Replies

OK. I was happy to drop it but since it IS interesting and you’re still hot to trot (?)....
ha!

Here’s some early commentary about it, and after you “enjoy” this I can even send you some more, different interesting stuff about Cain/Abel....

have fun!
All the best,
fhc

Chapter XXII (BERESHITHj

i. And the man knew Eve his wife (iv, i):
Remember, O Lord, Thy compassions and Thy mercies, for
they have been from of old (Ps. xxv, 6). R. Joshua b.
Nehemiah interpreted it: [Show Thy mercies] wherewith
Thou didst treat Adam, for thus saidst Thou to him,
For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die
(Gen. II, 17), and hadst Thou not given him one day of
Thine, which is a thousand years, how could he have applied
himself to begetting posterity [descendants]? Hence,
And the man knew, etc. 1

2. And the man knew, etc. R. Huna and R.
Jacob in R. Abba’s name said : No creature ever copulated
before Adam : it is not written, man knew, but And
the man 2 ; knew intimates that he made known sexual
functions to all. [Another interpretation]: He knew how
he had been robbed of his tranquillity ; he knew what his
serpent [i.e. Eve, his tempter] had done to him. 3 R. Aha
observed: The serpent was thy serpent, and thou wast
Adam’s serpent. 4

And she conceived and bore Cain. R. Eleazar
b. ‘Azariah said: Three wonders were performed on that
day : on that very day they were created, on that very day
they cohabited, and on that very day they produced off-
spring. R. Joshua b. Karhah said: Only two entered the
bed, and seven left it: Cain and his twin sister, Abel and
his two twin sisters. 5

And she said: I have gotten a man, etc. R.
Isaac said: When a woman sees that she has children she
exclaims, “Behold, my husband is now in my possession/ 6

1 Cf. supra, vni, 2; Num. R.xxm, 13.

2 The def . art. implies that he was so far unique in this respect.

3 Viz. she aroused sexual desire. Thus knew is referred to both the
preceding verses (Adam’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden) and the
following ones (sexual gratification).

* Supra, XX, 11. s Infra, xxiv, 6; v. Sanh. 38^ 586.

e I.e. a child binds husband to wife. He translates: I have now a man

(sc. Adam) in my possession, through having given birth to Cain.

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GENESIS (BERESHITH) [XXII. 2~4

With the help of (eth) the Lord. R. Ishmael
asked R. Akiba : ‘ Since you have served 1 Nahum of Gimzo
for twenty-two years, [and he taught], Every ok and rah
is a limitation, while every eth and gam is an extension,
tell me what is the purpose of the eth written here?’
‘If it said, “I have gotten a man the Lord/” he replied,
‘ it would have been difficult [to interpret] 2 ; hence eth
[with the help of] the Lord is required. 1 There-
upon he quoted to him : For it is no empty thing from you
(Deut. xxxii, 47), and if it is empty, it is so on your account, 3
because you do not know how to interpret it. Rather,
eth the Lord [teaches this]: In the past, Adam
was created from the ground, and Eve from Adam; but
henceforth it shall be, In our image, after our likeness
(Gen. 1, 26): neither man without woman nor woman
without man, nor both of them without the Shechinah^

3. And again (wa-tosef) she bore his
brother Abel (iv, 2). This supports what R. Joshua
b. Karhah said: They ascended the bed two and descended
seven, for And she again bore implies an additional
birth, but not an additional pregnancy. 5

And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain
was a tiller of the ground. Three had a passion
for agriculture, and no good was found in them: Cain,
Noah, and Uzziah. Cain was a tiller of the
ground; Noah the husbandman (Gen. ix, 20); Uzziah:
For he loved husbandry (11 Chron. xxvi, 10). 6

4. And at the end of days it came to pass
(iv, 3). R. Eliezer and R. Joshua disagree. R. Eliezer
said: The world was created in Tishri; R. Joshua said:

1 I.e. studied under. The term * served’ is generally employed because

disciples gave personal service to their teachers.

8 It might imply that she had begotten the Lord.

a Cf. supra, 1, 14. 4 Supra, vm, 9. This agrees with the E.V.

5 Abel having been conceived simultaneously with Cain. The additional
birth therefore is that two twin sisters were born with Abel, but only
one with Cain.

6 Cain became a murderer, Noah a drunkard, and Uzziah a leper.

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