Gen 4:7
Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2022 9:49 am
Forgive me if this one has already been discussed, but my searches for it didn't yield anything.
The apparatus of the BHS seems to insist that this verse is corrupt, saying of the latter half that it was "originally probably modeled on the formula in 3:16", where Eve is told that her duty is toward her husband. That's all fine, but I want to know whether what I have (supposing the text isn't corrupt) is even grammatically correct. I should note that my learning in Hebrew is entirely amateur, and so my feelings won't be hurt if I'm told it's very bad. I read:
הֲלֹוא (Is it not [the case that]) אִם־תֵּיטִיב שְׂאֵת וְאִם לֹא תֵיטִיב (whether thou dost well in [thy] offering, or whether thou dost not well), לַפֶּתַח חַטָּאת רֹבֵץ (at the door of sin [there is one] crouching [= a beast]) וְאֵלֶיךָ תְּשׁוּקָתֹו (and unto thee is its longing) וְאַתָּה תִּמְשָׁל־בֹּו׃ (and thou shalt have dominion in it).
Am I correct to take לַפֶּתַח as in construct with the following noun because the following noun's gender doesn't agree with that of רֹבֵץ? Is it okay to think that the first word (הֲלֹוא) is merely an interrogative particle answering to Jerome's 'nonne', which expects an affirmative answer?
Lastly, (and probably most importantly), what in the world is going on? What does of all of this mean? Why does God spurn Cain's gift, and what sin "crouching at the door" is he alluding to? Is it the past sin involving forbidden fruit, or the future sin of his brother's slaughter?
Sorry if this is all a big mess, but I've been stewing on this for damn near a month & I just can't make sense of any of it.
Many thanks,
Max S-R
The apparatus of the BHS seems to insist that this verse is corrupt, saying of the latter half that it was "originally probably modeled on the formula in 3:16", where Eve is told that her duty is toward her husband. That's all fine, but I want to know whether what I have (supposing the text isn't corrupt) is even grammatically correct. I should note that my learning in Hebrew is entirely amateur, and so my feelings won't be hurt if I'm told it's very bad. I read:
הֲלֹוא (Is it not [the case that]) אִם־תֵּיטִיב שְׂאֵת וְאִם לֹא תֵיטִיב (whether thou dost well in [thy] offering, or whether thou dost not well), לַפֶּתַח חַטָּאת רֹבֵץ (at the door of sin [there is one] crouching [= a beast]) וְאֵלֶיךָ תְּשׁוּקָתֹו (and unto thee is its longing) וְאַתָּה תִּמְשָׁל־בֹּו׃ (and thou shalt have dominion in it).
Am I correct to take לַפֶּתַח as in construct with the following noun because the following noun's gender doesn't agree with that of רֹבֵץ? Is it okay to think that the first word (הֲלֹוא) is merely an interrogative particle answering to Jerome's 'nonne', which expects an affirmative answer?
Lastly, (and probably most importantly), what in the world is going on? What does of all of this mean? Why does God spurn Cain's gift, and what sin "crouching at the door" is he alluding to? Is it the past sin involving forbidden fruit, or the future sin of his brother's slaughter?
Sorry if this is all a big mess, but I've been stewing on this for damn near a month & I just can't make sense of any of it.
Many thanks,
Max S-R