Thread by @AriLamm

Why Read The Bible In Hebrew?

Let's talk about the most famous murder in human history—the story of Cain and Abel.

In order to understand it, we'll need to unpack one of the most mysterious words in the entire Bible.

A thread (for non-Hebrew readers too!) 🧵 1

Just a refresher:

We have two brothers—Cain, the older, and Abel, the younger. They each bring an offering to God.

But while Abel brings his best stuff, Cain does not. And when God favors Abel's, Cain gets jealous and kills his brother. He tries and fails to hide his crime. 2

It's a classic Biblical tragedy. But...what's the takeaway?

Is it just meant to be a bummer? Brother can't live with brother? Envy and murder is our lot? Life is nasty, brutish and short? That's it?

I think the answer lies in one Hebrew word from the text:

"teshukah"

3

This word is super rare. It actually only appears three times in the entire Bible (including in our story). In order to understand it—even just to translate it!—we're going to have to look at all three occurrences.

But before that, let's back up a bit and talk about Cain. 4

We remember Cain as one of the primordial villains of Genesis, in contrast to righteous Abel. But if you read the text carefully...it doesn't quite set things up that way.

Take their names, for example. This is where the Hebrew will help us right away! 5

Cain's name is given by Eve:

"And she conceived and bore Cain, and said, I have acquired (kaniti) a man with (et) the Lord" (4:1)

What does this mean? Well, the name Cain ("Kayin" in Hebrew) sounds like the word "acquired" (kaniti).

You can see the profundity right away. 6

This is the first act of creation in history in which a human being participates. You can *feel* Eve's awe as she brings Cain into the world—wonder at her partnership with God. So Cain's name is a mark of closeness to God!

And Abel?

Well, in Hebrew, Abel means...nothing. 7

I mean that literally. Remember that famous refrain from Ecclesiastes, "vanity of vanities, all is vanity"? Know what the word for "vanity" (or "something meaningless") is?

"Hevel"

Know what Abel's name is in Hebrew?

You guessed it. Abel's name literally means: "meaningless" 8

So the Bible sets up Cain as the noble main character, and Abel as almost an afterthought.

And sure enough, *Cain* is the one who first comes up with the idea to make an offering to God: "In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering" (4:3)

Abel simply follows! 9

Ah, but doesn't Abel bring the best of his flock, while Cain just brings middling produce?

"In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions." (3-4)

Well... 10

So the English translations of this verse are pretty misleading. "For his part..." makes it sound like Abel *in contrast to Cain* brought good stuff.

But the Hebrew behind that translation is "gam hu". And that phrase DOES NOT set up contrasts. It actually means "similarly". 11

So what the verse really says is that Abel was *imitating* the high quality of Cain's offering!

...So we're supposed to be as stunned as Cain when we then read, "And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard" (4:4-5). 12

Wait...what?!

But just as importantly, like, okay, so let's say Cain is right to be stunned. How do we get from there...to murder?

The answer, I believe, lies in God's enigmatic words to Cain just after rejecting his offering. So let's take a look. 13

"The Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire (teshukah) is for you, but you must master (m-sh-l) it'." (4:6-7)

Okay. So.

14

This sounds pretty cryptic. But it's also the only thing we hear before Cain kills Abel. So it must be pretty important.

But what does it mean?

Well, the key lies in that word translated here as "desire". In Hebrew "teshukah". Where have we heard this word before? 15

Well, the answer is that this is actually the *second* time the word appears in Scripture. Where's the first?

...Like five seconds ago!

Think back to the story of Adam and Eve. When God curses them, here's what he tells Eve in Gen 3:16... 16

"Your desire (teshukah) shall be for your husband, and he shall rule (m-sh-l) over you."

This sentence is nearly identical to what God tells Cain! "Teshuka" plus the root for "rule" (m-sh-l). What does this tell us?

Well, first we need to figure out what "teshukah" means. 17

Wait, I hear you ask, didn't you already say it means "desire"?

Okay, so...that's actually one of the top mistranslations of all time.

So what does "teshukah" mean? Well, that's the issue. It only appears three times in Scripture (and we've already seen two of 'em!). 18

We'll see the third instance later, but spoiler: it's not gonna help us any more than the first two. Our only hope is to look for other cases in the Bible where this root (s-w-k) appears.

Now, unfortunately, it's a *very* rare root. But fortunately, those cases *do* help! 19

Take a look, for example, at Psalm 107:9

"For he satisfies the thirsty (shokekah), and the hungry he fills with good things"

The root here (and elsewhere in the Bible) always appears in the context of famine and thirst. It means "hungry" more broadly.

Okay, now back to Eve. 20

The problem with translating teshukah as "desire" in Gen 3 is that it makes the verse seem like one long sentence: childbirth will be difficult, but you'll still desire your husband so he'll control you.

But "teshukah" doesn't mean "desire" in that sense at all! 21

Teshukah means "hunger". As in literal hunger and thirst. So the verse isn't referring to Eve's carnal desire for her husband. It's actually previewing Adam's own curse:

Agriculture!

"Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it..." (3:17). 22

Adam's curse is that he will need to work the ground for food. And Eve? Her curse is that when she's hungry, she'll need to rely on unreliable man.

So how should we translate the verse?

"Your hunger (teshukah) shall be directed at your husband, so he shall rule over you". 23

It's not a statement about marriage or sexual desire or anything like that. Rather, it's about the tragedy of "teshukah" -- of hunger, of dependency.

The sin of Adam and Eve introduces hierarchy and power into human affairs where before there was none. 24

Can human beings live in such a world?

This was the question Cain and Abel—the very next generation—were charged with answering.

And now we can understand why God references his words to Eve when he speaks to Cain. 25

Put yourself in Cain's shoes. You've just approached God with an offering—the first in history to do so!—only to experience rejection. To make things worse, your brother—a nobody, a "hevel"—finds Gods favor!

You think to yourself, "am I not enough for God?" 26

And that's when God intervenes. He warns Cain against the dangerous side of dependency—judging yourself by another.

After all, God turning towards Abel's offering doesn't mean God *values* Abel more than Cain. God measures Cain on his own merits, not someone else's. 27

In fact, nowhere in the text does God explain *why* He accepts one offering and rejects the other. It's intentionally left a mystery.

So, God says to Cain, you have a choice. You can continue to obsess over Abel's relationship with me. Or you can cultivate your own! 28

Ah, but in a fallen world—in a world cursed with hierarchy and power relationships—how can a person do that?

Well, says God, by learning that power can be used to protect, not just victimize! After all, it's not just humans that are dependent upon each other for survival... 29

You know what else is dependent upon human beings for its survival?

Sin!

Hence God's words to Cain: "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its hunger (teshukah) is for you, but you must master it" (4:7) 30

Sure dependency can be a curse. It taught us the use of power. And that can lead to one person dominating another person.

But we can use that power for good—to rule over sin. After all, sin requires humans to exist. And that gives us the ability to defeat it. 31

That's the point of the Cain and Abel story. How do we live in a world of "teshukah"? Of dependency and power?

Would Cain try to best his brother, whom he believed had bested him, and on and on?

Or could he, instead, try to repair the sin of Adam and Eve by besting himself? 33

The tragedy of Cain is that he chooses wrong. He chooses power over his brother instead of power over himself.

So, that's what the Cain and Abel story is about.

But...is that it? We're all cursed to live in a world of dependency forevermore? 34

Well, the answer is yes. But that's when the Bible prompts us to ask ourselves one more question:

...What if that's a beautiful thing?

Because remember what I told you about "teshukah"? It appears three times in the Bible. We've seen two. What about the third one? 35

It turns, just like the first two instances, the third one also refers to interpersonal relationships. And like the original—Genesis 3:16—the third one, too, is set in the context of the relationship between husband and wife.

The third one is from Song of Songs. 36

Song of Songs records the relationship between the lover and her beloved——the grandest, most sublime metaphor for Israel's relationship with God.

In 7:16, we find the lover, Israel, proclaim about her beloved, God, "I am my beloved’s, and His desire (teshukah) is for me". 37

This is the third occurrence of the word "teshukah". And it's absolutely staggering.

The only time we've ever seen this word in the Bible, it's referred to the curse of Eve—the curse of dependency and power—and its repercussions for her son Cain

But here it refers to...God! 38

In this case, the one who experiences "teshukah"—dependency—is not Eve towards Adam. It's not sin towards Cain. Or Cain towards Abel.

It's God towards us.

Song of Songs is telling us that dependency is only a curse if we make it so. 39

Consider, what makes a good relationship? Is it total self-sufficiency by both parties? Of course not! Two people who don't need each other aren't in a relationship. They just happen to be standing next to each other.

No, the best relationships requires vulnerability. 40

Dependency can become poisonous when it's one-directional. Down that road leads totalitarianism—the sin of Babel.

But mutual dependency? When two people acknowledge they need each other? That's not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength. 41

https://twitter.com/AriLamm/status/1560611614226882560

That's the secret of "teshukah". Yes, it can be a curse—hunger, desire, envy, helplessness. Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel.

But that very curse can also become a blessing—it can be sanctified. So much so that in Song of Songs God uses that very word, "teshukah", to describe Himself! 42

And the amazing thing about Song of Songs is that you can already see its roots all the way back in Genesis 4!

Just a few verses after Adam and Eve, God already whispered to Cain that "teshukah" needn't be a curse. It can be the source of his strength! 43

So in the end, Genesis 3 tells us that, unfortunately, we can bring evil into the world.

Genesis 4 shows us that we can transform evil into good, though we might fail in this.

And Song of Songs? Well, Song of Songs reminds us that God Himself is with us as we keep trying. 44

P.S. Thank you so much AS ALWAYS to @zenahitz and the amazing @CatherineProj for the inspiration to do these. And it's so awesome to see our old Biblical Hebrew reading group continuing to devour chapter after chapter. Absolutely the best thing to see!

P.P.S. If you liked this thread, check out my podcast @gfaitheffort we do cool stuff like this all the time! Here's our latest episode.

And stay tuned because we're about to relaunch the show with some extremely cool guests! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rab…

And P.P.P.S. Thank you so much to the absolutely incredible @IlanBlock, you can see his artwork in this thread. Reach out to him if you like Biblical art, he does pieces on commission too and he's a genius!