Cain and Abel #4
In this part we discuss Cain ’s and Abel’s offerings, as described in Gen 4 verses 3 and the first half of verse 4. You may ask what gives me the right to arbitrarily split the text as I wish. This is a good question. But as the division of the text into verses is not part of the original Bible, but was added much later, I feel that other than the verses should be taken as bookmarks rather than hints to understanding the text. We should not be constrained by them.
This part of the story is written in a straightforward, non-ambiguous, fashion. It leaves little to questioning. That is, nearly all of it.
| ג וַיְהִי, מִקֵּץ יָמִים; וַיָּבֵא קַיִן מִפְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה, מִנְחָה–לַיהוָה. ד וְהֶבֶל הֵבִיא גַם-הוּא מִבְּכֹרוֹת צֹאנוֹ, וּמֵחֶלְבֵהֶן; | |
|---|---|
| And it came to pass | וַיְהִי |
| At the end of days – in the Bible days can refer to unspecific period, and not necessarily 12 or 24 hours. | מִקֵּץ יָמִים |
| And Cain brought from the fruit of the land | וַיָּבֵא קַיִן מִפְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה |
| Offering to God | מִנְחָה—לַיהוָה |
| And Abel he also brought | וְהֶבֶל הֵבִיא גַם–הוּא |
| From first born of his herd and their milk | מִבְּכֹרוֹת צֹאנוֹ, וּמֵחֶלְבֵהֶן |
| 3 And it came to pass at the end of days, and Cain brought from the fruit of the land offering to God, 4 and Abel, too, brought from the first born of his herd and their milk |