Gen 4:25: Seth, "another seed"
Says וַיֵּדַע אָדָם עוֹד אֶת־אִשְׁתּוֹ, "and Adam knew his wife again." אָדָם has no article, and the OSHB tags it as the name; where the name begins is set out in note.language.Gen.2.5-Gen.2.25.adam-ha-adam. She names the son שֵׁת, כִּי שָׁת־לִי אֱלֹהִים, "for God has set (appointed) for me" (BDB "put, set"; BSB "God has granted me"), זֶרַע אַחֵר, "another seed," תַּחַת הֶבֶל, "in place of Abel," for Cain killed him. Here the giver is named God, אֱלֹהִים. Gen 5:3 names him again, וַיִּקְרָא אֶת־שְׁמוֹ שֵׁת. Swete has Ἐξανέστησεν γάρ μοι ὁ θεὸς σπέρμα ἕτερον ἀντὶ Ἅβελ and names Εὕαν, who is not named in the Hebrew of this verse.
Implies The narrative draws the name-play: Seth, שֵׁת, is named with שָׁת, "he has set."
Uncertain Whether זֶרַע אַחֵר recalls the seed of 3:15, זַרְעָהּ. The link is verbal only; note.language.Gen.3.15.zera-hu-shuf lists this verse as a ground for one of four readings there, with no lean among them. No lean is taken here.
Claims
- Saysאָדָם without the article, tagged as the name; כִּי שָׁת־לִי אֱלֹהִים (BDB "put, set"); זֶרַע אַחֵר; Gen 5:3; Swete σπέρμα ἕτερον and the plus Εὕαν.
- ImpliesSeth (שֵׁת) is named with שָׁת: a name-play the narrative draws.
- UncertainWhether "another seed" recalls 3:15: a verbal link only; no lean.
Citations
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 4:25 (WLC/OSHB; morph HNp (H121), HNp, HVqp3ms, HNcmsa)
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 3:15; 5:3 (WLC/OSHB)
- BDB CC BY 4.0 s.v. H7896, p. 1011, entry v.cx.aa; BDB 1906 page image, archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, leaf n1034
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 4:25. LXX read on the Swete page image, vol. 1 (1901), p. 7 (leaf n38).
- BSB public domain Gen 4:25
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits
2026-11-10
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