CHAPTER 4:26: This verse says men began to call upon the name of the Lord. Hence a problem:

The Divine Names: El/il. Found already at Ebla, probably around 2500 BC: cf. G. Pettinato, The Archives of Ebla (Doubleday, 1981): p. 72 (date), and pp. 276-77 (theophoric names with il and ya). Cf. Akkadian ilu (late 3rd millennium) and Babylonian bab-ilu - gate of the god (Babylon). Also known at Ugarit (c. 1600 BC). - Almost out of use in OT, except in theophoric names and a few special combinations, such as El shaddai and El gibbor. Elohim. The most frequent OT word for God, but also used for pagan gods, for angels, and even for human judges. It has plural ending, most likely plural of majesty or intensive plural.

Yahweh: a) Meaning: debated. Most likely a verbal form of haya (Originally perhaps hwy = "to be".) Some think it a hiphil form meaning "cause to be". If we take it as meaning I am, the sense is almost metaphysical or abstract. Yet we meet something similarly almost abstract in St. Paul's focusing esp. at Rom 8:7: "The flesh is not subject to the law of God, for it cannot be: those in the flesh cannot please God." Cf. 1 Jn 3:9:"Everyone who is begotten of God does not sin... and he is not able to sin, since he is begotten of God." On focusing cf. W. Most, "Focusing in St. Paul", in Faith & Reason, fall, 1976. II. 2. pp. 47-70. (Given as research paper at Catholic Biblical Association convention, Douglaston, NY in 1973).

b) Occurrence: It is probably found at Ebla - cf. Archives of Ebla, pp. 276-77. Also found on the Moabite stone (9th century BC) and may be an element in Egyptian, Ugaritic, Nabatean and Mari texts of 2nd millennium BC. Postexilic Jews developed such a reverence for the name that they would not pronounce it in public reading, except that the High Priest could say it on Yom Kippur (other uses by priests: debated). The Dead Sea Scrolls use the Paleo-Hebrew script for writing it. In the Masoretic text it has the consonants yhwh, but the vowel points for adonai, lord, so no one would inadvertently pronounce it. In the 16th century AD this led to the mistaken form Jehovah. Modern Jews often use the expression: hash-shem = the name, to avoid saying it.

c) Revelation: There is a problem: Gen 4:26: "Then men began to call upon the name of Yahweh." in contrast to Exodus 3:14 and 6:3. In 6:3 God told Moses: "And I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as El Shaddai, and my name Yahweh was not known to them." (In 3.14 the burning bush vision God revealed the name to Moses). Possible solution: M. Dahood, appendix to G. Pettinato, in Archives of Ebla, pp. 276-77 suggests that the name was known to northern or Syrian tradition early on, but not known to Egyptian tradition until later. It is also possible that we have an updated form anachronistically inserted at Gen 4:26. It is also possible that the name was known to the first men, later forgotten, by the time of Abraham. Some have suggested that Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, a priest of Midian (cf. Ex. cap. 18), introduced him to the Midianite name of God - but this, unless it is an anachronism, denies the reality of the burning bush vision.

Adam knew his wife: Knew, Hebrew yada is a euphemism for sexual relations. Although there are broader meanings: know, love, even obey.

Cain & Abel: We need of course to determine the genre: (1) This passage comes right after the creation account which is mythical genre, as we saw above, and right before some highly stylized descriptions of an artificial list of those who first were tent-dwellers and had cattle; played the lyre and pipe and those who use instruments of bronze and even iron. Historically these developments hardly came within the first generation. Cain was banished to the land of Nod - but no humans are mentioned in Genesis as being there. which seems an artificial element: especially since Cain fears someone will kill him. The Hebrew Nod just means place of wandering, and Cain is said to have built there a city and named it for his son Enoch, even though there were few humans alive then. St. Augustine explained that the purpose of the small number was to show that the author wanted merely to bring out the line of descent of the city of God, and of the city of this world: City of God: 15. 8

(2) God accepted the sacrifice of Abel, not that of Cain. No reason is given. Each offered things later to be prescribed by the law. St. Augustine suggests (City of God 15. 7) that Cain gave a thing he had, not himself, as did Abel. This would mean that even when the exterior sign of sacrifice is good, the interior (obedience in heart) is what gives value to a sacrifice, as we see in Isaiah 29.13. A bit of artificial color may come from the fact that later on there was a tendency to idealize nomadic herding - less temptation there - instead of sedentary agriculture. This may help to explain the strange comment in Genesis Rabbah 22.3 that there were three men: Cain, Noah, and Uzziah (of 2 Chron 26, 10) - and "no good was found in them" Yet Noah in Gen 6.9 is said to have walked with God: he was the only good man before the deluge. (A note in the Soncino edition says Cain was a murderer, Noah a drunkard, and Uzziah a leper) Therefore we gather that the genre of this passage on Cain & Abel is much the same as that of the creation account -- an ancient story made to teach some things. Here it teaches 1) the need of interior dispositions for sacrifice; 2) God wishes to be less severe than many men in punishing.