In the final paragraphs of the Garden of Eden story, YHWH Elohim assigns the new direction for world — pregnancies, childbirth, the raising of children, and backbreaking agricultural work. This path is God-directed but it does not mean that it is free from pitfalls. For women, motherhood can result in being oblivious to the role of God in their bearing children. For men, a farming existence results in materialism. This can lead to a quest for power and the exploitation of others, and attendant jealousy, rivalry, and violence.

 

At first glance, this story about Cain the farmer and Abel the shepherd seems a simple account of fratricide. And the message of the story? Do not murder!

 

However, that this should be the sole conclusion is most unlikely. Biblical stories contain depths of meaning. There is far more to this account than just a warning against murder.

 

The story’s first sentence sets the scene:

 

And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, for she said: “I have acquired/created (in Hebrew koniti) (קָנִ֥יתִי) a man with God.” And she continued to give birth to Abel his brother. And Abel became a shepherd and Cain worked the ground (Genesis 4:1-2).

 

When Adam loses the possibility of immortality and is expelled from the Garden of Eden, he names his wife “Chava,” meaning “the mother of all the living” (Genesis 3:20). It is fitting, therefore, that the Garden of Eden story is followed by an account of Eve’s first two pregnancies and about the lives of her offspring.

 

Her son’s name Cain is clearly significant — because Eve says it is. But what does this name mean? 

 

There are two possible translations for the Hebrew word “koniti.” The verb liknot in modern Hebrew means “to buy” or “purchase.” However, the meaning of this verb in biblical Hebrew is more expansive than this. Buying is a form of acquiring, and the root of this verb has the general meaning of “to acquire” or “to possess.” Hence, Eve is saying: “. . .  I have acquired a man with God . . . ”

 

However, this is not the only meaning of this verb. In the Abraham account we are told:  

 

And he [Malchitzedek] blessed Abram and said: “Blessed is Abram to God Almighty, Creator (in Hebrew koneh) of heaven and earth” (Genesis 14:19).2

 

The word “koneh” used here means “Creator.” If we put this translation into our sentence, Eve would be saying: “ . . . I have created a man with God . . . . ”. 

 

So, which one is it – “to acquire” or “to create”?  

 

In actuality, both translations fit well into the context of this sentence and both can be found among the Biblical commentators. Another very plausible possibility is that this verb encompasses both meanings together.

  

Eve has indeed received an “acquisition” from God. Her son was also “created” together with God. In the near future, Cain will become the prototype farmer who embodies the very essence of the name given to him by his mother. As the second participant in the Agricultural Revolution, he will become a man of property and possessions. By virtue of his work as a farmer, he will also be someone who “creates” crops and harvests.  

 

This is an example of the richness of the Torah text in that a single word or phrase can possess multiple meanings.

 

R’ Hirsch discusses the implications of the path Cain is taking in relation to his name: 

 

For [the Hebrew word] kayin is derived from kon [meaning] property . . . In bending his neck under the yoke of the effort to attain real property, his soul too becomes bowed. He gets caught by this effort. It begets subjugation, one man enslaved by the other.2

 

But what about Cain’s brother Abel? The contrast between his naming and that of Cain’s jumps out from the text. Abel merits no naming ceremony. His name in Hebrew is “hevel,” which means “a breath,” “insignificance,” or “futility.” In a word, Abel is an add-on. And sure enough, this name constitutes the very essence of his character. Abel becomes a shepherd, often on the move and with few possessions. Even his life is brief and futile. Abel is born a nobody and dies one. By why should all this be so? We will explore this question in the next chapter.

 

We have not finished with this first verse. Look again at Eve’s words as they are somewhat unusual. Literally the verse reads: “I have created/acquired a man “et” (in Hebrew) God. 

 

In Hebrew, the word “et” (אֶת) usually has no specific meaning but signifies that the word following the verb is the object of the sentence. But this makes no sense here. Eve has obviously not acquired God. However, a few times in the Torah the word “et” does have the meaning of “with.” Nevertheless, its use in this way is sufficiently unusual for some commentators to attempt to fill in the ambiguity of this phrase with different translations, although most agree it means with.3 However, Genesis Rabba 22:2 takes a bold interpretation.

 

Rabbi Akiva says: “Eve called her son by the name Cain because she said: “I have created a man like God.”

 

In other words that Eve believed she had participated in creation just as God does.

 

What all these commentators are admitting is that the word “with” does not sound quite right here. The Bible should have used the specific pronoun “from” i.e., “I have acquired a man from God.” But this is a totally different word. By saying “with God,” Eve is almost placing herself on the same pedestal as God. And since the word “et” means an object, Eve may even be regarding herself as the senior partner in this joint effort!4

 

Eve’s ambivalence becomes even more apparent if we translate the verb “kanati” as “I have created.” The sentence then becomes: “I have created a man with God.” Eve has now placed herself on an equal pedestal with God in the creation of her offspring! 

 

R’ Hirsch translates the word “et” as “with” and “kanati” as “I have acquired,” but also senses Eve’s ambivalence with regard to God’s role in her “acquiring.”

 

With God, i.e., with God’s assistance and co-operation I have acquired a male human being by the expenditure of my strength. So, the first enthusiasm of the first mother was a raised feeling of self-importance, and the question can arise in our minds whether this does not already show some clouding of the pure conception of motherhood. A mother standing on the pure height of consciousness of duty would have thought more of God and of the new duties and tasks which come with this gift of God, rather than proudly of her own merit.5  

 

And he significantly continues:

 

A clouding of the point of view, and a disclosure of egotism and vanity which may very easily have affected the tendency of the character of the son on whose very name she imprinted the stamp of this self-esteem. 

 

When God bestowed on woman the possibility of pregnancy, He introduced a moral hazard into the world. Eve has borne Cain for nine months, has sensed the fetus grow within her, and has developed physiologically and mentally with the fetus. She has also gone through the painful delivery God decreed for her. It may indeed be her perception that she is an equal partner with God in her son’s creation. However, this is mistaken. She is but an instrument in her child’s conception and birth. As the mother of all mothers, Eve already embodies this misunderstanding.6

 

Cain will embrace the values of his mother, and it will not surprise us that as a farmer he too has ambivalence as to who is the true creator of his produce. On the one hand, he recognizes the omnipresence and power of God. On the other hand, is he not the individual who brought this harvest into being by his own effort?  

 

In sum, the Bible is making the point in these verses that in motherhood and farming it is easy to diminish the role of God as the Creator of all in existence. But in reality, mankind is but the instrument of God’s creations in the natural world. This error in outlook will have serious implications for Cain.

 

 

References

 

1. The translation of acquired is adopted by Rashi, Nachmanides and Rashbam. Its connection to the phrase “with YHWH” leads to the translation of created as the Sforno who explains that I brought into existence a being with intellect and free will and this was only possible with God. Abarbanel suggests that I created something new, and this was not a natural event but a profound miracle involving God, and Genesis Rabba 22:2 — “If Adam was created by God alone, now I and God together have created a man.” Ibn Ezra offers both possibilities.

2. The Pentateuch, Translation and Commentary by Samson Raphael Hirsch on Genesis 4:1, p97. Judaica Press, United Kingdom, 1989.

3. Commentators satisfied with the explanation “with” are Rashi, Nachmanides, Rashbam, Sforno, and Abarbanel. The Malbim The Septuagint translates it as “through God,” and Targum Onkelos “from before God.”

4. Thomas Edison and the Glassblower in “The Beast that Crouches at the Door. Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel and Beyond” by Rabbi David Fohrman, p129. Aleph Beta Press, 2011.

5. The Pentateuch, Translation and Commentary by Samson Raphael Hirsch on Genesis 4:1, p95. Judaica Press, United Kingdom, 1989.

6. A novel idea suggests itself. Could this be an additional reason that the Bible prescribes that a woman brings a sin offering after childbirth, namely because of her almost inevitable misconception that she is the true creator of her child?  Rashi suggests that this offering is a repentance for sinful thoughts she may have had during childbirth that she will avoid future pregnancies.