a stage of Heb. ritual when vegetable offerings were excluded; but such sacrifices must have been introduced after the adoption of agricultural life; and it is quite conceivable that in the early days of the settlement in Canaan the view was maintained among the Israelites that the animal offerings of their nomadic religion were superior to the vegetable offerings made to the Canaanite Baals. Behind this may lie (as Gu. thinks) the idea that pastoral life as a whole is more pleasing to Yahwe than husbandry.
5b. Cain's feeling is a mixture of anger (it became very hot to him) and dejection (his face fell: cf. Jb. 2924, Jer. 312).
This does not imply that his previous state of mind had
been bad (Di. al.). In tracing Cain's sin to a disturbance
of his religious relation to God, the narrator shows his
profound knowledge of the human heart.
6-12. Warning, murder, and sentence.—7. The point of the remonstrance obviously is that the cause of Cain's dissatisfaction lies in himself, but whether in his general temper or in his defective sacrifice can no longer be made
7. The difficulties of the present text are "the curt and ambiguous
expression (
Hebrew characters); further, the use of (Hebrew characters) as masc., then the whole tenor
of the sentence, If thou doest not well. . .; finally, the exact and yet
incongruous parallelism of the second half-verse with 316" (Ols. MBBA,
1870, 380).—As regards 7a, the main lines of interpretation are these:
(1) The inf. (Hebrew characters) may be complementary to (Hebrew characters) as a relative vb. (G-K.
§ 120, 1), in which case (Hebrew characters) must have the sense of 'offer' sacrifice
(cf. 4334, Ezk. 2031). So (a) G (Greek characters)
(reading (Hebrew characters) for (Hebrew characters), and pointing the next
two words (Hebrew characters)) = 'Is it not so—if thou offerest rightly, but dost not
cut in pieces rightly, thou hast sinned? Be still!' Ball strangely
follows this fantastic rendering, seemingly oblivious of the fact that
(Hebrew characters) (cf. Ex. 2917, Lv. 16. 12, 1 Ki. 1823. 33 etc.)—for which he needlessly
substitutes (Hebrew characters) (1510)—has no sense as applied to a fruit-offering.—(b)
Somewhat similar is a view approved by Bu. as "völlig befriedigend"
(Urg. 204 f.): 'Whether thou make thine offering costly or not, at the
door,' etc. ['Whether thou offerest correctly or not,' would be the
safer rendering].—(2) The inf. may be taken as compressed apod.,
and, (Hebrew characters) as an independent vb. = 'do well' (as often). '(Hebrew characters) might then
express the idea of (a) elevation of countenance (= (Hebrew characters): cf. Jb. 1115
2226): 'If thou doest well, shall there not be lifting up?' etc. (so Tu.
Ew. De. Di. Dri. al.); or (b) acceptance ((Hebrew characters) as Gn. 1921, 2 Ki. 314,
Mal. 18. 9): so Aq. ((Greek characters)), Θ. ((Greek characters)), S ((Syriac characters)), V (recipies); or
(c) forgiveness (as Gn. 5017, Ex. 3232): so Σ. ((Greek characters)), TO Jer. and
recently Ho. Of these renderings 2(a) or 1(b) are perhaps the most
