Notes on the text of the book of Genesis : with an appendix online

well, at the door sin croucheth,' taking HNb^ in the sense of
receiving; so Vulg. 'â–  Nonne si bene egeris recipies, sin autem
male, statim in forihus pcccatuvi aderit,' but this is not in
keeping with the context. Onq. has, ^'l^iV n^pirTDN Npn

T]^ \>:yp(p\ n^nn-QN^ ninrrx^-DN ^'^ NyiQn^{33; cf. 1^13?, Arab. Y}!^,
Aramaic ^133, tP; cf. Ruth I, 20.

"'D not 'y^r/ nor = the on recitativum, of the N. T., intro-
ducing the words of the speaker (as e.g. 21, 30); but =
^certainly, surely;' cf. Ex. 4, 25.

Tiinn^ . . . ^a?!^D^. The suffixes are objective; cf. Ges.,

§ 135. 4; M. R., § 78; Dav., S., § 23. Cf. LXX, eiV rpavfia
6/Lioi . . . ety iio)X(07Ta €[ioi. So Vulg.

^ = ' 6'« account of;' cf. M. R., § 51. 4 ; Ges., § 119. 3c;
see Num. 16, 34 Dhpij.

The perfects may best be taken, with the Vss., as real
perfects, and not as perfects of certainty. Lamech has killed
men and will not, should necessity occasion it, hesitate to kill
others. Jewish fancy narrates that Lamech killed Kain (^''N)
and Tubal Kain ^4!). But only one act is intended, the
repetition being due to the parallelism common in Hebrew
poetry.

The song is probably a triumphal song on the invention
of war weapons. Lamech boasts that if Kain would be
avenged sevenfold, surely he, with his instruments, would be
able to take a far greater vengeance (seventy-sevenfold). For
a mere wound inflicted on him, he has punished the inflicter
with death ; and in the possession of his weapons he feels
himself superior to his ancestors, and able to dispense with
divine protection. The poetical words ptsn and mD^? and
the parallelism which is observed throughout the three verses
are noticeable.

25. Ptl'' = Satz^ Setzli7tg, and then Ersatz, ' substitute'

''/"ntl) "^^ • Qa'me9 remains, notwithstanding the Maqqef,



64

and is on this account marked with firm Metheg ; see Ges.,
§ i6. 2 b; cf. § 9. 12. Rem. i d. f^ inn ^^; cf. on 3, 19.

26. t^in DH ritr^l. The pronoun is repeated separately,
to emphasize the noun ; cf. Ges., § 135. 2 c ; Ewald, § 31 1 a and
§ 314 a; M. R., §72. I. R. a; Dav., S., § i, cf. 10, 21.

W'\2^='man,' from K'iS ' ^0 he weak;' or from C'JX^the
Arabic J«jl ^ to attach oneself to I so animal sociabile. Cf.
C. P. Ges., p. 60.

vmn tb^. The indeterminate 3rd pers. sing.; see Ges.,
§ 144. 3 e, and the note on ver. 5 : cf. Lam. 5, 5 137 min t