Genesis 4:4
Footnote:
| 162 | Hebrew וישע and he saved The phrase "וישע יהוה אל הבל" can be interpreted as "the LORD is saving toward Abel and toward the offering of himself" ישע was thought to come from the verb שעה #8159 but the meaning שעה is "to look/gaze upon" as used of the eyes in Isaiah 32:3. Was a letter really lost?The letter ה is missing. The Grammarian scholars call it an "apocope" which means "a letter was lost." But ישע means to deliver, save, cf. Strongs #3467. A letter was considered "lost" because the traditional context and interpretation had to remain intact. A Closer LookThe verb וישע in Genesis 4:4 has traditionally been translated as “and He had regard” or “and He turned to” Abel’s offering, The respected Rabbi Rashi of 11th century CE, (cf. Rashi Gen. 4:4) equated it with פנה (panāh, “to turn toward”). However, from a straight etymological and philological perspective, this equivalence is untenable. The root שעה is morphologically and semantically distinct from פנה, the former meaning “to regard” or “pay attention to,” and the latter “to turn.” Rashi’s conflation appears motivated by exegetical and theological considerations rather than linguistic accuracy. Moreover, the root ישע (yāshaʿ, “to save” or “deliver”)—visually similar in the unpointed Hebrew text—is a separate and well-attested verb in Biblical Hebrew with a causative, transitive meaning clearly seen in contexts such as 2 Samuel 8:6 and Judges 3:31, where it signifies divine salvation or deliverance:
To take וישע "and he saved" for וישעה "and he paid attention/regarded" is not a matter of debating what is written, but what the "correct authoritative tradition" is.
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