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Genesis, 2:4 This is the account of theheavens and the earth when they werecreated – when the Lord(Yahweh) God
1 
made the earth and heavens.
(1) Advocates of the so-called documentary hypothesis of pentateuchalauthorship argue that the introduction of the name
 Yahweh
(Lord)here indicates that a new source (designated J), a parallel account of creation, begins here. In this scheme Gen 1:1-2:3 is understood as thepriestly source (designated P) of creation. Critics of this approach oftenrespond that the names, rather than indicating separate sources, werechosen to reflect the subject matter (see U. Cassuto,
The Documentary Hypothesis
). Gen 1:1–2:3 is the grand prologue of the book, showingthe sovereign God creating by decree. The narrative beginning in 2:4 isthe account of what this God invested in his creation. Since it dealswith the close, personal involvement of the covenant God, thenarrative uses the covenantal name
 Yahweh
(Lord) in combinationwith the name God. For a recent discussion of the documentaryhypothesis from a theologically conservative perspective, see D. A.Garrett,
Rethinking Genesis
. For an attempt by source critics todemonstrate the legitimacy of the source critical method on the basisof ancient Near Eastern parallels, see J. H. Tigay, ed.,
Empirical Modelsfor Biblical Criticism
. For reaction to the source critical method byliterary critics, see I. M. Kikawada and A. Quinn,
Before Abraham Was
;R. Alter,
The Art of Biblical Narrative
, 131-54; and Adele Berlin,
Poeticsand Interpretation of Biblical Narrative
, 111-34.
Genesis, 3:20 The man named his wifeEve, because she was the mother of allthe living.
2
(2) The explanation of the name forms a sound play (paronomasia)with the name. “Eve” is הוָחַ (khavvah) and “living” is יחַ (khay). Thename preserves the archaic form of the verb היָחָ (khayah, “to live”)with the middle vav () instead of yod (י). The form יחַ (khay) is derivedfrom the normal form הָחַ (khayyah). Compare the name
 Yahweh
(הָהיְ) explained from היָהָ (hayah, “to be”) rather than from הָהַ (havah).  The biblical account stands in contrast to the pagan material thatpresents a serpent goddesshawwat who is the mother of life.See J.Heller, “Der Name Eva,”
 ArOr 
26 (1958): 636-56; and A. F. Key, “TheGiving of Proper Names in the OT,”
 JBL
83 (1964): 55-59.
Genesis, 4:1 Now the man had maritalrelations with his wife Eve, and shebecame pregnant and gave birth to Cain.
 
Then she said, “I have created a man justas the Lord did!”
(3)
(3)
Heb
“with the Lord.” The particle ת־אֶ (’et) is not theaccusative/object sign, but the preposition “with” as the ancientversions attest. Some take the preposition in the sense of “with thehelp of” (see BDB 85 s.v. תאֵ; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV), while others prefer“along with” in the sense of “like, equally with, in common with” (seeLev 26:39; Isa 45:9; Jer 23:28). Either works well in this context; thelatter is reflected in the present translation. Some understand ת־אֶ asthe accusative/object sign and translate, “I have acquired a man – theLord.” They suggest that the woman thought (mistakenly) that she hadgiven birth to the incarnate Lord, the Messiah who would bruise theSerpent’s head. This fanciful suggestion is based on a questionableallegorical interpretation of Gen 3:15 (see the note there on the word“heel”).Since Exod 6:3 seems to indicate that the name
 Yahweh
( הָהיְ , y
ے
hvah , translated Lord ) wasfirst revealed to Moses(see also Exod3:14), it is odd to see it used in quotations in Genesis by people wholived long before Moses. This problem has been resolved in various ways: (1) Sourcecritics propose that Exod 6:3 is part of the “P” (or priestly) tradition, which is at odds with the “J” (or Yahwistic ) tradition. (2) Many proposethat “name” in Exod 6:3does not refer to the divine name per se,but  to the character suggested by the name.God appeared to the patriarchs primarily in the role of ElShaddai, the giver of fertility, not as Yahweh , the one who fulfills hispromises. In this case the patriarchs knew the name Yahweh , but hadnot experienced the full significance of the name. In this regard it ispossible that Exod 6:3b should not be translated as a statement of denial, but as an affirmation followed by a rhetorical question implyingthat the patriarchs did indeed know God by the name of 
 Yahweh
, justas they knew him as El Shaddai. D. A. Garrett, following the lead of F. Andersen, sees Exod 6:2-3 as displaying a paneled A/B parallelism andtranslates them as follows: (A) “I am
 Yahweh
.” (B) “And I made myself known to Abraham…as El Shaddai.” (A') “And my name is
 Yahweh
”; (B') “Did I not make myself known to them?” (D. A. Garrett,
Rethinking
 
Genesis
, 21).
 
However, even if one translates the text this way, the
 
Lord ’s words do not necessarily mean that he made the name
 Yahweh
 known to the fathers. God is simply affirming that he now wants to becalled
 Yahweh
(see Exod 3:14-16) and that he revealed himself inprior times as El Shaddai. If we stress the parallelism with B, theimplied answer to the concluding question might be: “Yes, you didmake yourself known to them – as El Shaddai!” The main point of theverse would be that El Shaddai, the God of the fathers, and the God
 
who has just revealed himself to Moses as
 Yahweh
are one and thesame. (3) G. J. Wenham suggests that pre-Mosaic references to
 Yahweh
are the product of the author/editor of Genesis, who wantedto be sure that
 Yahweh
was identified with the God of the fathers. Inthis regard, note how
 Yahweh
is joined with another divine name ortitle in Gen 9:26-27; 14:22; 15:2, 8; 24:3, 7, 12, 27, 42, 48; 27:20; 32:9. The angel uses the name
 Yahweh
when instructing Hagar concerningher child’s name, but the actual name ( Ishma -el, “El hears”) suggeststhat El, not
 Yahweh
, originally appeared in the angel’s statement(16:11). In her response to the angel Hagar calls God El, not
 Yahweh
 (16:13). In 22:14 Abraham names the place of sacrifice “ Yahweh Will Provide” (cf. v. 16), but in v. 8 he declares, “God will provide.” God uses the name
 Yahweh
when speaking to Jacob at Bethel (28:13) and Jacobalso uses the name when he awakens from the dream (28:16). Nevertheless he names the place Beth-el (“house of El”). In 31:49Laban prays, “May
 Yahweh
keep watch,” but in v. 50 he declares, “God is a witness between you and me.” Yahweh’s use of the name in15:7 and 18:14 may reflect theological idiom, while the use in 18:19 iswithin a soliloquy. (Other uses of 
 Yahweh
in quotations occur in 16:2, 5; 24:31, 35, 40, 42, 44, 48, 50, 51, 56; 26:22, 28-29; 27:7, 27; 29:32-35; 30:24, 30; 49:18. In these cases there is no contextual indicationthat a different name was originally used.) For a fuller discussion of this proposal, see G. J. Wenham, “The Religion of the Patriarchs,”
Essays on the Patriarchal Narratives
, 189-93.
 
Exodus, 3:13, Moses said to God, “If I goto the Israelites and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and theyask me, ‘What is his name?’
(4)
what shouldI say to them?”
(4) There has been considerable debate about the name of 
 Yahweh
inthe Pentateuch, primarily because of theories that have maintainedthat the name
 Yahweh
was not known in antiquity (see also 6:3 andnotes there). The argument of this whole section nullifies that view. The idea that God’s name was revealed only here raises the questionof what he was called earlier. The word “God” is not a name. “El Shaddai” is used only a few times inGenesis. But Israel would not have had a nameless deity – especiallysince Genesis says that from the very beginning people were makingproclamation of the name of 
 Yahweh
(Gen 4:26; 12:8). It is possiblethat they did not always need a name if they were convinced that onlyhe existed and there was no other God. But probably what Moses wasanticipating was the Israelites’ wanting to be sure that Moses camewith a message from their God, and that some sign could prove it. They would have known his name
(Yahweh)
, and they would haveknown the ways that he had manifested himself. It would do no good
of 00

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