In Genesis, God had announced to the serpent (identified as Satan/the Devil elsewhere in Scripture [Cf. Wisdom 2:23-24; Hebrews 2:14-15; Revelation 12:9; 20:2]), that his head would be crushed/bruised by the Seed of the Woman:
“And Yahweh God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than any of the cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.’” Genesis 3:14-15 Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)
Shortly thereafter, Eve conceived and gave birth to Cain:
“Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, ‘I have gotten a man with the help of Yahweh.’And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a cultivator of the ground.” Genesis 4:1-2 LSB
Eve’s proclamation indicates that she had assumed that Cain was that particular Seed that YHWH promised would crush the head of the serpent.
In this post I will explore the implication of Eve’s words, showing how it points to the human incarnation of YHWH Almighty in the Person of the Messiah.
THE PROMISED MESSIAH
According to rabbinic tradition, Eve thought that she had given birth to the Messiah only to find out that the birth of the Messiah was intended for some later generation.
The late Jewish Christian Rachmiel Frydland writes:
The first ray of promise to redeem mankind is found in the first few pages of the Tenach in the Book of Genesis.1 This redemption prophecy was given after the great disaster that overtook our first ancestors. The “ancient Serpent,” sometimes called nahash ha-kadmoni, was more subtle than any other creature and proved irresistible to Eve, and then to Adam.
God gave Adam and Eve virtual free reign in the Garden of Eden. He told them they could eat from every tree but one, warning them that disobedience would produce very harmful consequences. They chose to eat from that tree of knowledge of good and evil anyway, in clear disobedience to God. Instead of trusting their Father, they yielded to the temptation of pride. After all, the Tempter had promised them, “Ye shall be like God.”2
Adam and Eve’s misguided challenge to God’s uniqueness and authority had to be punished. But along with the punishment came a blessing and a promise to humanity. The woman, the first to obey Satan instead of God, is told that out of her seed would come the One who will “bruise the head” of this Serpent, whom Satan had used to mislead humanity. According to the prophecy God said:
I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed. He shall bruise thy head and thou shall bruise his heel.3
The “seed of the woman” would deal a fatal blow to the head of the Serpent. And, the “seed of the woman” would in turn sustain a bruise to the heel, a non-fatal blow. The Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures, Targum Jonathan, relates this prophecy to the Messiah explaining:
But they will be healed [shupf] in the footsteps [heels] in the days of King Messiah.4
Here, the word shupf is not translated as “bruise” but rather in the sense of “rubbing with a medicine,” and thus a “healing.”
One of the greatest Jewish commentators, 12th-13th century Rabbi David Kimchi, gave support to this Scripture as a prophecy about the Messiah’s redemption of mankind. He recognized that salvation is by the hand of the conquering Messiah “who would wound Satan, the head, the king and prince of the house of the wicked.”
How did Eve understand this Scripture? Evidence suggests she understood it to mean that she would bear a child who would “bruise the head of Satan.” Note that when Eve bore her first son, Cain, she said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.”5 The Targum of Palestine elaborates on this verse as follows:
And Adam knew … his wife … and she conceived and brought forth Cain, and she said; ‘I have obtained the man, the Angel of the Lord.’6
These verses indicate that Eve expected more than an earthly child, and by her exclamation, one who would literally fulfill the promise. Presumably, when Cain killed Abel her expectations of the “promised seed” were dashed. Later, when she finally bore Seth she exclaimed, “For God has appointed me another seed… .”7 The rabbis comment on this as follows:
[She (Eve) hinted at] that seed, which would arise from another source … the king Messiah.8
Some rabbinic sources, then, did recognize the Messianic seed would emanate from Eve. When Cain slew Abel, however, Eve realized that Cain – whom Eve had thought was “the Man” – was not. Thus, the “Appointed One” arose from Eve’s son, Seth. The genealogical line was now pinpointed.
1 Genesis 3:15
2 Genesis 3:5
3 Genesis 3:15
4 See J.W. Etheridge, The Targum of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch with the Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum from the Chaldee [hereafter referred to as Etheridge] (KTAV 1968) p. 166 note 8. This targum is commonly referred to as the Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel
5 Genesis 4:1
6 See Etheridge at pp. 169-170
7 Genesis 4:25
8 Midrash Rabbah Genesis 23:5 (Frydland, What the Rabbis Know About the Messiah: A Study of Genealogy and Prophecy [Messianic Literature Outreach, 1992], 3. Messiah Promised “In The Beginning” To Eve, pp. 7-8)
Here’s the English rendering of the specific Targums, which Frydland cited:
[JERUSALEM. Walking in the garden in the strength of the day……And the Word of the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, Behold, the world which I have created is manifest before Me; and how thinkest thou that the place in the midst whereof thou art, is not revealed before Me? Where is the commandment which I taught thee?]
And he said, The voice of Thy Word heard I in the garden, and I was afraid, because I am naked; and the commandment which Thou didst teach me, I have transgressed; therefore I hid myself from shame. And He said, Who showed thee that thou art naked? Unless thou hast eaten of the fruit of the tree of which I commanded that thou shouldst not eat. And Adam said, The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the fruit of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said to the woman, What hast thou done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me with his subtilty, and deceived me with his wickedness, and I ate. And the Lord God brought the three unto judgment; and He said to the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou of all the cattle, and of all the beasts of the field: upon thy belly thou shalt go, and thy feet shall be cut off, and thy skin thou shalt cast away once in seven years; and the poison of death shall be in thy mouth, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between the seed of thy son, and the seed of her sons; and it shall be when the sons of the woman keep the commandments of the law, they will be prepared to smite thee upon thy head; but when they forsake the commandments of the law, thou wilt be ready to wound them in their heel. Nevertheless for them there shall be a medicine, but for thee there will be no medicine; and they shall make a remedy for the heel in the days of the King Meshiha. (The Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee, by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. First Published 1862, Gen. 1-6)
Interestingly, is the divine Word who appeared in the Garden to Adam and Eve, that very Word which the NT (specifically John) proclaims became the Man Christ Jesus (Cf. John 1:1-4, 9-10, 14, 17-18; 1 John 1:1-3; Revelation 19:13).
WHAT THE HEBREW ACTUALLY SAYS
The literal translation of Genesis 4:1 is emphatic that Eve actually believed that she had given birth to YHWH as a Man:
“And the human knows Eve, his wife, and pregnant is she and is bearing Cain. And saying is she, ‘I acquire a man, Yahweh!’” Concordant Literal Translation (CLV)
“Now, the man, having come to know Eve his wife, – she conceived and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a Man, even Yahweh!” J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible (Rotherham https://www.studylight.org/bible/eng/reb/genesis/4-1.html)
“Later, Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve. She became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘I have given birth to a male child—the Lord.’” International Standard Bible (ISV)
Why then do we find so many versions rendering the text in such a way where Eve didn’t think she had acquired a divine child?
It is mainly due to the particle ‘et which appears right before the divine name YHWH. However, this only highlights the inconsistency of such translations since this particle appears all throughout Genesis 4 without it ever being rendering as a prepositional phrase, i.e., “with,” “by,” “with the help,” etc.
I will now cite all the verses in Genesis where the Hebrew phrase ‘et appears where it is never rendered as a preposition, but is left untranslated. This will show the translators’ inconsistencies for rendering this particle as “with”/”by (the help of)” in respect to what Eve said after birthing Cain, i.e., that she birthed a man “with/by (the help of) YHWH.”
“And Adam knew (‘et) Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore (‘et) Cain, and she said, ‘I have gotten a man, (‘et) Yahweh.’ And again, she bore his brother (‘et) Abel. Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a cultivator of the ground.” Genesis 4:1-2
“Then they heard (‘et) the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God in the midst of the trees of the garden.” Genesis 3:8
“And he said, (‘et) ‘Your voice I heard in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid’.” Read full chapter Genesis 3:10
“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat (‘et) the plants of the field;” Genesis 3:18
“therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate (‘et) the ground from which he was taken. So He drove (‘et) the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed (‘et) the cherubim and (wa’et) the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard (‘et) the way to the tree of life.” Genesis 3:23-24
“And now, cursed are you from the ground, which has opened (‘et) its mouth to receive (‘et) the blood of brother from your hand. When you cultivate (‘et) the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.” Genesis 4:11-12
“Then Cain knew (‘et) his wife, and she conceived and bore (‘et) Enoch; and he built a city and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son. Now to Enoch was born (‘et) Irad, and Irad begat (‘et) Mehujael, and Mehujael begat (‘et) Methushael, and Methushael begat (‘et) Lamech. And Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. And Adah bore (‘et) Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and have livestock… As for Zillah, she bore (‘et) Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.” Genesis 4:17-20, 22
“Then Adam again knew (‘et) his wife; and she bore a son and named (‘et) him Seth, for she said, ‘God has set for me another seed in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.’ And to Seth, to him also, a son was born; and he named (‘et) him Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of Yahweh.” Genesis 4:25-26
“In the beginning God created (‘et) the heavens and (wa’et) the earth.” Genesis 1:1
The preceding cases indicate that ‘et is used throughout these chapters as a particle which serves as a direct object marker, and not as a preposition. Therefore, the literal meaning of Genesis 4:1 is that Eve thought that the male baby she had birthed was none other than YHWH God who had chosen to become a Man.
This shows that Eve understood God’s pronouncement concerning the Seed crushing the serpent’s head as a promise that God himself would come forth from her line in order to redeem Adam’s descendants from the curse that befell them due to Satan’s instigation.
RABBIS TO THE RESCUE?
The following quotations demonstrate that even the Jewish authorities/rabbis were aware that there is something unusual about how Eve is said to have acquired Cain:
וְהָאָדָם יָדַע וגו’, רַבִּי הוּנָא וְרַבִּי יַעֲקֹב בְּרַבִּי אָבִין בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי אַבָּא בַּר כַּהֲנָא אָמַר, לֹא שִׁמְשָׁה בְּרִיָּה קֹדֶם לְאָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, וַיֵּדַע אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן, אֶלָּא וְהָאָדָם יָדַע אֶת חַוָּה אִשְׁתּוֹ, הוֹדִיעַ דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ לַכֹּל. דָּבָר אַחֵר, וְהָאָדָם יָדַע, יָדַע מֵאֵיזוֹ שַׁלְוָה נִשְׁלָה, יָדַע מָה עָבְדַת לֵיהּ חַוָּה. אָמַר רַב אַחָא חִיוְיָא חִיוְיִךְ וְאַתְּ חִיוְיָא דְאָדָם. וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד אֶת קַיִן, אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה שְׁלשָׁה פְּלָאִים נַעֲשׂוּ בְּאוֹתוֹ הַיּוֹם, בּוֹ בַּיּוֹם נִבְרְאוּ, בּוֹ בַּיּוֹם שִׁמְּשׁוּ, בּוֹ בַּיּוֹם הוֹצִיאוּ תּוֹלָדוֹת. אָמַר לֵיהּ רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן קָרְחָה עָלוּ לַמִּטָּה שְׁנַיִם וְיָרְדוּ שִׁבְעָה, קַיִּן וּתְאוֹמָתוֹ, וְהֶבֶל וּשְׁתֵּי תְאוֹמוֹתָיו, וַתֹּאמֶר קָנִיתִי אִישׁ אֶת ה’, חָמַת לָהּ הָא אִיתְּתָא בְּנִין, אָמְרָה הָא קִנְיַן בַּעֲלִי בְּיָדִי. רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל שָׁאַל אֶת רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אָמַר לוֹ בִּשְׁבִיל שֶׁשִּׁמַּשְׁתָּ נַחוּם אִישׁ גַּם זוֹ עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם שָׁנָה, אַכִין וְרַקִּין מִעוּטִים, אֶתִין וְגַמִּין רִבּוּיִים, הַאי אֶת דִּכְתִיב הָכָא מַהוּ, אָמַר אִלּוּ נֶאֱמַר קָנִיתִי אִישׁ ה’, הָיָה הַדָּבָר קָשֶׁה, אֶלָּא אֶת ה’. אָמַר לֵיהּ (דברים לב, מז): כִּי לֹא דָּבָר רֵק הוּא מִכֶּם, וְאִם רֵק הוּא מִכֶּם, שֶׁאֵין אַתֶּם יוֹדְעִים לִדְרשׁ, אֶלָּא אֶת ה’, לְשֶׁעָבַר אָדָם נִבְרָא מֵאֲדָמָה, וְחַוָּה נִבְרֵאת מֵאָדָם, מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ (בראשית א, כו): בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ, לֹא אִישׁ בְּלֹא אִשָּׁה וְלֹא אִשָּׁה בְּלֹא אִישׁ, וְלֹא שְׁנֵיהֶם בְּלֹא שְׁכִינָה.
“And the man was intimate [vehaadam yada]” – Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Yaakov bar Avin said in the name of Rabbi Abba bar Kahana: No creature engaged in cohabitation before Adam the first man – vayeda is not written here, but rather, “vehaadam yada Eve his wife” – he taught the means of cohabitation to all.
Another matter, “[He banished the man…] and the man was intimate [yada] [with Eve [ḥava]]” (Genesis 3:23–4:1) – he realized [yada] from what tranquility he had been displaced, and he realized [yada] what Eve had done to him. Rav Aḥa said [of Eve]: The serpent was your serpent and you were Adam’s serpent [ḥivia].
“She conceived and gave birth to Cain” – Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya said: Three miracles occurred on that day. On that day they were created, on that day they cohabited, and on that day they produced offspring
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa said: Two people went up into the bed and seven descended: Cain and his twin sister and Abel and his two twin sisters.
“And said: I have acquired a man with [et] the Lord” – when a woman bears children, she says: I have now acquired my husband *Ish (translated in the verse as “man”) can also mean husband. into my possession.
Rabbi Yishmael asked Rabbi Akiva, saying to him: Because you studied under Naḥum of Gam Zo for twenty-two years, [who taught:] The words akh and rak are restrictive expressions, et and gam are inclusive expressions, [I ask you:] What is the meaning of the et that is written here? He said: Had it been written: Kaniti ish Hashem it would have been difficult, *Omitting et, It would have implied that she had acquired the Holy One blessed be He. so instead, it stated “with God” [et Hashem]. He said to him: “For it is not an empty matter for you [mikem]” (Deuteronomy 32:47) – if it is empty, it is because of you [mikem], because you do not know how to expound. Rather, et Hashem – previously, Adam was created from earth and Eve was created from Adam. But from now on, [Eve said,] offspring will come about in our image and in our likeness – a man will not [produce offspring] without woman, nor will a woman without a man, nor both of them without the Divine Presence. *Kaniti ish et Hashem means: I have acquired this child through a man and through God. (Bereshi (Genesis) Rabbah, 22 https://www.sefaria.org/Bereshit_Rabbah.22.2?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en)
Note how the rabbis admit that the Hebrew of Gen. 4:1 without the particle ‘et would imply that Eve assumed that she had conceived the Holy One himself!
The problem with the rabbis’ claim is that the particle doesn’t change the plain meaning of the Hebrew since, as I’ve already shown, ‘et isn’t a preposition but a particle which marks out the object in the sentence.
The following Jewish reference is quite remarkable:
IV. And Adam knew Hava his wife, who had desired the Angel; and she conceived, and bare Kain; and she said, I have acquired a man, the Angel of the Lord. And she added to bear from her husband Adam his twin, even Habel. (J. W. Etheridge, The Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee, Gen. 1-6)
As had been noted by Frydland himself (whom I quoted above), Eve is portrayed as having believed that she had just given birth to the Angel of the Lord himself!
This merely reinforces the fact that the literal Hebrew wording of Genesis 4:1 conclusively points to Eve thinking that she had actually conceived YHWH God in the flesh.
BIBLE EXPOSITORS
I now cite specific commentators and translators, all of which acknowledge that ‘et YHWH can and has been interpreted as foreshadowing the human birth of YHWH God from a woman.
For instance, the NET Bible has a note acknowledging that there are scholars who take this position, despite rejecting such an interpretation:
tn Heb “with the Lord.” The particle אֶת (ʾet) is not the accusative/object sign, but the preposition “with” as the ancient versions attest. Some take the preposition in the sense of “with the help of” (see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV), while others prefer “along with” in the sense of “like, equally with, in common with” (see Lev 26:39; Isa 45:9; Jer 23:28). Either works well in this context; the latter is reflected in the present translation. Some understand אֶת as the accusative/object sign and translate, “I have acquired a man—the Lord.” They suggest that the woman thought (mistakenly) that she had given birth to the incarnate Lord, the Messiah who would bruise the Serpent’s head. This fanciful suggestion is based on a questionable allegorical interpretation of Gen 3:15 (see the note there on the word “heel”). New English Translation (NET Bible https://netbible.org/bible/Genesis+4)
Here are a few others:
… The popular interpretation, regarding kani-thi as the emphatic word in the sentence, understands Eve to say that her child was a thing achieved, an acquisition gained, either from the Lord (Onkelos, Calvin) or by means of, with the help of, the Lord (LXX., Vulgate, Jerome, Dathe, Keil), or for the Lord (Syriac). If, however, the emphatic term is Jehovah, then eth with Makkeph following will be the sign of the accusative, and the sense will be, “I have gotten a man – Jehovah” (Jonathon, Luther, Baumgarten, Lewis); to which, perhaps, the chief objections are
(1) that it appears to anticipate the development of the Messianic idea, and credits Eve with too mature Christological conceptions (Lange), though if Enoch in the seventh generation recognized Jehovah as the coming One, why might not Eve have done so in the first? (Bonar),
(2) that if the thoughts of Eve had been running so closely on the identity of the coming Deliverer with Jehovah, the child would have been called Jehovah, or at least some compound of Jehovah, such as Ishiah – אישׁ and יהוה – or Coniah – קין and יהוה (Murphy);
(3) si scivit Messiam esse debet Jovam, quomodo existimare potuit Cainam ease Messiam, quem sciebat esse ab Adamo genitum? (Dathe); and
(4) that, while it might not be difficult to account for the mistake of a joyful mother in supposing that the fruit of her womb was the promised seed, though, “if she did believe so, it is a caution to interpreters of prophecy” (Inglis), it is not so easy to explain her belief that the promised seed was to be Jehovah, since no such announcement was made in the Prot-evangel. But whichever view be adopted of the construction of the language, it is obvious that Eve’s utterance was the dictate of faith. In Cain’s birth she recognized the earnest and guarantee of the promised seed, and in token of her faith gave her child a name (cf. Genesis 3:20), which may also explain her use of the Divine name Jehovah instead of Elohim, which she employed when conversing with the serpent. That Eve denominates her infant a man has been thought to indicate that she had previously borne daughters who had grown to womanhood, and that she expected her young and tender babe to reach maturity. Murphy thinks this opinion probable; but the impression conveyed, by the narrative is that Cain was the first-born of the human family. Genesis 4:1 (Pulpit Commentary)
From the Lord; or, by or with the Lord, i.e. by virtue of his first blessing, Genesis 1:28, and special favour. Or, a man the Lord, as the words properly signify: q.d. God-man, or the Messias, hoping that this was the promised Seed. (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)
I have gotten a man from the Lord; as a gift and blessing from him, as children are; or by him, by his favour and good will; and through his blessing upon her, causing her to conceive and bear and bring forth a son: some render it, “I have gotten a man, the Lord” F24; that promised seed that should break the serpents head; by which it would appear, that she took that seed to be a divine person, the true God, even Jehovah, that should become man; though she must have been ignorant of the mystery of his incarnation, or of his taking flesh of a virgin, since she conceived and bare Cain through her husband’s knowledge of her: however, having imbibed this notion, it is no wonder she should call him Cain, a possession or inheritance; since had this been the case, she had got a goodly one indeed: but in this she was sadly mistaken, he proved not only to be a mere man, but to be a very bad man: the Targum of Jonathan favours this sense, rendering the words, “I have gotten a man, the angel of the Lord.”
I have gotten a man from the Lord.—Rather, who is Jehovah. It is inconceivable that eth should have here a different meaning from that which it has in Genesis 1:1. It there gives emphasis to the object of the verb: “God created eth the heaven and eth the earth,” that is, even the heaven and even the earth. So also here, “I have gotten a man eth Jehovah.” even Jehovah. The objection that this implies too advanced a knowledge of Messianic ideas is unfounded. It is we who read backward, and put our ideas into the words of the narrative. These words were intended to lead on to those ideas, but they were at present only as the germ, or as the filament in the acorn which contains the oak-tree. If there is one thing certain, it is that religious knowledge was given gradually, and that the significance of the name Jehovah was revealed by slow degrees. (See on Genesis 4:26.) Eve attached no notion of divinity to the name; still less did she foresee that by the superstition of the Jews the title Lord would be substituted for it. We distinctly know that Jehovah was not even the patriarchal name of the Deity (Exodus 6:3), and still less could it have been God’s title in Paradise. But Eve had received the promise that her seed should crush the head of her enemy, and to this promise her words referred, and the title in her mouth meant probably no more than “the coming One.” Apparently, too, it was out of Eve’s words that this most significant title of the covenant God arose. (See Excursus on names Elohim and Jehovah-Elohim, at end of this book.) (Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers)
I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord] Literally, “I acquired (or, have acquired) man, even Jahveh.” Eve’s four words in the Hebrew (ḳânîthi îsh eth-Yahveh) are as obscure as any oracle.
(i) The difficulty was felt at a very early time, and is reflected in the versions LXX διὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, Lat. per Deum, in which, as R.V., the particle êth is rendered as a preposition in the sense of “in conjunction with,” and so “with the help of,” “by the means of.”
König, who holds an eminent position both as a commentator and as a Hebrew grammarian and lexicographer, has recently strongly defended the rendering of êth as a preposition meaning “with,” in the sense here given by the English version “with the help of” (see Z.A.T.W. 1912, Pt i, pp. 22 ff.). The words will then express the thanksgiving of Eve on her safe deliverance of a child. It is a pledge of Divine favour. Child-birth has been “with the help of the Lord.”
(ii) The Targum of Onkelos reads mê-êth = “from” (instead of êth = “with”), and so gets rid of the difficulty: “I have gotten a man from Jehovah,” i.e. as a gift from the Lord. But this is so easy an alteration that it looks like a correction, and can scarcely be regarded as the original text. Praestat lectio difficilior.
(iii) According to the traditional Patristic and mediaeval interpretation, the sentence admitted of a literal rendering in a Messianic sense: “I have gotten a man, even Jehovah,” i.e. “In the birth of a child I have gotten one in whom I foresee the Incarnation of the Lord.” But, apart from the inadmissibility of this N.T. thought, it is surely impossible that the Messianic hope should thus be associated with the name of Cain. The Targum of Palestine, however, has “I have acquired a man, the Angel of the Lord.”
(iv) Another direction of thought is given by the proposed alternative rendering: “I obtained as a husband (i.e. in my husband) Jehovah,” in other words, I discern that in marriage is a Divine Gift. Perhaps the Targum of Palestine meant this, “I obtained as a husband the Angel of the Lord”: my husband is the expression to me of the Divine good-will which I have received. The objection, however, to this interpretation is that it is the reverse of simple and natural. It makes Eve’s words go back to marriage relations, instead of to the birth of her child.
(v) Conjectural emendations have been numerous, and ingenious. Thus, at one time, Gunkel conjectured ethavveh for eth-Yahveh, i.e. “I have gotten a son that I longed for”; the unusual word ethavveh accounted, in his opinion, for the easier reading eth-Yahveh. But in his last edition (1908) the conjecture does not appear. (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)
THE WOMAN WHO BIRTHED GOD
Despite the fact that Eve was mistaken in thinking that she was that actual Woman who would give birth to God himself in the flesh, she was indeed correct on one thing. God’s pronouncement did imply that YHWH himself would deign to become a Man through a Woman. That Woman, however, wasn’t Eve but the blessed Virgin Mary who literally conceived and gave birth to God Incarnate:
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the One who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ Now all this took place in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, ‘God (ho theos) with us.’ And Joseph got up from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.” Matthew 1:18-25
“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of His kingdom.’ But Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.’” Luke 1:26-35 LSB
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men… There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him… And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth… No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” John 1:1-4, 9-10, 14, 18 LSB
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.” Galatians 4:4-7 LSB
FURTHER READING
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