21st Century Bible Hebrew -- Genesis 4:9-12; who was guarding Hevel?

Genesis 4:9-12

 

ט וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָֹה֙ אֶל־קַ֔יִן אֵ֖י הֶ֣בֶל אָחִ֑יךָ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א יָדַ֔עְתִּי הֲשֹׁמֵ֥ר אָחִ֖י אָנֹֽכִי:

י וַיֹּ֖אמֶר מֶ֣ה עָשִׂ֑יתָ ק֚וֹל דְּמֵ֣י אָחִ֔יךָ צֹֽעֲקִ֥ים אֵלַ֖י מִן־הָֽאֲדָמָֽה:

יא וְעַתָּ֖ה אָר֣וּר אָ֑תָּה מִן־הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר פָּֽצְתָ֣ה אֶת־פִּ֔יהָ לָקַ֛חַת אֶת־דְּמֵ֥י אָחִ֖יךָ מִיָּדֶֽךָ:

יב כִּ֤י תַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה לֹֽא־תֹסֵ֥ף תֵּת־כֹּחָ֖הּ לָ֑ךְ נָ֥ע וָנָ֖ד תִּהְיֶ֥ה בָאָֽרֶץ:

 

Translation: **** said to Qain where is Hevel your brother; he said I don’t know, is the one guarding my brother me?

He said what did you do? The voice of your brother’s bloods are crying to me from the earth.

Now you are cursed beyond the earth that opened its mouth for the purpose of taking the bloods of your brother from your hand.

When you work the earth it will not repeat giving its strength to you; a wanderer and trembler shall you be on earth.

 

Vocabulary

אָחִיךָ	Your brother
דְּמֵי	Blood, construct state of plural
פָּצְתָה	Opened, made a hole
פִּיהָ	Its mouth
כֹּחָהּ	Its strength

 

Notice the topic order of the last clause in verse 9, as well as the emphatic anokhi. Reversing this misses the point. Qain is asking, “is my brother’s guardian me?” Or is it Gd?

 

Verse 10 has no verb after “did you do”. Unless you read the Hebrew, you don’t realize that. Tsoakim is plural, and refers to d’mey, not to qol, voice. A translation probably ought to read “There’s a voice of your brother’s bloods [which are] crying to me,” etc. But this is one more example of how translations are not as good as reading the source document.

 

Notice that as the snake was cursed more than the wild animals, Qain is cursed more than the earth that was cursed through his father’s sin.

 

Which is another “not fair.” Qain did the same work as Adam. Hevel was an innovator, a rebel, a non-traditionalist. Why did Gd reward him and not the traditionalist Qain?

 

That’s why there would have been no sense issuing another commandment. There are people who look for excuses to do things they know they shouldn’t do. Deuteronomy has other phrasing that deals with this. The idea that you did something wrong because the other person gets different treatment is just evidence that you were looking for an excuse.  The Jews and their ancestors have known this for millennia.

 

And now the punishment, which I will explain more in the next lesson.