Genesis 4:1-2

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  4:2 Then she gave birth ⁶  to his brother Abel. ⁷  Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground. ⁸ 

Genesis 4:25

4:25 And Adam had marital relations ⁹  with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given ¹⁰  me another child ¹¹  in place of Abel because Cain killed him.”

Genesis 16:11

16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,

“You are now ¹²  pregnant

and are about to give birth ¹³  to a son.

You are to name him Ishmael, ¹⁴ 

for the Lord has heard your painful groans. ¹⁵ 

Genesis 29:32

29:32 So Leah became pregnant ¹⁶  and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, ¹⁷  for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. ¹⁸  Surely my husband will love me now.”

Genesis 30:6

30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer ¹⁹  and given me a son.” That is why ²⁰  she named him Dan. ²¹ 

Genesis 30:8

30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” ²²  So she named him Naphtali. ²³ 

Genesis 30:1

30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she ²⁴  became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children ²⁵  or I’ll die!”

Genesis 1:20

1:20 God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms ²⁶  of living creatures and let birds fly ²⁷  above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”

Genesis 4:21

4:21 The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who play the harp and the flute.

[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”).

[4:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “And she again gave birth.”

[4:2]  ⁷ sn The name Abel is not defined here in the text, but the tone is ominous. Abel’s name, the Hebrew word הֶבֶל (hevel), means “breath, vapor, vanity,” foreshadowing Abel’s untimely and premature death.

[4:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “and Abel was a shepherd of the flock, and Cain was a worker of the ground.” The designations of the two occupations are expressed with active participles, רֹעֵה (ro’eh, “shepherd”) and עֹבֵד (’oved, “worker”). Abel is occupied with sheep, whereas Cain is living under the curse, cultivating the ground.

[4:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.

[4:25]  ¹⁰ sn The name Seth probably means something like “placed”; “appointed”; “set”; “granted,” assuming it is actually related to the verb that is used in the sentiment. At any rate, the name שֵׁת (shet) and the verb שָׁת (shat, “to place, to appoint, to set, to grant”) form a wordplay (paronomasia).

[4:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “offspring.”

[16:11]  ¹² tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”

[16:11]  ¹³ tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.

[16:11]  ¹⁴ sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”

[16:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.

[29:32]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).

[29:32]  ¹⁷ sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”

[29:32]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”

[30:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and also he has heard my voice.” The expression means that God responded positively to Rachel’s cry and granted her request.

[30:6]  ²⁰ tn Or “therefore.”

[30:6]  ²¹ sn The name Dan means “he vindicated” or “he judged.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. The verb translated “vindicated” is from דִּין (din, “to judge, to vindicate”), the same verbal root from which the name is derived. Rachel sensed that God was righting the wrong.

[30:8]  ²² tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.

[30:8]  ²³ sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”

[30:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “sons.”

[1:20]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew text again uses a cognate construction (“swarm with swarms”) to emphasize the abundant fertility. The idea of the verb is one of swift movement back and forth, literally swarming. This verb is used in Exod 1:7 to describe the rapid growth of the Israelite population in bondage.

[1:20]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text uses the Polel form of the verb instead of the simple Qal; it stresses a swarming flight again to underscore the abundant fruitfulness.