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  • From: Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>
  • To: Tory Thorpe <torythrp AT yahoo.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Son of man vs. Enosh
  • Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 20:59:21 -0500

The construction HUXAL of the root XLL can plausibly mean only one thing: ‘began’. The only question is what KARA ‘call’ means. It may mean ‘invoke’ in the sense of uttering loud cries as: “God please, please make my ticket win the lottery”, or it may mean giving something a name.
In Genesis 21:33 we read: ” And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.” The situation here is similar to that in Genesis 4:26. There, SHET produced a son, and then he called (in? on?) the name of God, here Abraham planted a tree (a grove?) and then he called (in? on?) the name of God.
Interestingly enough Rashi in his infinite wisdom does not take here the facile rout of saying that Abraham prayed by the tree, but rather that he gave the tree (grove) a holy appellation to proclaim and perpetuate God’s name (such as calling an airport after Regan, or a boy after Peter). In fact, in every other instance (See: Genesis 12:8, 13:4, 26:25) something was produced before the call so that the call was not just into the wind.
I think that what Genesis 4:26 is saying is that SHET started a trend by giving his son an evocatively sacred name.
Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Jan 22, 2007, at 7:38 PM, 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.

Tory Thorpe



Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com> wrote: Tory Thorpe wrote:
I'm very aware of the limitations of the Stone edition, but as far as "standard"
translations go, I offered it to offset a notion that Christian translations (NIV,
KJV, RSV, etc.) are the standard.

HH: Here's the JPS:

4:26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his
name Enosh; then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard
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