put these guys through the system.  They’re juveniles.  They’ll walk.  But I’ll beat the system and do justice, real justice for you.”

“I have already forgiven them,” she replied.

“Come on, Lady.  These guys put out cigarette butts on your – Get with the program.  How could you—how could you forgive these motherfu—these, these guys?  Excuse me.  How could you?  Deep down inside don’t you want them to pay for what they did to you?  Don’t you want this crime avenged?”

“I’ve forgiven them.”

“But – do you have the right?  You’re not the only woman in the world.  You’re not even the only nun. You’re forgiveness will leave blood in its wake.  What if these guys do this to other nuns?  Other virgins? Old women who’ll die from the shock?  Do you have the right to let these boys go free?  Can you bear the burden, Sister?”

“Talk to Jesus,” she said.  “Pray.  You do believe in God, don’t you? that Jesus Christ died for your sins?”

The nun left Bad LT alone in the church.  He moaned and cried out from the floor.  Then he had a vision of Jesus.  First, he blamed Jesus for His perceived absence in Bad LT’s wretched life.  But eventually he begged for forgiveness and direction.  Suddenly Bad LT became the repentant thief on the cross.  Like the thief he had only hours to live.  Unlike the thief he was free to do one more thing.  His choice, to pass on some of the mercy the Lord and the nun had shown him, was at least as interesting as David’s choices concerning his sons Amnon and Absalom.

Jacob’s household and all who were with him gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession and the rings that were in their ears.  Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem and they started on their journey.  The surrounding cities were afraid (chittâh;[12] Septuagint: φόβος[13]) of God, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.[14]  The note in the NET reads: “Heb ‘and the fear of God was upon the cities which were round about them.’ The expression ‘fear of God’ apparently refers (1) to a fear of God (objective genitive; God is the object of their fear). (2) But it could mean ‘fear from God,’ that is, fear which God placed in them (cf. NRSV “a terror from God”). Another option (3) is that the divine name is used as a superlative here, referring to ‘tremendous fear’ (cf. NEB ‘were panic-stricken’; NASB ‘a great terror’).”


[1] Genesis 34:30 (NET)

[2] A note in the NET reads: “The Hebrew word translated “violence” refers elsewhere to a broad range of crimes, including unjust treatment (Gen 16:5; Amos 3:10), injurious legal testimony (Deut 19:16), deadly assault (Gen 49:5), murder (Judg 9:24), and rape (Jer 13:22).”

[3] Genesis 9:6 (NET)

[4] A paraphrase of Genesis 6:8 (NET)

[5] Genesis 6:8, 9 (NET)

[6] Genesis 35:1 (NET)

[7] Exodus 33:19b (NET) Table

[8] Romans 9:16 (NET)

[9] Genesis 35:2, 3 (NET)

[10] Romans 3:22 (NET)

[11] Romans 8:28 (NET)

[14] Genesis 35:4, 5 (NET)