Well I tried to write the blog article and I didn't get into discussing the Hebrew before I came to the end of the flow, so I'll just put something together here, for the sake of the discussion.
When you look at the Hebrew language of
Genesis 4:4, it has a lot less words than the English translation does - and that is because we add grammar, whereas in the Hebrew it is all about drawing a picture in the mind to get the point across - so unlike English where we shape grammar for the purpose of tone in delivery, grammar is more direct and only for the actual function of the speech.
Grammar is only added in Hebrew for the purpose of tying words together. So if you look at the words by themselves to begin with, you see only this:
Abel brought also own firstborn flock fat. Admired Jehovah upon Abel.
Now, there is grammar in the text that helps us to understand the relationship of those words:
And Abel brought also own from the firstborn of the flocks and from the fat. And admired Jehovah upon Abel.
Now one more step fixes grammar for us in English:
And Abel also brought from the firstborn of his own flocks and from the fat. And Jehovah admired Abel.
.. how does this compare to the popular translations?
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: (KJV)
Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; (NASB)
Abel also brought some choice parts of the firstborn animals from his flock. The LORD approved of Abel and his offering, (God's Word)
and Abel, he hath brought, he also, from the female firstlings of his flock, even from their fat ones; and Jehovah looketh unto Abel and unto his present, (YLT)
.. alright? So it doesn't look much different to begin with, but we can see that there is quite some variation in the expression "Jehovah admired/looketh unto/approved of/had respect unto/had regard for - so it goes to show that it isn't so easy to translate from Hebrew into English, because every word in the Hebrew contains so much meaning that it literally stretches out to encompass the meaning of a number of words from the English.
So if we go another step and look at the various words that can be used to translate the word, this is what we get:
- And
- Abel
- brought/carried/came with/entered
- also/even/indeed/yea/moreover/
- his
- the
- birthright/firstborn/firstfruits
- flock/sheep & goats/small cattle
- and
- fat/choice parts
- and
- looked at/regarded/gazed/respected
- Jehovah
- upon
- Abel
.. and notice that I used the word "admire" because the Strong's says "to gaze" is it's first definition, and the word "admire" is a summary of one who is gazing with respect/regard/favour.
Now there is just one word I want to focus on here, it is the "fat", and the reason is that this word "fat" is quite a broad word in the Hebrew, whereas in the English, we tend to use it rather more narrowly (though, not necessarily).
Take a look at the Strong's definition for this word "
Cheleb". It is formed of the root letters Chet, Lamed and Beyt. The presentation of the word varies through the scriptures according to it's grammatical function, but there is a very close relationship with the word "
Chalab", that is said to be "milk", and the difference between these two words is the vowels between the letters (in Hebrew, every letter is a consonant). This is where it gets interesting.
The vowel pointing system wasn't developed until around 600 years after Christ, and it was developed by Jewish scribes who were trying to preserve the knowledge of the nuances of the language (as this example). So consider for a moment, that if anyone in the year 500 was reading Genesis 4:4, and it had no vowel pointings, how would they know whether it is chebed or chabad? The only way is through oral tradition, and even that has it's problems. It only takes one person with the wrong idea to start a whole movement, doesn't it?
So at that point I looked at the Septuagint. Now the story of the Septuagint is that the Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament were translated into Greek language around 200 years BC. So that gives us an opportunity to look into what they were reading in those days where it has been preserved through the Greek language - and that actually brings quite a big difference altogether:
And when in process of time Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice to the Lord,
4 and Abel also brought, he indeed of the firstlings of his flock even some of the fattest of them, God looked upon Abel and on his gifts; (
Genesis 4:3-4, Thompson from the Septuagint).
And it was so after some time that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice to the Lord.
4 And Abel also brought of the first born of his sheep and of his fatlings, and God looked upon Abel and his gifts, (
Genesis 4:3-4, Brenton from the Septuagint, also
Genesis 4:3-4, LXX from the Septuagint).
Look at how much different this is! .. can you see a problem here?
In all of the official English translations, that are drawn from the Hebrew scriptures that have had vowel pointings added by Jewish clerics some 600 years AD, they are saying that Abel brought fat that belonged to the flocks, whereas the Septuagint that was translated by scribes before Christ are all saying that Abel brought fatlings in addition to the firstborns.
So now that I have this cause to suspect that maybe the Hebrew is being misread on account of the vowels being invalid, I have to look closer at the Hebrew to see if it is supported to read it that way. Look what I have found:
Psalms 17:10 contains the exact same vowel pointings for the root word as Genesis 4:4 does: Tzeire on the Chet and Sh'va on the Lamed. The vowel on the Beyt is of no consequence for this matter because the syllable ends there.
So the expression in Psalms 17:10 lines up pretty well exactly with what the Septuagint says in Genesis 4:4
"Their fat hearts they have closed up with their mouths they speak proudly". (INT)
They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. (KJV)
They have closed their unfeeling heart, With their mouth they speak proudly. (NASB)
Their gross heart they have shut tight, With their mouth they speak proudly. (JPS Tanakh 1917)
Their fat they have closed up, Their mouths have spoken with pride: (YLT)
See this theme "their heart is fat", it shows that their heart has grown excess, and the JPS uses the word "
gross".
What I find therefore, is that the meaning of the word in Psalms 17:10, being the same word in Genesis 4:4, better supports the view that the Septuagint has. So if I was to adjust my own translation one more time it would look like this:
And Abel also brought from the firstborn of his own flocks and from the fattest. And Jehovah admired Abel.
Now, considering that it doesn't say that Abel slaughtered them, it only says that he brought them as a gift to Adonai, I wonder if you have the same picture in mind of what it means that Adonai looked favourably upon Abel, and why. I see the same God who was with Adam in the garden while He was bringing all the beasts for him to name, to see if they would be a suitable helper.
God really is beautiful. He is holy.
