Tag Archives: Genesis 4:8

A Monotonous Cycle Revisited, Part 2

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Moses wrote (Genesis 3:22-24 Tanakh):

And HaShem (yehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) said: ‘Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever’ [Table].  Therefore HaShem (yehôvâh, יהוה) G-d (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken [Table].  So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way to the tree of life.

John wrote in the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must happen very soon.  He made it clear by sending his angel to his servant John, who then testified to everything that he saw[1] concerning the word of God and the testimony about Jesus Christ[2] (Revelation 22:1, 2 NET):

Then the angel showed me the river[3] of the water of life – water as clear as crystal – pouring out from the throne of God and of the Lamb, flowing down the middle of the city’s main street.  On each side[4] of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding[5] its fruit every[6] month of the year.  Its leaves are for the healing of the nations.

Placing the cherubim and the flaming sword to keep (shâmar, לשמר; Septuagint: φυλάσσειν, a form of φυλάσσω) the way to the tree of life from Adam and Eve was never about withholding life from humanity.  Though Adam and Eve knew (yedaʽ, וידעו; Septuagint: ἔγνωσαν, a form of γινώσκω) that they were naked,[7] yehôvâh ʼĕlôhı̂ym knew what it meant when sin entered the world through one man.[8]  Consider Jesus’ teaching (John 8:31, 32 NET):

Then Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, you are really my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus addressed those Judeans (KJV: Jews) who had believed him, arguably the best of the best.  Though they were hardened they were among the most spiritually cultivated (Romans 9-11) people to have walked the earth to that time, and they had begun to believe Jesus, and Jesus told them to continue to follow his teaching (μείνητε ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῷ ἐμῷ).  Now hear with faith how He described these most spiritually cultivated people who had believed Him (John 8:44 NET):

You people are from your father[9] the devil, and you want to do what your father desires.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not[10] uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

Spiritually cultivated they were and they had begun to believe Jesus but they were not yet born from above, not yet led by the Spirit of God, not yet the sons of God: For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.[11]  No one born of Adam, whether confessing some sin or not, wants to hear, you people are from your father the devil, or you want (θέλετε, a form of θέλω) to do what your father desires (ἐπιθυμίας, a form of ἐπιθυμία).  But I’ll consider the story of Abel, a keeper of sheep and his elder brother Cain, a tiller of the ground in this light (Genesis 4:2b-5 Tanakh).

And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto HaShem [Table].  And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.  And HaShem had respect unto Abel and to his offering [Table]; but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect.  And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell [Table].

It seems that Cain got the bright idea to bring yehôvâh an offering.  His little brother Abel just tagged along.  Each brought the fruit of his labor.  Who does yehôvâh think he is, discriminating this way between them?  After all, it’s the thought that counts![12]  That, by the way, was not my thought.

Oh, I wrote it.  Yes, I heard the thought in my mind.  But by faith I no longer recognize such thoughts as me (Galatians 2:20, 21) or mine.  I recognize—again, by faith in the word of God—that there is something in me—call it what you will, sin in the flesh, the old man—something that hates yehôvâh, everything He says, everything He does.  He can do nothing right.  Paul described this phenomenon in his letter to believers in Rome (Romans 7:21-25 NET Table1 Table2).

So, I find the law that when I want to do good (καλόν, a form of καλός), evil (κακὸν, a form of κακός) is present with me.  For I delight in the law of God in my inner being (ἄνθρωπον, a form of ἄνθρωπος).  But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members.  Wretched man (ἄνθρωπος) that I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks[13] be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Then the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast?[14]  I’ve approached the next verse incidentally, tangentially, judgmentally and, curiously enough in retrospect, lawfully in other essays.  Here, I wanted to approach it directly.

Genesis 4:7 (Tanakh)

Genesis 4:7 (NET)
If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door; and unto thee is its desire, but thou mayest rule over it.’ Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine?  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door.  It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.”

Another version of the Tanakh reads: Is it not so that if you improve, it will be forgiven you?  If you do not improve, however, at the entrance, sin is lying, and to you is its longing, but you can rule over it.[15]  In another essay I wrote, “you must subdue it looks and sounds to me like a religious mind trying to turn a word into a law long before the law was given.”  That wasn’t quite fair.

Hebrew Tanakh (Jewish Virtual Library) Tanakh (Chabad.org)

NET
לפתח (pethach) at the door at the entrance at the door
חטאת (chaṭṭâʼâh) sin sin sin
רבץ (râbats) coucheth is lying is crouching
ואליך (ʼêl) and unto thee and to you to dominate you
תשוקתו (teshûqâh) is its desire is its longing It desires
ואתה (ʼattâh) but thou but you but you
תמשל (mâshal) mayest rule can rule must subdue
בו (bōw)[16] over it over it it

I was surprised that תמשל (mâshal)—translated mayest rule, can rule (Tanakh), must subdue (NET), BibleHub.com offers should rule—was so uncertain.  It makes sense to me that knowing good and evil makes each of us individually responsible for choosing good, but mayest rule and especially can rule imply the ability to do so as well.  Struggling with this I perused the commentaries.  Alexander MacLaren pointed out the similarity here to what yehôvâh had said to Eve after she had led Adam astray (Genesis 3:1-6): and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.[17]

Hebrew

 Tanakh (Jewish Virtual Library) Tanakh (Chabad.org)

NET
ואל (ʼêl) and…to And to to control
אישך (ʼı̂ysh) thy husband your husband your husband
תשוקתך (teshûqâh) thy desire shall be will be your desire You will want
והוא (hûʼ) and he and he but he
ימשל (mâshal) shall rule will rule will dominate
בך (bāḵ)[18] over thee over you you

There was no equivocation here, no wiggle room in the translation of ימשל (mâshal).  Surely man’s experience ruling over a wife has been at least as perplexing as ruling over sin.  Of course, male Bible expositors present the latter part of yehôvâh’s word to Eve as a rule for women to obey.  I haven’t heard the latter part of his word to Cain abstracted that way.   The translations divide here along party lines: those who have accepted Jesus as the Christ hear responsibility (must subdue, should rule), those who have not hear a promise of ability (mayest rule, can rule).

I thought at first that the rabbis who translated the Septuagint eschewed any personification of sin lying, crouching, desiring or longing.

Genesis 4:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐκ ἐὰν ὀρθῶς προσενέγκῃς ὀρθῶς δὲ μὴ διέλῃς ἥμαρτες ἡσύχασον πρὸς σὲ ἡ ἀποστροφὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ σὺ ἄρξεις αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐὰν ὀρθῶς προσενέγκῃς, ὀρθῶς δὲ μὴ διέλῃς, ἥμαρτες; ἡσύχασον· πρὸς σὲ ἡ ἀποστροφὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ σὺ ἄρξεις αὐτοῦ.

Genesis 4:7 (NETS)

Genesis 4:7 (English Elpenor)
If you offer correctly but do not divide correctly, have you not sinned?  Be still; his recourse is to you, and you will rule over him.” Hast thou not sinned if thou hast brought it rightly, but not rightly divided it? be still, to thee shall be his submission, and thou shalt rule over him.

I had rejected the Septuagint here because it seemed to refer back to Abel.  Charles Ellicott offered a similar interpretation in his commentary:

“At present thou art vexed and envious because thy younger brother is rich and prosperous, while thy tillage yields thee but scanty returns.  Do well, and the Divine blessing will rest on thee, and thou wilt recover thy rights of primogeniture, and thy brother will look up to thee in loving obedience.”

I can’t assume that Abel was “rich and prosperous” while Cain’s “tillage yields…but scanty returns,” or that yehôvâh was concerned with Cain’s “rights of primogeniture” from what is written in the text.  I’ve assumed that HaShem had respect unto Abel and to his offering because yehôvâh foreknew that a Passover lamb would become important to his people rather than a Passover kumquat.  (No, I have no idea what kind of produce Cain offered Him.)  But if I consider now that the referent of his and him was sin rather than Abel, I get a different picture.

The rabbis understood רבץ (râbats) as an imperative ἡσύχασον (Be still) directed to Cain rather than as a description of sin lying or crouching.  Had Cain believed yehôvâh’s command to be still, he would have realized yehôvâh’s promise—you will rule (NETS), thou shalt rule (Elpenor) over sin—without equivocation.  I called this “yehôvâh at his most aloof,”[19] relative to the time and attention He lavishes on me.  (The philosophical bent of my mind still longs for a thousand page discourse where yehôvâh sits down with Cain and explains his understanding of sin, righteousness and redemption.)  Be still as yehôvâh’s command to Cain reminds me of Peter (Matthew 14:28 NET).

Peter said to [Jesus], “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.”

Here is an example of what I meant by the spiritual cultivation of Israel.  Peter wasn’t a priest, a scribe or a religious professional of any sort.  He was a fisherman.  But he believed that if Jesus the Christ ordered or commanded him to come to Him on the water it would be so.  But this is probably too facile an explanation.  Peter’s lack of religious sophistication may have enhanced his spiritual cultivation.  Of his more religiously sophisticated (Philippians 3:5-7) brethren, Paul wrote (Romans 10:2, 3; 9:31, 32 NET Table):

…I can testify that [my fellow Israelites] are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth (ἐπίγνωσιν, a form of ἐπίγνωσις).  For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

…Israel even though pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain it.[20]  Why not?  Because they pursued it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works.[21]  They stumbled over the stumbling stone…

In my zeal for God,[22] Paul wrote of his own religious sophistication, I persecuted the church.[23]

I wondered if be still here had any relationship to, Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.[24]  But the Hebrew word translated Be still there was הרפו (râphâh), translated σχολάσατε (a form of σχολάζω) in the Septuagint.  As I contemplated the definition of σχολάζω in the Greek Lexicon online I was lifted out of the weeds, so to speak, fussing over the meaning of word strings in the Bible, and into that eternal life of knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ.  The definition of σχολάζω reads:

to devote oneself; to have leisure; to devote, have spare time, be at leisure, take a vacation; to take it easy; to have time to be busy with one’s interests apart from work; to take time to devote to study

This accurately describes the life I’ve received from Him, received in that same active sense that Jesus’ disciples accepted the words He gave them.  And, yes, σχολάσατε is an active form of σχολάζω.  This active stillness is how I pursue (ζητεῖτε, a form of ζητέω) his kingdom and righteousness: But above all, Jesus commanded, pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things [food, drink, clothing] will be given to you as well.[25]  The definition of ζητέω in the Greek Lexicon online reads:

to seek, search, look for; to inquire, investigate, examine, consider, deliberate; to try to obtain, desire to possess; to strive for, aim for, desire, wish; to ask for, request, demand (something); to claim (as entitlement); to appeal to someone for guidance

Back again in the weeds, the rabbis who translated the Septuagint offered no Greek counterpart for לפתח (pethach; translated at the door, at the entrance [Tanakh], at the door [NET]).  Why would they ignore לפתח (pethach) before Jesus was revealed to Israel?  Why would Masoretes add it afterward?  Frankly, I can’t imagine any plausible scenarios at the moment.  So as far as understanding what yehôvâh said to Cain, I’m more uncertain now than when I began this study.  I have, however, encountered many provocative ideas ripe for further study.  And what He said hardly mattered to the narrative.  Cain ignored it (Genesis 4:8 Tanakh).

And Cain spoke unto Abel his brother.  And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.[26]

Cain was from [his] father the devil, and wanted to do what [his] father desires.  As Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed him…[the devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth (ἀληθείᾳ), because there is no truth (ἀλήθεια) in him.  There was no ritual or intentionality required for Cain to be from his father the devil.  It is the natural condition of those born of the flesh of Adam and Eve.  “What is born of the flesh is flesh,” Jesus told Nicodemus, “and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’”[27] 

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God,[28] Paul wrote to believers in Rome (Romans 8:5-7 NET).

For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit.  For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so.

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, Paul continued, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.  Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him.  But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness.  Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you.[29]

As a child trusting Jesus for a place in heaven I comforted myself and fell asleep many nights planning the perfect murders of my neighbor and his entire family.  My plan was never quite perfect.  I feared I would be caught.  Then people would misunderstand and call me names like “murderer” when I was the hapless victim balancing the scales of justice.  So I never murdered my neighbor or his entire family.

My fear—that I would be caught and my motives would be misunderstood—was not the righteousness of God…revealed in the gospel.[30]  It was not the love that does no wrong to a neighbor, not the love that is the fulfillment of the law.[31]  It was not the love that is the fruit of his Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23).  Not murdering my neighbor and his entire family was indisputably better than murdering them would have been.  And clearly, it was possible for me to avoid committing murder apart from the righteousness of God.  But imagine standing face to face with Jesus and offering Him the fact that I did not murder my neighbor and his entire family as a righteousness of my own derived from the law after having rejected the gift He offered, the gift of God Himself (Acts 2:36-41).

It is inevitable, I suppose, that a reader wonders what my neighbor did to me: It was nothing in particular.  He was a year younger than I and didn’t treat me with the deference I felt I deserved.  And he got away with it.  My god failed to punish him for his sin.  This was not a singularly low point in my childhood, certainly not a turning point.  My darkness deepened into my teens until atheism became my only “rational” choice.

This kind of self-awareness might crush the spirit in any other form of life.  In this eternal life of yehôvâh’s Holy Spirit it encouraged me to stay the course when I had begun to waver.  I had begun to judge some as undeserving of “my persistent prayer for justice.”  At least I had confessed in prayer that I was embarrassed to bring them before the Lord again.  But now in the light of his utmost patience and mercy toward the boy who consoled himself with murder, I pray with renewed vigor:

My persistent prayer for justice (Luke 18:1-8) is for the mercy on which everything depends, for it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on [You] who shows mercy.[32]  And You have consigned all people to disobedience so that [You] may show mercy to them all.[33]

The love of Christ that surpasses knowledge[34] is not some vague affection (1 Corinthians 13:4-13) He hoards for us but the omnipotent engine of righteousness He gives to us in the person of his own Holy Spirit.  No one is good except God alone.[35]

The tables I made to write this essay comparing Genesis 3:22-24; 4:2b-5; 4:6, 7; 3:16; Psalm 46:10 and Genesis 4:8 in the Tanakh and NET, and the tables comparing Genesis 3:22; 3:23; 3:24; 4:2b; 4:3; 4:4; 4:5; 4:6; 4:7; 3:16; Psalm 46:10 and Genesis 4:8 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.  Following those are tables comparing Revelation 1:2; 22:1, 2; John 8:44; Romans 9:31; Philippians 3:6 and Romans 8:9 in the NET and KJV.

Genesis 3:22-24 (Tanakh)

Genesis 3:22-24 (NET)
And HaShem G-d said: ‘Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.’ And the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”
Therefore HaShem G-d sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken.
So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way to the tree of life. When he drove the man out, he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:22 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 3:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός ἰδοὺ Αδαμ γέγονεν ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν καὶ νῦν μήποτε ἐκτείνῃ τὴν χεῗρα καὶ λάβῃ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ φάγῃ καὶ ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· ἰδοὺ ᾿Αδὰμ γέγονεν ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν, τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν· καὶ νῦν μή ποτε ἐκτείνῃ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ καὶ λάβῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ φάγῃ καὶ ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.

Genesis 3:22 (NETS)

Genesis 3:22 (English Elpenor)
Then God said, “See, Adam has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, and now perhaps he might reach out his hand and take of the tree of life and eat, and he will live forever.” And God said, Behold, Adam is become as one of us, to know good and evil, and now lest at any time he stretch forth his hand, and take of the tree of life and eat, and [so] he shall live forever–

Genesis 3:23 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 3:23 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν αὐτὸν κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς ἐργάζεσθαι τὴν γῆν ἐξ ἧς ἐλήμφθη καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν αὐτὸν Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς ἐργάζεσθαι τὴν γῆν, ἐξ ἧς ἐλήφθη.

Genesis 3:23 (NETS)

Genesis 3:23 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord God sent him forth from the orchard of delight to till the earth from which he was taken. So the Lord God sent him forth out of the garden of Delight to cultivate the ground out of which he was taken.

Genesis 3:24 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 3:24 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐξέβαλεν τὸν Αδαμ καὶ κατῴκισεν αὐτὸν ἀπέναντι τοῦ παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς καὶ ἔταξεν τὰ χερουβιμ καὶ τὴν φλογίνην ῥομφαίαν τὴν στρεφομένην φυλάσσειν τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ ἐξέβαλε τὸν ᾿Αδὰμ καὶ κατῴκισεν αὐτὸν ἀπέναντι τοῦ παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς καὶ ἔταξε τὰ Χερουβὶμ καὶ τὴν φλογίνην ρομφαίαν τὴν στρεφομένην φυλάσσειν τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς.

Genesis 3:24 (NETS)

Genesis 3:24 (English Elpenor)
And he drove Adam out and caused him to dwell opposite the orchard of delight, and he stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword that turns, to guard the way of the tree of life. And he cast out Adam and caused him to dwell over against the garden of Delight, and stationed the cherubs and the fiery sword that turns about to keep the way of the tree of life.
Genesis 4:2b-5 (Tanakh)

Genesis 4:2b-5 (NET)
And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground.
And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto HaShem. At the designated time Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground for an offering to the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה).
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.  And HaShem had respect unto Abel and to his offering; But Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock – even the fattest of them.  And the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) was pleased with Abel and his offering,
but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect.  And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. but with Cain and his offering he was not pleased.  So Cain became very angry, and his expression was downcast.

Genesis 4:2b (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:2b (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐγένετο Αβελ ποιμὴν προβάτων Καιν δὲ ἦν ἐργαζόμενος τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐγένετο ῎Αβελ ποιμὴν προβάτων, Κάϊν δὲ ἦν ἐργαζόμενος τὴν γῆν.

Genesis 4:2b (NETS)

Genesis 4:2b (English Elpenor)
And Habel became a herder of sheep, but Kain was tilling the earth. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Genesis 4:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐγένετο μεθ᾽ ἡμέρας ἤνεγκεν Καιν ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν τῆς γῆς θυσίαν τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ ἐγένετο μεθ᾿ ἡμέρας ἤνεγκε Κάϊν ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν τῆς γῆς θυσίαν τῷ Κυρίῳ,

Genesis 4:3 (NETS)

Genesis 4:3 (English Elpenor)
And it came about after some days that Kain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruits of the earth, And it was so after some time that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice to the Lord.

Genesis 4:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ Αβελ ἤνεγκεν καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπὸ τῶν πρωτοτόκων τῶν προβάτων αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν στεάτων αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπεῗδεν ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ Αβελ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῗς δώροις αὐτοῦ καὶ Ἄβελ ἤνεγκε καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπὸ τῶν πρωτοτόκων τῶν προβάτων αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν στεάτων αὐτῶν. καὶ ἐπεῖδεν ὁ Θεὸς ἐπὶ ῎Αβελ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις αὐτοῦ,

Genesis 4:4 (NETS)

Genesis 4:4 (English Elpenor)
And Habel, he also brought of the firstlings of his sheep and of their fat portions.  And God looked upon Habel and upon his gifts, And Abel also brought of the first born of his sheep and of his fatlings, and God looked upon Abel and his gifts,

Genesis 4:5 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐπὶ δὲ Καιν καὶ ἐπὶ ταῗς θυσίαις αὐτοῦ οὐ προσέσχεν καὶ ἐλύπησεν τὸν Καιν λίαν καὶ συνέπεσεν τῷ προσώπῳ ἐπὶ δὲ Κάϊν καὶ ἐπὶ ταῖς θυσίαις αὐτοῦ οὐ προσέσχε. καὶ ἐλυπήθη Κάϊν λίαν, καὶ συνέπεσε τῷ προσώπῳ αὐτοῦ.

Genesis 4:5 (NETS)

Genesis 4:5 (English Elpenor)
but on Kain and on his offerings he was not intent.  And it distressed Kain exceedingly, and he collapsed in countenance. but Cain and his sacrifices he regarded not, and Cain was exceedingly sorrowful and his countenance fell.

Genesis 4:6, 7 (Tanakh)

Genesis 4:6, 7 (NET)
And HaShem said unto Cain: ‘Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? Then the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast?
If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door; and unto thee is its desire, but thou mayest rule over it.’ Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door.  It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.”

Genesis 4:6 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῷ Καιν ἵνα τί περίλυπος ἐγένου καὶ ἵνα τί συνέπεσεν τὸ πρόσωπόν σου καὶ εἶπε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Κάϊν· ἵνα τί περίλυπος ἐγένου, καὶ ἵνα τί συνέπεσε τὸ πρόσωπόν σου;

Genesis 4:6 (NETS)

Genesis 4:6 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord God said to Kain, “Why have you become deeply grieved, and why has your countenance collapsed? And the Lord God said to Cain, Why art thou become very sorrowful and why is thy countenance fallen?

Genesis 4:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐκ ἐὰν ὀρθῶς προσενέγκῃς ὀρθῶς δὲ μὴ διέλῃς ἥμαρτες ἡσύχασον πρὸς σὲ ἡ ἀποστροφὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ σὺ ἄρξεις αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐὰν ὀρθῶς προσενέγκῃς, ὀρθῶς δὲ μὴ διέλῃς, ἥμαρτες; ἡσύχασον· πρὸς σὲ ἡ ἀποστροφὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ σὺ ἄρξεις αὐτοῦ.

Genesis 4:7 (NETS)

Genesis 4:7 (English Elpenor)
If you offer correctly but do not divide correctly, have you not sinned?  Be still; his recourse is to you, and you will rule over him.” Hast thou not sinned if thou hast brought it rightly, but not rightly divided it? be still, to thee shall be his submission, and thou shalt rule over him.

Genesis 3:16 (Tanakh)

Genesis 3:16 (NET)
Unto the woman He said: ‘I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy travail; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.’ To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your labor pains; with pain you will give birth to children.  You will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you.”

Genesis 3:16 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 3:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ εἶπεν πληθύνων πληθυνῶ τὰς λύπας σου καὶ τὸν στεναγμόν σου ἐν λύπαις τέξῃ τέκνα καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα σου ἡ ἀποστροφή σου καὶ αὐτός σου κυριεύσει καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ εἶπε· πληθύνων πληθυνῶ τὰς λύπας σου καὶ τὸν στεναγμόν σου· ἐν λύπαις τέξῃ τέκνα, καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα σου ἡ ἀποστροφή σου, καὶ αὐτός σου κυριεύσει.

Genesis 3:16 (NETS)

Genesis 3:16 (English Elpenor)
And to the woman he said, “I will increasingly increase your pains and your groaning; with pains you will bring forth children.  And your recourse will be to your husband, and he will dominate you.” And to the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pains and thy groanings; in pain thou shalt bring forth children, and thy submission shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Psalm 46:10 (Tanakh)

Psalm 46:10 (NET)
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. He says, “Stop your striving and recognize that I am God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים)!  I will be exalted over the nations!  I will be exalted over the earth!”

Psalm 46:10 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 45:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
σχολάσατε καὶ γνῶτε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεός ὑψωθήσομαι ἐν τοῗς ἔθνεσιν ὑψωθήσομαι ἐν τῇ γῇ σχολάσατε καὶ γνῶτε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Θεός· ὑψωθήσομαι ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὑψωθήσομαι ἐν τῇ γῇ.

Psalm 45:11 (NETS)

Psalm 45:11 (English Elpenor)
“Relax, and know that I am God!  I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

Genesis 4:8 (Tanakh)

Genesis 4:8 (NET)
And Cain spoke unto Abel his brother.  And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”  While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Genesis 4:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 4:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν Καιν πρὸς Αβελ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ διέλθωμεν εἰς τὸ πεδίον καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ καὶ ἀνέστη Καιν ἐπὶ Αβελ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτόν καὶ εἶπε Κάϊν πρὸς ῎Αβελ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ· διέλθωμεν εἰς τὸ πεδίον. καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ, ἀνέστη Κάϊν ἐπὶ ῎Αβελ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτόν.

Genesis 4:8 (NETS)

Genesis 4:8 (English Elpenor)
And Kain said to his brother Habel, “Let us go through into the plain.”  And it came about when they were in the plain, that then Kain rose up against his brother Habel and killed him. And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go out into the plain; and it came to pass that when they were in the plain Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

Revelation 1:2 (NET)

Revelation 1:2 (KJV)
who then testified to everything that he saw concerning the word of God and the testimony about Jesus Christ. Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ὃς ἐμαρτύρησεν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ὅσα εἶδεν ος εμαρτυρησεν τον λογον του θεου και την μαρτυριαν ιησου χριστου οσα τε ειδεν ος εμαρτυρησεν τον λογον του θεου και την μαρτυριαν ιησου χριστου οσα ειδεν
Revelation 22:1, 2 (NET)

Revelation 22:1, 2 (KJV)
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life – water as clear as crystal – pouring out from the throne of God and of the Lamb, And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Καὶ ἔδειξεν μοι ποταμὸν ὕδατος ζωῆς λαμπρὸν ὡς κρύσταλλον, ἐκπορευόμενον ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἀρνίου και εδειξεν μοι καθαρον ποταμον υδατος ζωης λαμπρον ως κρυσταλλον εκπορευομενον εκ του θρονου του θεου και του αρνιου και εδειξεν μοι ποταμον καθαρον υδατος ζωης λαμπρον ως κρυσταλλον εκπορευομενον εκ του θρονου του θεου και του αρνιου
flowing down the middle of the city’s main street.  On each side of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year.  Its leaves are for the healing of the nations. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ἐν μέσῳ τῆς πλατείας αὐτῆς καὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐντεῦθεν καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ξύλον ζωῆς ποιοῦν καρποὺς δώδεκα, κατὰ μῆνα ἕκαστον ἀποδιδοῦν τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ φύλλα τοῦ ξύλου εἰς θεραπείαν τῶν ἐθνῶν εν μεσω της πλατειας αυτης και του ποταμου εντευθεν και εντευθεν ξυλον ζωης ποιουν καρπους δωδεκα κατα μηνα ενα εκαστον αποδιδουν τον καρπον αυτου και τα φυλλα του ξυλου εις θεραπειαν των εθνων εν μεσω της πλατειας αυτης και του ποταμου εντευθεν και εντευθεν ξυλον ζωης ποιουν καρπους δωδεκα κατα μηνα εκαστον αποδιδους τον καρπον αυτου και τα φυλλα του ξυλου εις θεραπειαν των εθνων

John 8:44 (NET)

John 8:44 (KJV)
You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ὑμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστὲ καὶ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν θέλετε ποιεῖν. ἐκεῖνος ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἦν ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ οὐκ ἔστηκεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἀλήθεια ἐν αὐτῷ. ὅταν λαλῇ τὸ ψεῦδος, ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων λαλεῖ, ὅτι ψεύστης ἐστὶν καὶ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ υμεις εκ πατρος του διαβολου εστε και τας επιθυμιας του πατρος υμων θελετε ποιειν εκεινος ανθρωποκτονος ην απ αρχης και εν τη αληθεια ουχ εστηκεν οτι ουκ εστιν αληθεια εν αυτω οταν λαλη το ψευδος εκ των ιδιων λαλει οτι ψευστης εστιν και ο πατηρ αυτου υμεις εκ του πατρος του διαβολου εστε και τας επιθυμιας του πατρος υμων θελετε ποιειν εκεινος ανθρωποκτονος ην απ αρχης και εν τη αληθεια ουχ εστηκεν οτι ουκ εστιν αληθεια εν αυτω οταν λαλη το ψευδος εκ των ιδιων λαλει οτι ψευστης εστιν και ο πατηρ αυτου

Romans 9:31 (NET)

Romans 9:31 (KJV)
but Israel even though pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain it. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
Ἰσραὴλ δὲ διώκων νόμον δικαιοσύνης εἰς νόμον οὐκ ἔφθασεν ισραηλ δε διωκων νομον δικαιοσυνης εις νομον δικαιοσυνης ουκ εφθασεν ισραηλ δε διωκων νομον δικαιοσυνης εις νομον δικαιοσυνης ουκ εφθασεν

Philippians 3:6 (NET)

Philippians 3:6 (KJV)
In my zeal for God I persecuted the church.  According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
κατὰ ζῆλος διώκων τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, κατὰ δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐν νόμῳ γενόμενος ἄμεμπτος κατα ζηλον διωκων την εκκλησιαν κατα δικαιοσυνην την εν νομω γενομενος αμεμπτος κατα ζηλον διωκων την εκκλησιαν κατα δικαιοσυνην την εν νομω γενομενος αμεμπτος
Romans 8:9 (NET)

Romans 8:9 (KJV)
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.  Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.  Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σαρκὶ ἀλλὰ ἐν πνεύματι, εἴπερ πνεῦμα θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν. εἰ δέ τις πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ οὐκ ἔχει, οὗτος οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ υμεις δε ουκ εστε εν σαρκι αλλ εν πνευματι ειπερ πνευμα θεου οικει εν υμιν ει δε τις πνευμα χριστου ουκ εχει ουτος ουκ εστιν αυτου υμεις δε ουκ εστε εν σαρκι αλλ εν πνευματι ειπερ πνευμα θεου οικει εν υμιν ει δε τις πνευμα χριστου ουκ εχει ουτος ουκ εστιν αυτου

[1] The Stephanus Textus Receptus had τε (KJV: and) preceding he saw.  The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[2] Revelation 1:1, 2 (NET)

[3] The Stephanus Textus Receptus had καθαρον (KJV: pure) preceding river.  The Byzantine Majority Text had καθαρον following river.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[4] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ἐντεῦθεν καὶ ἐκεῖθεν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εντευθεν και εντευθεν (KJV: on either side).

[5] The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Stephanus Textus Receptus had ἀποδιδοῦν here, where the Byzantine Majority Text had αποδιδους.

[6] The Stephanus Textus Receptus had ενα preceding every.  The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

[7] Genesis 3:7b (Tanakh) Table

[8] Romans 5:12a (NET)

[9] The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had the article τοῦ preceding father.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus did not.

[10] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had οὐκ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουχ.

[11] Romans 8:14 (NET)

[12] “Even when people do things for you and give you things that you don’t actually want, you must always remember that it’s the thought that counts.” Cambridge Dictionary

[13] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had χάρις here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ευχαριστω (KJV: I thank).

[14] Genesis 4:6 (NET) Table

[15] Genesis 4:7 (Tanakh) Table

[16] Genesis 4:7 Hebrew Table

[17] Genesis 3:16b (Tanakh)

[18] Genesis 3:16 Hebrew

[19] Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 11

[20] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had νομον δικαιοσυνης (KJV: the law of righteousness) here, where the NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had νόμον.

[21] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had νομου (KJV: of the law) following works.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

[22] The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had ζῆλος here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ζηλον (KJV: zeal).

[23] Philippians 3:6a (NET)

[24] Psalm 46:10 (Tanakh)

[25] Matthew 6:33 (NET) Table

[26] The NET had “Let’s go out to the field” here, as did the Septuagint [Table of Genesis 4:8 in this essay].

[27] John 3:6, 7 (NET)

[28] Romans 8:8 (NET)

[29] Romans 8:9-11 (NET) Table

[30] Romans 1:17a (NET)

[31] Romans 13:10 (NET)

[32] Romans 9:16 (NET) Table

[33] Romans 11:32 (NET)

[34] Ephesians 3:19b (NET)

[35] Luke 18:19b (NET)

Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 10

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“Because you obeyed (shâmaʽ, שמעת; Septuagint: ἤκουσας, a form of ἀκούω) your wife, the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) said to Adam, and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground thanks to you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.”[1]

The Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) had commanded Adam: “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”[2]  Eve saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, so she took some of its fruit and ate it.[3]  When she brought some to Adam she brought not only her recommendation but empirical evidence that she had both touched it and eaten it and had not died.

Adam preferred the voice of his wife to the voice of yehôvâh.  When Jacob preferred the beautiful Rachel over Leah the Lord saw that Leah was unloved (śânêʼ).[4]  In other words Adam hated the voice of God relative to that of his wife, the voice of God was unloved.  For the sake of argument I’ll describe Adam’s iniquity as defiance: Adam was not deceived,[5] Paul assured Timothy.

Adam’s defiance visited upon Cain became a murderous rage: Cain became very angry [Table]…Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”  While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.[6]  Cain’s murderous rage combined with the memory of the mercy yehôvâh showed him became a defiant self-righteousness in his descendant Lamech, perhaps even incipient tribal law (Genesis 4:23, 24 NET):

Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah!  Listen (shâmaʽ, שמען; Septuagint: ἀκούσατέ, another form of ἀκούω) to me!  You wives of Lamech, hear my words!  I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for hurting me.  If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much, then Lamech seventy-seven times!”

The upshot of this relatively unhindered visiting of fathers’ iniquity upon the sons was: The earth was ruined in the sight of God; the earth was filled with violence.[7]  So God said to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them.”[8]

I began this portion of my study of fear to understand how the translators of the NET “arrived at I punish as a translation of the Hebrew word pâqad (פקד)” in Deuteronomy 5:9.  If punishment could arrest this relatively unhindered visiting of fathers’ iniquity upon the sons before it culminated in a death sentence for all living creatures it would be a welcome relief.  This brings me to the third occurrence of ואפקד (pâqad) translated punish or punishment (and I have brought the punishment) in the NET (Leviticus 18:25 NET):

Therefore the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it, so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants.

This was not a reference to the violence of the antediluvian world but to the worship/sexual practices of the inhabitants of Canaan before Israel entered the promised land.  But first I need to consider whether the visiting of the fathers’ iniquity upon the sons was quite as unhindered as I have imagined it.

I was born and raised in the latter half of the twentieth century near the northern edge of the Bible belt in the United States of America.  I am a hardcore materialist with some Jesus jelly smeared on top.  I acknowledge this to confess the iniquity of my fathers, not to blame them or excuse myself, but to begin to claim my freedom from my own acceptance of that iniquity as my truth.

The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground (ʼădâmâh)![9] yehôvâh told Cain.  I hear this as a poetic reference to yehôvâh’s omniscience (Psalm 139:1-12).  These days I’m not unwilling to take it literally, that Abel’s blood had a voice that yehôvâh could hear crying out from the ground, but it’s not natural to me.  I am the dark side of, Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.[10]  Still, opening myself to its possibility gives me a different perspective.

So now, you are banished (ʼârar, ארור) from the ground (ʼădâmâh, האדמה: NET footnote 28): Heb “cursed are you from the ground”), yehôvâh continued, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand [Table].  When you try to cultivate the ground (ʼădâmâh, האדמה) it will no longer yield its best for you.  You will be a homeless wanderer on the earth [Table].[11]  To Adam He had already said, cursed (ʼârar, ארורה) is the ground (ʼădâmâh, האדמה) thanks to you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you, but you will eat the grain of the field.  By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground (ʼădâmâh, האדמה), for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return.[12]

I can begin to accept these as revelation of the very nature of the ground created by a loving, gracious and holy God, how the earth itself responds to its sinful inhabitants, rather than as post hoc punishments invented in the moment.  And I can begin to see the nature of the earth, the ground we live on, as a deterrent to the unhindered visiting of the fathers’ iniquity upon the sons.

Cain couldn’t supply himself with food by his own cultivation of the ground; the ground would no longer yield its best for him.  Cain built a city, a place where people could live in community and trade with one another for things they all needed.  Did he honor those still righteous enough to cultivate the ground that would not yield its best to him?  Did he learn from them?

The text doesn’t say.  It says, The earth (ʼerets, הארץ) was ruined in the sight of God; the earth (ʼerets, הארץ) was filled with violence.  If I accept that the blood of victims has a voice that yehôvâh can hear crying out from the ground, crying out to Him to act, and multiply that by the increase of population over the many generations I can at least imagine the cacophony in his ears and begin to appreciate his choices (Genesis 6:6, 7 NET):

The Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) regretted that he had made humankind on the earth (ʼerets, בארץ), and he was highly offended.  So the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth (ʼădâmâh, האדמה) – everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”

The religious mind must sit quietly here to meditate that at this moment in history yehôvâh preferred to destroy all life (air and ground) but that which could be saved in a boat and to start over again rather than to establish a law or a religion (aside from the rudiments of animal sacrifice handed down from Adam, Cain and Abel).  One might say that yehôvâh hated law and religion, law and religion were unloved relative to starting over again with a remnant of the former world.  But after the flood (Genesis 8:20-22 NET):

Noah built an altar to the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה).  He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.  And the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) smelled the soothing aroma and (yehôvâh, יהוה) said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground (ʼădâmâh, האדמה) because of humankind, even though the inclination of their minds (lêb, לב) is evil from childhood on.  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.  While the earth continues to exist, planting time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”

God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) spoke one law to address violence, “Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God’s image God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) has made humankind”[13] and one revised dietary law: Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority.  You may eat any moving thing that lives.  As I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.[14]  I assume that the trees of life and of the knowledge of good and evil did not survive the flood and had become a nonissue (Genesis 3:22).  But in Leviticus yehôvâh was establishing both a law and a religion in clear contrast to those originated by men.  Now that will have to wait for another essay.

In my first draft of this essay I had hoped to avoid Noah’s curse: Cursed (ʼârar, ארור; Septuagint: ἐπικατάρατος) be Canaan![15]  But I couldn’t get away with it.  And I have to admit it is more germane than I want it to be.  If Noah’s story (Genesis 9:20-27) were about almost anyone else we would take it simply as James’ source text (James 3:7-12 NET):

For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature is subdued and has been subdued by humankind.  But no human being can subdue the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse (καταρώμεθα, a form of καταράομαι) people made in God’s image.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing (κατάρα).  These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters.  A spring does not pour out fresh water and bitter water from the same opening, does it?  Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, or a vine produce figs?  Neither can a salt water spring produce fresh water.

But it was Noah, the heir of the world, who spoke this curse and this blessing so we are taught: “God’s blessing is going to rest directly on Shem, indirectly on Japheth, and His cursing is going to rest upon Ham’s son Canaan.”[16]  “So Ham was cursed and Shem and Japheth were blessed in cooperative unity.  The problem which must arise from the cursing of Canaan is this: Why did God curse Canaan for the sin of Ham?  Beyond this, why did God curse the Canaanites, a nation, for the sin of one man?”[17]  The text is fairly clear that Noah not God spoke both the curse and the blessing.  To this point Moses had been very explicit when ʼĕlôhı̂ym or yehôvâh spoke.  Why do we want to believe that Noah spoke for Him here?

Noah was a godly man; he was blameless (tâmı̂ym, תמים; Septuagint: τέλειος) among his contemporaries.  He walked with God.[18]  Perhaps we want tâmı̂ym to be an absolute term.  But this was not Paul writing, According to the righteousness stipulated in the law [as understood by first century Pharisees] I was blameless (ἄμεμπτος).[19]  Noah was blameless (KJV: perfect) among his contemporaries[20] (dôr, בדרתיו; Septuagint: γενεᾷ), those condemned to death for their violence: Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time.[21]  About all one can say for sure about Noah is that he wasn’t a murderer and perhaps not every inclination of the thoughts of [his mind] was only evil all the time.

God said to Noah, Make for yourself an ark of cypress wood.  Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and out.[22]  And Noah did all that God commanded him – he did indeed.[23]  Through his faithfulness Noah was declared a herald of righteousness: and if [God] did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, when God brought a flood on an ungodly world…then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, and to reserve the unrighteous for punishment at the day of judgment…[24]  By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family.  Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.[25]

But Noah found favor (chên, חן; Septuagint: χάριν) in the sight of the Lord.[26]  As followers of Jesus it is more prudent to believe that Noah’s faithfulness was on account of yehôvâh’s grace rather than due to some inherent quality of Noah’s: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.[27]  There is no one righteous, not even one…[28] [i.e., in and of himself] there is no one who shows kindness, not even one,[29] Paul quoted the Psalm of David (Psalm 14:2, 3 Tanakh):

The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.  They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Jesus’ assessment of Noah and of the entire Old Testament is very helpful here: Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’[30]  Noah didn’t miraculously escape the corruption of the flesh of Adam.  Noah didn’t speak for God unless the text had said that Noah spoke the word of God.

Noah’s “words came to pass, so we believe he was inspired by God.”[31]  I know of no place in Scripture where it is written, “this took place to fulfill Noah’s prophecy.”  Generations of Bible expositors would surely have quoted it if they had found it, so the contention that Noah’s curse and blessing “came to pass” is in the eye of the beholder.

“The act of Ham could not go unpunished.  In the curse of Noah upon Canaan, he was not punishing him personally for something his father Ham had done.  The words of Noah refer not to Canaan himself, but to the nation that would come from him…Though we are not told the exact sin of Ham, we do know that it was reprehensible enough for God to curse the line of his son Canaan.  The judgment was not directed to Canaan personally but rather to his descendants.”[32]  As prophecies go, then—and the Scriptures do not record that Canaan himself was ever enslaved to his brothers—one need not fear Noah as a prophet (Deuteronomy 18:21, 22 NET):

“Now if you say to yourselves, ‘How can we tell that a message is not from the Lord?’ – whenever a prophet speaks in my name and the prediction is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it; the prophet has presumed to speak it, so you need not fear him.”

“Noah’s words did come to pass in the future, as we read that many of Canaan’s descendants were either killed or put under tribute by Israel (descendants of Shem) during the times of Joshua and the Judges, and later by King Solomon.”  God’s words will come to pass but the simple fact that a man’s words come to pass doesn’t make them God’s words (Deuteronomy 13:1-4 NET):

Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods” – gods whom you have not previously known – “and let us serve them.”  You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him with all your mind and being.  You must follow the Lord your God and revere only him; and you must observe his commandments, obey him, serve him, and remain loyal to him.

I’m not accusing Noah of being a false prophet.  I’m not accusing Noah of being any kind of prophet at all.  If I’m accusing Noah of anything it is that he spoke angrily, self-righteously, with a hangover.  But what I must believe about God to believe that He cursed a nation of people for something a man did many generations before those people were even born is a very different god than the One I am knowing through the Scriptures.

I concede that one who believes this is God because “many of Canaan’s descendants were either killed or put under tribute by Israel (descendants of Shem) during the times of Joshua and the Judges, and later by King Solomon” may also believe that He will punish the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject (śânêʼ, לשׁנאי) me…[33]  Still, I hope that one may be willing to concede that Noah’s curse was not the love that does no wrong to a neighbor, not the love that is the fulfillment of the law.[34]

While I don’t believe that Noah’s curse, or his blessing, were the immutable Word of God I do think his curse is a terrifying example of God visiting Noah’s iniquity upon Canaan, terrifying precisely because the effect of Noah’s iniquity[35] has seemed so sure and certain that so many have assumed it was divine prophecy.  We’re not told how Canaan reacted to Noah’s curse.  I know how I would react to Noah’s “godliness,” “blamelessness,” and his “walk” with God unless I were willing to forgive him for his drunken rant.  And I know that Canaan’s descendants practiced a law and religion inimical to yehôvâh.

I’ll return to Leviticus 18 in another essay.

[1] Genesis 3:17 (NET)

[2] Genesis 2:16, 17 (NET)

[3] Genesis 3:6a (NET)

[4] Genesis 29:31a (NET)

[5] 1 Timothy 2:14a (NET)

[6] Genesis 4:5b, 8 (NET)

[7] Genesis 6:11 (NET)

[8] Genesis 6:13a (NET)

[9] Genesis 4:10b (NET) Table

[10] Proverbs 22:6 (NET)

[11] Genesis 4:11, 12 (NET)

[12] Genesis 3:17b-19 (NET)

[13] Genesis 9:6 (NET)

[14] Genesis 9:2b, 3 (NET)

[15] Genesis 9:25a (NET)

[16] J. Ligon Duncan, “The Cursing of Canaan,” Sermon on Genesis 9:18-29, November 22, 1998, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi

[17] Bob Deffinbaugh, “10. The Nakedness of Noah and the Cursing of Canaan (Genesis 9:18-10:32),” Bible.org

[18] Genesis 6:9b (NET)

[19] Philippians 3:6b (NET)

[20] NET note 32: Heb “Noah was a godly man, blameless in his generations.” The singular “generation” can refer to one’s contemporaries, i.e., those living at a particular point in time. The plural “generations” can refer to successive generations in the past or the future. Here, where it is qualified by “his” (i.e., Noah’s), it refers to Noah’s contemporaries, comprised of the preceding generation (his father’s generation), those of Noah’s generation, and the next generation (those the same age as his children). In other words, “his generations” means the generations contemporary with him. See BDB 190 s.v. דוֹר.

[21] Genesis 6:5b (NET)

[22] Genesis 6:14 (NET)

[23] Genesis 6:22 (NET)

[24] 2 Peter 2:5, 9 (NET)

[25] Hebrews 11:7 (NET)

[26] Genesis 6:8 (NET)

[27] Genesis 6:9 (KJV)

[28] Romans 3:10b (NET)

[29] Romans 3:12b (NET)

[30] John 3:7 (NET)

[31] Troy Lacey, “The Curse of Canaan,” October 12, 2012, Answers In Genesis

[32] Don Stewart, “Why Was Canaan Cursed Instead of Ham?,” Blue Letter Bible

[33] Deuteronomy 5:9b (NET)

[34] Romans 13:10 (NET)

[35] To those who hold that the fourth generation is a limit to Noah’s iniquity, I concede the point.  It would not be accurate to blame Noah’s iniquity for the sins of Canaanites in the time of Israel’s conquest.  My point is that iniquity is like a snowball rolling downhill, gaining mass and momentum, as long as people continue to reject, hate, prefer something other than, yehôvâh.

Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 8

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I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, Moses said to Israel, to reveal to you the message of the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה), because you were afraid (yârêʼ, יראתם) of the fire and would not go up the mountain.[1]  Then he recounted the ten commandments.  Within them was a fearful description of yehôvâh: I punish the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject me…[2]  And in a footnote (11) the translators made it perfectly clear what form of punishment they had in mind: “God sometimes punishes children for the sins of a father (cf. Num 16:27, 32; Josh 7:24-25; 2 Sam 21:1-9).”  In other words yehôvâh executes the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject Him.

That’s what I thought.  And that’s why I love the NET.  Apart from its written record I would look back and think I had been completely insane.  It’s not that I had the NET to read when I was young, but that its translators came of age in the same religious milieu as I did.  So in the spirit of fearing the Lord I want to slow way down to consider how they arrived at I punish as a translation of the Hebrew word pâqad (פקד; Septuagint: ἀποδιδοὺς, a form of ἀποδίδωμι).  And this fear is not reverence, but the fear that keeps one from direct intercourse with yehôvâh.  Only Moses risked that, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain.

In Exodus 20:5 (NET) pâqad was translated responding.

Form of pâqad Reference KJV NET
פקד Exodus 20:5 …visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children… …responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children…
Deuteronomy 5:9 …visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children… …I punish the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons…

I intend to track pâqad, ʽâvôn (עון; translated to the transgression and for the sin) and śânêʼ (לשׁנאי; translated of those who reject me and who reject me) from the beginning to the giving of the law, and then from there to its restatement in Deuteronomy.  I first encountered ʽâvôn from the mouth of Cain after he attacked his brother Abel and killed him.[3]

So now, you are banished from the ground, yehôvâh said to him, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.[4]  Up to that time Cain had cultivated the ground.  When you try to cultivate the ground, yehôvâh continued, it will no longer yield its best for you.  You will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.[5]  Cain lamented (Genesis 4:13b, 14 NET):

My punishment (ʽâvôn, עוני) is too great to endure! [Table]  Look!  You are driving me off the land today, and I must hide from your presence.  I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me.

Here the translators assumed that Cain lamented his punishment rather than his sin; ʽâvôn can mean both.  When yehôvâh prophesied to Abram the translators assumed the Amorites were not punished in the promised land they inhabited but that the land itself would not be given to Abram’s descendants until the Amorites’ sin reached some predetermined limit (Genesis 15:13b-16 NET):

Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country.  They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years [Table].  But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve.  Afterward they will come out with many possessions [Table].  But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age [Table].  In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin (ʽâvôn, עון) of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit [Table].

But Abram/Abraham had no son yet by his wife Sarah (Genesis 17:15-21).

Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; Sarah will be her name [Table].  I will bless her and will give you a son through her.  I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations.  Kings of countries will come from her [Table]!”

Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed as he said to himself, “Can a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old?  Can Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety [Table]?”  Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live before you [Table]!”

God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac.  I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual covenant for his descendants after him [Table].  As for Ishmael, I have heard you.  I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants.  He will become the father of twelve princes; I will make him into a great nation [Table].  But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year [Table].”

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest time of the day.  Abraham looked up and saw three men standing across from him.[6]  One of them said, “I will surely return to you when the season comes round again, and your wife Sarah will have a son!”[7]

So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, especially when my husband is old too?”

The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child when I am old?’  Is anything impossible for the Lord?  I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.”  Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid (yârêʼ, יראה).  But the Lord said, “No!  You did laugh.”[8]

The next occurrence of ʽâvôn involved the judgment and condemnation of Sodom.  At dawn the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going!  Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged (ʽâvôn)!”[9]  Competing values had met at Lot’s front door (Genesis 19:4-9a NET):

Before they could lie down to sleep, all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house.  They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight?  Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”

Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him.  He said, “No, my brothers!  Don’t act so wickedly (râʽaʽ, תרעו)!  Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with a man.  Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please.  Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

“Out of our way!” they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, and now he dares to judge us!  We’ll do more harm (râʽaʽ, נרע) to you than to them!”

The two angels, yehôvâh’s messengers, didn’t allow the men of Sodom to fulfill their desire, nor did they allow Lot to defile his daughters to fulfill his family’s ideal of hospitality.  They struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, with blindness.[10]   And that brings me to the first occurrence of pâqad.

The Lord visited (pâqad, פקד) Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised.[11]  The rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose ἐπεσκέψατο (a form of ἐπισκέπτομαι) here.  I find ἐπεσκέψατο at the beginning of the fulfillment of another promise as well.  The Jerusalem Council listened to Barnabas and Paul while they explained all the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.[12] James replied (Acts 15:13b-18 NET Table1 Table2):

“Brothers, listen to me.  Simeon has explained (Acts 15:7-11) how God first concerned himself (ἐπεσκέψατο, a form of ἐπισκέπτομαι) to select from among the Gentiles a people for his name.  The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the fallen tent of David; I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord, namely, all the Gentiles I have called to be my own,’ says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago.”

James didn’t quote the Septuagint.

Acts 15:16, 17 (NET) Acts 15:16, 17 Parallel Greek Amos 9:11, 12 Septuagint Amos 9:11, 12 NETS
‘After this… μετὰ ταῦτα… ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ… On that day…
…I will return… …ἀναστρέψω…
…and I will rebuild the fallen tent of David… καὶ ἀνοικοδομήσω τὴν σκηνὴν Δαυὶδ τὴν πεπτωκυῖαν …ἀναστήσω τὴν σκηνὴν Δαυιδ τὴν πεπτωκυῖαν… …I will raise up the tent of David that is fallen…
…καὶ ἀνοικοδομήσω τὰ πεπτωκότα αὐτῆς… …and rebuild its ruins…
…I will rebuild its ruins… …καὶ τὰ |κατεσκαμμένα| αὐτῆς ἀνοικοδομήσω… …καὶ τὰ κατεσκαμμένα αὐτῆς ἀναστήσω… …and raise up its destruction…
…and restore it… …καὶ ἀνορθώσω αὐτήν… …καὶ ἀνοικοδομήσω αὐτὴν καθὼς αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ αἰῶνος… …and rebuild it as the days of old…
…so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord, namely, all the Gentiles I have called to be my own,’ says the Lord, who makes these things… …ὅπως ἂν ἐκζητήσωσιν οἱ κατάλοιποι τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸν κύριον καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐφ᾿ οὓς ἐπικέκληται τὸ ὄνομα μου ἐπ᾿ αὐτούς, λέγει κύριος ποιῶν ταῦτα… …ὅπως ἐκζητήσωσιν οἱ κατάλοιποι τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐφ᾽ οὓς ἐπικέκληται τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς λέγει κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιῶν ταῦτα… …in order that those remaining of humans and all the nations upon whom my name has been called might seek out me, says the Lord who does these things.

But the Septuagint version of Amos 9:12 is much closer to James’ quotation than the Hebrew from which our Bibles have been translated.

Amos 9:12 (NET) Amos 9:12 (KJV)

Amos 9:12 (Tanakh)
“As a result they will conquer those left in Edom and all the nations subject to my rule.”  The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking! That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this. That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.

The first occurrence of śânêʼ is found in the words with which Rebekah’s family blessed her when she left them to marry Abraham’s and Sarah’s son Isaac: Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands!  May your descendants possess the strongholds of their enemies (śânêʼ).[13]  But enemies as a translation of śânêʼ did not mean open warfare exclusively.  It could include the fear of a potential enemy.  Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us and go elsewhere, for you have become much more powerful than we are.”[14]  When Abimelech saw how yehôvâh had blessed Isaac and sought a treaty with him, Isaac asked, Why have you come to me?  You hate (śânêʼ, שׁנאתם) me and sent me away from you. [15]

The Hebrew word śânêʼ was also used to describe personal preference.  Isaac and Rebekah had twin sons, Esau and Jacob.  Jacob married two women, Leah and Rachel.  Rachel was beautiful.  Leah was not.  When evening came Jacob preferred to bed Rachel over Leah.  When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved (śânêʼ, שׁנואה), he enabled her to become pregnant while Rachel remained childless.[16]  She became pregnant again and had another son.  She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved (śânêʼ, שׁנואה), he gave me this one too.”[17]

From the perspective of the word usage of śânêʼ it matters very little whether Leah was a superstitious woman who mistook happenstance for interaction with yehôvâh.  As a matter of faith in yehôvâh it is important to remember that Moses was not afraid of the fire, went up the mountain and spoke directly with Him.  He said of Moses (Numbers 12:6-8a NET):

Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream.  My servant Moses is not like this; he is faithful in all my house.  With him I will speak face to face, openly, and not in riddles; and he will see the form of the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה).

It was Moses who wrote that yehôvâh saw (râʼâh, וירא) that Leah was unloved and enabled her to become pregnant.  If I believe, the details pulse with life.  Leah concurred with yehôvâh at first: The Lord has looked (râʼâh, ראה) with pity on my oppressed condition,[18] she said when she was not having regular sex with Jacob.  But after she was and had given birth to two sons, Reuben and Simeon, the idea that yehôvâh saw her became less comforting: the Lord heard (shâmaʽ, ושמע) that I was unloved, she amended her statement of faith.

So then faith comes by hearing,[19] Paul wrote the Romans.  The best way to avoid faith in yehôvâh is to avoid the Bible.  Don’t read it for yourself or listen to preaching or teaching from it.  The second best way to avoid faith in yehôvâh is to read the Bible, study it even, listen to plenty of sermons from it, but keep your mind focused on rules for you to obey.  I know.  I did it for years.

With my mind focused on my own compliance, or lack of compliance, to rules derived from the law I missed the grace of God, his gift of righteousness, the fruit of his Spirit.  Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand,[20] Jesus promised those who trusted their religion, rites and rituals rather than yehôvâh.  Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, He critiqued their labors, hypocrites!  You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves![21]

Elsewhere I called my attempt “to keep yehôvâh’s law in my own strength…an occupational hazard of reading the Old Testament with a willing heart…If yehôvâh said do this or don’t do that, I said okay, and woke up somewhere in the story of David to the fact that I was striving again to keep the law in my own strength, without malice or forethought.”  Jesus read the Old Testament and concluded, You must all be born from above[22] because what is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.[23]  Keeping that in view and remaining open to understanding how He got that out of the Old Testament helps to minimize the “occupational hazard” of studying it.  Another more manual technique has been to deny my suspicions of yehôvâh, to take Him at his word, and to become more suspicious of the motives (1 Timothy 1:5-7) and agendas (Galatians 4:17-31) of those who would dissuade me from trusting his salvation.

Eventually, Rachel had a son, Joseph.  When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated (śânêʼ, וישׁנאו) Joseph and were not able to speak to him kindly.  Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated (śânêʼ, שׁנא) him even more.[24]  He said to them (Genesis 37:6-8 NET):

“Listen to this dream I had: There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the middle of the field.  Suddenly my sheaf rose up and stood upright and your sheaves surrounded my sheaf and bowed down to it!”  Then his brothers asked him, “Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?”  They hated (śânêʼ, שׁנא) him even more because of his dream and because of what he said.

Joseph had another dream, and told it to his brothers (Genesis 37:9, 10 NET).

“Look,” he said.  “I had another dream.  The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”  When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, “What is this dream that you had?  Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?”

Joeseph’s brothers’ śânêʼ was no mere emotion.  They plotted to kill him.  But Reuben, the eldest, talked them down from killing Joseph.  Then Judah said to his brothers (Genesis 37:26-28 NET):

“What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?  Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not lay a hand on him, for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.”  His brothers agreed.  So when the Midianite merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.  The Ishmaelites then took Joseph to Egypt.

An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, purchased [Joseph] from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there (Genesis 39:1b-6a NET).

The Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) was with Joseph.  He was successful and lived in the household of his Egyptian master.  His master observed that the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) was with him and that the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) made everything he was doing successful.  So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant.  Potiphar appointed (pâqad, ויפקדהו) Joseph overseer of his household and put him in charge of everything he owned.  From the time Potiphar appointed (pâqad, הפקיד) him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) blessed the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake.  The blessing of the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) was on everything that he had, both in his house and in his fields.  So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; he gave no thought to anything except the food he ate.

In the Septuagint these two occurrences of pâqad were translated κατέστησεν and κατασταθῆναι (forms of καθίστημι).  Who then is the faithful and wise slave, Jesus asked, whom the master has put in charge (κατέστησεν, a form of καθίστημι) of his household, to give the other slaves their food at the proper time?  Blessed is that slave whom the master finds at work when he comes.  I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge (καταστήσει, another form of καθίστημι) of all his possessions.[25]

I’ll pick this up in another essay.  The tables I’ve used here follow.

Form of pâqad Reference KJV NET
פקד Genesis 21:1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had… The Lord visited Sarah just as he had said…
Genesis 50:24 …and God will surely visit you… …But God will surely come to you…
Genesis 50:25 …God will surely visit you… ..God will surely come to you…
Exodus 3:16 …I have surely visited you… …I have attended carefully to you…
Exodus 4:31 …they heard that the LORD had visited… …heard that the Lord had attended to…
Exodus 13:19 …God will surely visit you… …God will surely attend to you…
Exodus 20:5 …visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children… …responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children…
ויפקדהו Genesis 39:4 …and he made him overseer over his… …Potiphar appointed Joseph overseer of…
הפקיד Genesis 39:5 …he had made him overseer in his house… …Potiphar appointed him over his…
ויפקד Genesis 40:4 …charged Joseph with them… …appointed Joseph to be their attendant…
Genesis 41:34 …and let him appoint officers over the… …he should appoint officials throughout…
יפקד Genesis 50:24 …and God will surely visit you… …But God will surely come to you…
Genesis 50:25 …God will surely visit you… ..God will surely come to you…
Exodus 13:19 …God will surely visit you… …God will surely attend to you…
פקדתי Exodus 3:16 …I have surely visited you… …I have attended carefully to you…
Form of ʽâvôn Reference KJV NET
עוני Genesis 4:13 My punishment is greater than I can bear. My punishment is too great to endure!
עון Genesis 15:16 …for the iniquity of the Amorites is not… …for the sin of the Amorites has not yet…
Genesis 44:16 …found out the iniquity of thy servants… …God has exposed the sin of your servants!
Exodus 20:5 …visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children… …responding to the transgression of fathers…
בעון Genesis 19:15 …be consumed in the iniquity of the city. …will be destroyed when the city is judged!
Form of śânêʼ Reference KJV NET
שׁנאיו Genesis 24:60 …possess the gate of those which hate… …possess the strongholds of their enemies.
שׁנאתם Genesis 26:27 …ye hate me, and have sent me away… You hate me and sent me away from you.
שׁנואה Genesis 29:31 …the LORD saw that Leah was hated… …the Lord saw that Leah was unloved…
Genesis 29:33 …the LORD hath heard that I was hated… …the Lord heard that I was unloved…
וישׁנאו Genesis 37:4 …they hated him, and could not speak… …they hated Joseph and were not able to…
שׁנא Genesis 37:5 …and they hated him yet the more. …they hated him even more.
Genesis 37:8 And they hated him yet the more for his… They hated him even more because of his…
שׁנאינו Exodus 1:10 …they join also unto our enemies… …will ally themselves with our enemies…
שׁנאי Exodus 18:21 …men of truth, hating covetousness… …men of truth, those who hate bribes…
לשׁנאי Exodus 20:5 …generation of them that hate me… …generations of those who reject me…

[1] Deuteronomy 5:5 (NET)

[2] Deuteronomy 5:9b (NET)

[3] Genesis 4:8b (NET)

[4] Genesis 4:11 (NET) Table

[5] Genesis 4:12 (NET) Table

[6] Genesis 18:1, 2a (NET)

[7] Genesis 18:10a (NET)

[8] Genesis 18:12-15 (NET)

[9] Genesis 19:15 (NET) בעון

[10] Genesis 19:11a (NET)

[11] Genesis 21:1 (NET)

[12] Acts 15:12 (NET)

[13] Genesis 24:60 (NET) שׁנאיו

[14] Genesis 26:16 (NET)

[15] Genesis 26:27 (NET)

[16] Genesis 29:31 (NET)

[17] Genesis 29:33a (NET)

[18] Genesis 29:32a (NET)

[19] Romans 10:17a (NKJV)

[20] Matthew 13:13b (NET)

[21] Matthew 23:15 (NET)

[22] John 3:7b (NET)

[23] John 3:6 (NET)

[24] Genesis 37:4, 5 (NET)

[25] Matthew 24:45-47 (NET)

Son of God – 1 John, Part 2

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Who is the liar but the person who denies (ἀρνούμενος, a form of ἀρνέομαι)[1] that Jesus is the Christ?  This one is the antichrist: the person who denies (ἀρνούμενος, a form of ἀρνέομαι) the Father and the Son.[2]  This is one of the things John wrote to his contemporaries about those who are trying to deceive you.[3]

It is interesting that this became a problem among believers after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, after those in Israel who rejected Jesus as Christ (or, Messiah) were compelled to accept Him as a credible prophet: Now while some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and offerings, Jesus said, “As for these things that you are gazing at, the days will come when not one stone will be left on another.  All will be torn down!”[4]  And, I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another.  All will be torn down![5] All will be torn down![6]

Believers were not particularly troubled by the unbelief of enemies of the Gospel (enemies for your [believers’] sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers[7]) so long as the enemies defamed the Lord Jesus and threatened and harmed his followers.  The trouble began when the enemies softened their approach, accepted Jesus as a prophet, even a good man—but not the Messiah, not the Christ.

John continued: Everyone who denies (ἀρνούμενος, a form of ἀρνέομαι) the Son [i.e., denies that the Son is the Christ] does not have the Father either.  The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.  As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you.  If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.[8]  For John, what you have heard from the beginning was the Gospel, and he had written more about it previously, or perhaps it was more warning about those who are trying to deceive you (1 John 2:12, 13 NET):

I am writing to you, little children, that your sins have been forgiven because of his name.  I am writing to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning.  I am writing to you, young people, that you have conquered the evil one (πονηρόν, a form of πονηρός).[9]

The note on the evil one in the NET reads: “The phrase the evil one is used in John 17:15 as a reference to Satan. Satan is also the referent here and in the four other occurrences in 1 John (2:14; 3:12; 5:18, 19).”  But in the definition of πονηρός they effectively acknowledge that they added the word one because the nominative case in Matthew 6:13 means “‘The Evil,’ and is probably referring to Satan.”

I think this is too limiting in both verses.  When I pray, And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil (πονηροῦ, another form of πονηρός),[10] I am not praying to be delivered from Satan only, but from the meaningless deeds that are 1) full of labours, annoyances, and hardships; from being 1a) pressed and harassed by those labours; I pray to be delivered from 1b) this time full of peril to Christian faith and steadfastness that causes so much pain and trouble;  to be delivered from everything 2) bad, or of a bad nature or condition; from 2a) disease or blindness; as well as from that which is 2b) evil or wicked.

Likewise I believe that John wrote to young people that you have conquered the evil (πονηρόν, a form of πονηρός); not Satan only, but the meaningless deeds that are 1) full of labours, annoyances, and hardships; they are not 1a) pressed and harassed by those labours; they have overcome 1b) this time full of peril to Christian faith and steadfastness that causes so much pain and trouble; they have conquered everything 2) bad, or of a bad nature or condition; 2a) disease or blindness; as well as that which is 2b) evil or wicked.  John continued (1 John 2:14 NET):

I have written to you, children, that you have known the Father.  I have written to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning.  I have written to you, young people, that you are strong, and the word of God resides in you, and you have conquered the evil (πονηρόν, a form of πονηρός)…

I fantasize sometimes what the world might be like if young people were taught that they are strong, and the word of God resides in them, that they have conquered the evil, and how all of this is true in Christ through his Holy Spirit, rather than being taught the rules their elders have devised for them.  In my mother’s day the path of righteousness was that girls shouldn’t wear lipstick.  My mother and her contemporaries religiously put on their lipstick every Sunday morning, some even refreshed it in the pew during the service.  In my day the path of righteousness was not listening to rock music.  Most of my contemporaries attend churches that rock.  Why not try John’s approach?  Could it be any worse?

At best these rules are equivalent to gezerot.  A gezerah (singular of gezerot) according to the online Jewish Encyclopedia was a “rabbinical enactment issued as a guard or preventive measure….The Rabbis based their institution of such enactments upon the Biblical passages, ‘Thou shalt not depart from the sentence,’ etc. (Deut. xvii. 11), although at the same time they transgressed another commandment: ‘Ye shall not add unto the word which I command thee, neither shall ye diminish from it’ (Deut. iv. 2; Shab. 23a; Ab. R. N. 25b).”[11]  Perhaps any particular “preventive measure” was a good idea at a particular time in a particular place.  But gezerot are not the Gospel.

The first gezerah followed swiftly after God’s first prohibition: The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed.  The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food.  (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.)…The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it.[12]

God’s Prohibition

Eve’s Knowledge of God’s Prohibition
Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”

Genesis 2:16, 17 (NET)

 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’”

Genesis 3:2, 3 (NET)

The circumstantial evidence points to Adam as the originator of the first gezerah, and you must not touch it.  It sounds like a good idea.  “If you don’t touch it, Eve, you won’t eat it and you won’t die—whatever that means.”  But in practice when Eve touched it she did not die—whatever that means.  She saw with her own eyes that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, and it was attractive to the eye.[13]  She had the serpent’s assurance that she would not die—whatever that means—and that God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.[14]

If I take the sequence of events recorded in Genesis literally, after she took some of its fruit and ate it nothing happened, neither the serpent’s promise nor God’s.  After all, God’s prohibition was given to Adam.  Eve was created afterward.  Perhaps it was reasonable for Adam to assume that God’s prohibition applied also to his wife, but nothing happened until Eve also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.  Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked [Table].[15]  I sincerely doubt that realizing she was naked was the wisdom Eve desired.[16]

So the Lord God expelled [Adam] from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken [Table].  When he drove the man out, he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life.[17]  Adam and Eve and all their descendants will surely die.  Perhaps Adam and Eve understood death when, The Lord God made garments from skin for [them], and clothed them.[18]  If not, they certainly understood it about a century later[19] when their firstborn Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.[20]  But I want to remove the serpent from the equation for a moment.

If I suppose that the serpent did not persuade Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, and Eve did not persuade Adam, and if Adam raised his sons to stand guard over the tree of the knowledge of good and evil like the angelic sentries guarded the way to the tree of life, if they, or we to this very day, faithfully kept Adam’s gezerah not to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, would that be the righteousness of God?  My answer is an unequivocal, “No.”  It would simply mean that tanks and machine guns and the fear of death had kept us from sinning against Adam’s gezerah, which only incidentally also kept us from violating God’s prohibition.

So at worst gezerot when practiced promote actions that ignore the righteousness that comes from God, and [seeks] instead to establish [one’s] own righteousness.[21]  It is a catastrophe if those who believe and practice them do not submit to God’s righteousness.  For Christ is the end (τέλος;[22] “the end to which all things relate, the aim, purpose”) of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.[23]  This people honors me with their lips, Jesus said, but their heart is far from me, and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.[24]  As a teaching practice gezerot are sin relative to the Gospel.

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, John continued, indeed, sin is lawlessness.  And you know that Jesus was revealed to take away (ἄρῃ, a form of αἴρω) sins…[25]  John also used ἄρῃ in his Gospel account.  After Jesus died Joseph of Arimathea…asked Pilate if he could remove (ἄρῃ, a form of αἴρω) the body of Jesus.[26]  So as Joseph sought to take away the body of Jesus from the cross, Jesus was revealed to take away (ἄρῃ) sins from us, and in him there is no sin, John continued.  Everyone who resides in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him.  Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous.  The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.[27]

But there is still hope: For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil.[28]  Jesus was still revealed to take away even the sin of rejecting his righteousness for our own gezerot.  Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice sin, because God’s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God.  By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice righteousness – the one who does not love his fellow Christian (ἀδελφὸν, a form of ἀδελφός)[29] – is not of God.[30]

Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth.  And by this we will know that we are of the truth and will convince our conscience in his presence, that if our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience and knows all things.  Dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God, and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing to him.  Now this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he gave us the commandment.  And the person who keeps his commandments resides in God, and God in him.  Now by this we know that God resides in us: by the Spirit he has given us.[31]

I included the Greek text of Jesus’ quote from Isaiah for completeness.

Jesus

Septuagint

Parallel Greek Text – NET
This people honors me with their lips,but their heart is far from me, and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

Matthew 15:8, 9 (NET)

 ὁ λαὸς οὗτος τοῖς χείλεσιν αὐτῶν[32] τιμῶσίν[33] με ἡ δὲ καρδία αὐτῶν πόρρω ἀπέχει ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ μάτην[34] δὲ σέβονταί με διδάσκοντες ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων καὶ διδασκαλίας

Isaiah 29:13

 ὁ λαὸς οὗτος τοῖς χείλεσιν με τιμᾷ,[35]ἡ δὲ καρδία αὐτῶν πόρρω ἀπέχει ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ μάτην δὲ σέβονται μεδιδάσκοντες διδασκαλίας ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων

Matthew 15:8, 9

Translation from a contemporary understanding of ancient Hebrew
These people say they are loyal to me; they say wonderful things about me, but they are not really loyal to me.  Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual.[36]

Isaiah 29:13 (NET)

 

Addendum (7/15/2015): Jim Searcy has published that the Septuagint is a hoax written by Origen and Eusebius 200 hundred years or so after Christ.  “In fact, the Septuagint ‘quotes’ from the New Testament and not vice versa…”  His contention is that the “King James Version is the infallible Word of God.”  So, I’ll re-examine the quotations above with the KJV.

Jesus

KJV

Parallel Greek Text – NET
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Matthew 15:8, 9 (KJV)

 Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Isaiah 29:13

 ὁ λαὸς οὗτος τοῖς χείλεσιν με τιμᾷ, ἡ δὲ καρδία αὐτῶν πόρρω ἀπέχει ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ μάτην δὲ σέβονται μεδιδάσκοντες διδασκαλίας ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων

Matthew 15:8, 9

If as Jim Searcy claimed the Septuagint was written after the New Testament, But in vain (μάτην δὲ) was not a part of Isaiah’s original prophecy as Jesus claimed.  Rather, Jesus added it on the spot.

[2] 1 John 2:22 (NET)

[3] 1 John 2:26 (NET)

[4] Luke 21:5, 6 (NET)

[5] Matthew 24:2 (NET)

[6] Mark 13:2 (NET)

[7] Romans 11:28 (NET)

[8] 1 John 2:23, 24 (NET)

[10] Matthew 6:13 (NET)

[12] Genesis 2:8, 9, 15 (NET)

[13] Genesis 3:6a (NET)

[14] Genesis 3:5 (NET) Table

[15] Genesis 3:6b-7a (NET)

[16] …the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise… (Genesis 3:6a NET)

[17] Genesis 3:23, 24 (NET)

[18] Genesis 3:21 (NET)

[19] Genesis 4:25; 5:3

[20] Genesis 4:8 (NET)

[21] Romans 10:3a (NET)

[23] Romans 10:3b, 4 (NET)

[24] Matthew 15:8, 9 (NET)

[25] 1 John 3:4, 5a (NET)

[26] John 19:38a (NET)

[27] 1 John 3:5b-8 (NET)

[28] 1 John 3:8b (NET)

[30] 1 John 3:9, 10 (NET)

[31] 1 John 3:18-24 (NET)

[36] NET note: “Heb ‘their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught.’”