4:25-26 - 25Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him." 26Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord.
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After the detour into the line of Cain for a grand frightening view of what sin can do, the story now returns to the main track of Adam's account. Adam had named his wife Eve because she "would become the mother of all the living" (3:20). "He lay with his wife again." The new baby boy is now named Seth after the fact that God had "granted" her another child, a rather rare use of the Hebrew verb shit. One had died, another lost, exiled. Yet God is still on her side. Seth's life may be passed over quickly here, but it is reported that he too (gam) had a son, called simply Enosh, "man" (in the sense of humankind and, therefore, synonymous with 'adam, 'ish (man, as a male person). Is this intended as a symbolic but humble gesture of hope, along the line that, with this infant, Eve may indeed become the "mother of all the living"?
Before the chapter closes, however, the author leaves us with the first trully hopeful note, "at that time men began to call on the name of the Lord." Elsewhere in the OT, to "call on the name of Yahweh" is to worship Him, to acknowledge Him as the center of our devotion. Men were beginning to grope after their true center again.
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2018