GENESIS 4:2 (9B:2
in the scroll)
Interpretive translation:
[Despite
Cain being her whole world,] Eve added a brother for him1
named הבל
HeBHeL
/ Abel / Vapor (a breath)2
;
now
Abel preferred a pastoral life of befriending3the
flock,
while
Cain [naturally fell] to slaving4
over the thorny earth.
ב
וַתֹּסֶף
לָלֶדֶת, אֶת-אָחִיו אֶת-הָבֶל;
וַיְהִי-הֶבֶל, רֹעֵה
צֹאן, וְקַיִן הָיָה עֹבֵד
אֲדָמָה.
1 Calling a
second child the brother of the first is unusual in Scripture, most unlike the
brothers born in chapter 30. Between the lines, we feel that to possessive Eve
and Cain, Abel is merely the firstborn’s number two. And so, a major Genesis
theme is born: sibling rivalry. There is
more detail and nuance in the dynamics of Jacob and Esau, as well as the Joseph
saga, but the quick, brutal Cain + Abel episode is our dramatic introduction to
this major theme. Early Genesis is not establishing all people as disobedient
and violent. But we begin to see that
humans need guidelines to be less like territorial apes.
The
first born (not created) homo sapiens already seems to expect Firstborn
privilege. But Torah wants meritocracy, not mere birth order, pecking order or
seniority. It will take all of Genesis
before we get to friendly siblings like Aaron, Miriam and Moses. Biblical
sibling
rivalry is more than surface competition
for respect or property.
The
Cain
and Abel brothers have opposing
philosophies, like the brothers’ fear and loathing of Joseph’s pastoral,
ranching brothers for the agro-tech, big state dream of Genesis 37:7-8.
2 הבל He(V)eL/
Abel
is
mistranslated “vanity” throughout
Ecclesiastes by the King James Brits
influenced by Greek
Tragedy.
“Futility” is used elsewhere for הבל He(V)eL. The similar חבל K[H]e(V)eL means
“wound” and “destroy,” and חבל K[H]a(V)ahL is
a Post-Biblical-Hebrew (PBH) but Semitic interjection of woe! or alas! But
Judaism sees a crime as injustice to be rectified, not as a reason to despair
the futility of life or the perceived injustice by mortals.
Rejecting
Greek Tragedy-meaninglessness does not keep us from emitting a breathy sigh of “the good die young” at Abel
loss. הבל He(V)eL is correctly translated “breath” in Psalms 144:4.
A breathe on a winter’s window pane
has a glorious, fast-fading moment. Our
“EXHALE”
entry has Latin hālāre,to breathe.
Albanian aval = steam, vapor, exhalation.הבל
He(V)eL = “Vapor.”
Parsing
the name הבל
He(V)eL
or HeBHeL:
הב
HahBH
= “give,” (the core-root or “heart”
of אהבה AHa(V)aH,
love) + the Aleph א
- Lamed ל of the deity name:
Power. הבל He(V)eL is both “Give-to-the Lord” and
“exhalation…” as if we should say הלל HaLeL (praise) for every breath.
3 A רֹעֵה
R[O]eH
of
sheep and goats is a shepherd, who looks after his charges, helps
them “feed on a good pasture” רעה
מרעה טוב (Ezekiel 34:18)
Ra’[A]H
MiR[E]H
DTOa(V).
He is not just ruler and protector of the flock (Psalms 23:1), ר-ע Resh-Ayin
is source of rex
and regal
kingly words, but is his flock’s רעה Rey[A]H,
companion and friend (II
Samuel 16:16).
Torah only gives us two words describing Abel,
but they speak volumes about a caring, responsible, unselfish and
unmaterialistic person. The patriarchs, Moses and David were all shepherds, the
right C.V. for a person of introspection, spirituality, empathy and vigilance,
fit to lead a human flock.
4 עבד [E]BHeD can mean “slave,”
but is a neutral “work” word, source of
OBEDIENCE.
The verse is setting up the brothers as opposites, as in Jacob and Esau in
25:27. While Abel the shepherd is lost in leisurely thought, Cain is נאבד N’EBHahD, lost, in work, with an inner taskmaster
whipping Cain toward gain. He will kill to not share land, therefore writing
his own OBITUARY
(obit
is death in Old French). [The pedants complain that an א Aleph is no ע Ayin. But Hebrew is musical notes, not just
orthography. That some scholars are tone deaf to the divine language is their loss.
They will never hear that Cain is אֲדָמָה ד בֵ עֹ
lost to earthy materialism.]