Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

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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