The Heavenly Genie
Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD.” Genesis 4:1 NASB
With The Help Of – In an absolutely wonderful book, The Beast That Crouches At The Door, Rabbi David Fohrman calls attention to the fact that the Hebrew language in Eve’s declaration is very unusual. In fact, it is so strange that it requires a deep analysis and that analysis yields a meaning that is nothing like most of the English translations (as the NASB above). Moreover, once we really understand the strange quality of this statement, we will gain an insight into one of the basic conflicts that affects every human being. The result is startling. What the Mother of All Living really says reveals the penetrating depth of our desire to be our own god.
It all begins with et. Translated “with” in this English version, ninety percent of the time et does not mean “with.” Et is usually an untranslatable grammatical indicator that the word following is a direct object. Did you get that? Let’s take it slowly. In most English versions, the word et is translated as “with,” and expressed as Eve had a child with God’s help. Isn’t that nice and comfortable? It fits our evangelical etiquette, bringing God into the process of conception and birth. Everything seems so peachy-keen. But this is not what Eve says.
When Eve’s written statement uses the word et, she indicates that God is the direct object of her acquisition of a male child (notice that the translation “have gotten” also diminishes the emotional tone of Eve’s statement). What does this imply in Hebrew? As the direct object, God receives the action of the verb from the subject. God receives that acquiring action from Eve. Eve’s child is not the direct object of her acquisition. God is. Of course, that does not carry a sexual connotation. The same verse clearly indicates that Adam impregnated Eve. But from Eve’s point of view, Adam was accidental to the real process. Eve considers God to be the instrumental source of this child. So far that sounds quite acceptable. But there is one tiny problem. You see, what Eve implies is that she used God. Her words imply that Eve thinks that she used God as her genie, her special tool, to get what she wanted.
The Torah does not make mistakes. The et in this verse is not accidental. Unless we pay very close attention to what the words actually mean and say, we will slip into comfortable theological clothing. But Eve’s statement won’t let us. There is something really troubling about what she says. She acts as if she can maneuver God into doing her bidding. That, of course, is our problem too. How often do we say what Eve says? Every time we pray, “Lord, help me acquire my plans. Help me do what I want to do.” In other words, we add the et to our prayers when we act as though God can be enlisted in accomplishing what we want. The Mother of All Living says nothing more than all of her children. “God, give me what I want – and be quick about it.”
The catastrophe of sin reaches much deeper than surface disobedience to a command about some tree. Sin twists the divine relationship into a god-tool in the hands of scheming humanity. Perhaps all of Eve’s children need to step back from divine requests and ask if we have hidden an et in our words.
Topical Index: Sin
