Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Hedrick Gary <GaryH AT cjfm.org>]

Richard, in modern Hebrew "if not" is eel-lo and "if" is eem (sorry--I know 
I'm transliterating here more phonetically than according to convention). In 
biblical Hebrew, haLo eem at the beginning of Gen. 4:7 is, as you intimated, 
a way of saying "if not"--that is, literally, "if not you do right to be 
accepted" (הֲלֹוא אִם־תֵּיטִיב שְׂאֵת). I don't know of any idiom that would 
alter that meaning. In modern Hebrew, once again, haLo has more of an 
adverbial sense ("is it not?" or "surely")--and it's not unusual for the 
article (ha) to remain untranslated. There seems to be a consensus among the 
major translations:

KJV: If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not 
well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee [shall be] his desire, and thou 
shalt rule over him.
 NKJV
NKJV: If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, 
sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."
 NLT
NLT: You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse 
to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy 
you, and you must subdue it."
 NIV
NIV: If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do 
what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you 
must master it.”
 ESV
ESV: “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, 
sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over 
it.”

Gary Hedrick

On Jan 2, 2010, at 6:41 PM, Richard wrote:

> What is this construction, the first word in Genesis verse 7 (Genesis 4:7
> Halo הלוא)? According to what I can find out it would mean (hyperliterally)
> "the no". It seems to be a negative but I would like to know more about it
> if it is a Biblical idiom/construction and the possible ways it could be
> translated. In this case, it seems awkward to translate.
> 
> Toda rabba!
> 
> Richard Conaway