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  • From: Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Son of man vs. Enosh
  • Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 19:16:55 -0600

Tory Thorpe wrote:
The JPS is not the _only_ Jewish translation into English that renders
"huxal" at Gen. 4:26 as "began". Sorry, if I gave that impression by
citing the Stone Chumash. I do not think, however, mainline translation
is an accurate way to describe the JPS, certainly not in the orthodox
community. R. Simon, in Midrash Rabbah, does not translate the passage;
he attempts explain it because "huxal" is ambiguous at this point.
HH: We have only one Hophal in the Bible, but the Hiphal of this stem with the lamed infinitive means "begin." Adam was about 235 years old when Enosh was born, but the context of Gen 4:26 really gives little reason to think that some big corruption occurred then. It may be that by the time Enosh was born there were enough people to have real worship services. The NET Bible says about the phrasing in 4:26:

Heb “call in the name.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 12:8; 13:4; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116.

One possible variant is recorded in BHS. Some Greek texts have "this one hoped to call." "Hoped" involves a repointing of the verb in question. The Vulgate has: "That one began to call." The reference would be to Enosh. The pronoun "this" or "that" would involve some confusion with )Z. BDB notes that sometimes the feminine pronoun Z) ("this") is reversed in semitic inscriptions, a fact that might be relevant to the ancient variants.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard





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