Texts in Conversation
Genesis 4 says that people began to call on the divine name in the time of Enosh, but the Greek Septuagint says that he hoped to invoke it. This change harmonizes the narrative with later texts where the divine name is not yet revealed, such as Exodus.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 4:26
Hebrew Bible
24 If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much, then Lamech seventy-seven times!” 25 And Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him.” 26 And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people began to worship the Lord.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Genesis 4:26
Septuagint
24 Because vengeance has been exacted seven times on Cain's behalf, on Lamech's it shall be seventy times seven. 25 And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Seth, saying, For God has raised up to me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain killed. 26 And Seth had a son, and he called his name Enosh: he hoped to call on the name of the Lord God.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The last clause refers to Enoch ... Once the time 'then' was misread (by dittography?) the verb 'was begun' had to be read in an active sense. By vocalizing it the verb means 'hoped,' hence 'he hoped to invoke the name of the Lord God.' In the Masoretic text the infinitive 'to invoke' the name of Yahweh is the subject, i.e. 'Then invoking the name Yahweh was begun.' It should also be noted that the use of the double name negates the Hebrew notion that invoking the name Yahweh began with Enoch. That Enoch 'hoped' to invoke the name might well mean that he did not actually succeed in doing so ... Harl makes the interesting suggestion that this might resolve the inherent contradiction between Exodus 3:14 and 6:3. This may well have motivated the translator ..."
John William Wevers, Notes on the Greek Text of Genesis, SCS 35 (Atlanta: Scholars, 1993), 66–67.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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