Genesis 4:25

Summary

Genesis 4:25 narrates that Adam again had relations with his wife, who bore a son named Seth. The naming is explained through a statement attributed to her, connecting the name Shet ("Seth", H8352) to the verb shat ("he has appointed", H7896I), and referencing Abel's death at Cain's hand.

Key words

• va-yeda' ("and he knew", H3045) — qal narrative form of "to know," here used with the sense of sexual relations with 'ishto ("his wife").
• 'od ("again", H5750) — indicates repetition of the action, marking this as a subsequent instance of conception.
• shat ("he has appointed", H7896I) — qal perfect (completed action) of the root behind the name Shet; the perfect aspect frames this as something already accomplished by the time of speaking.
• zera' ("spring/seed", H2233H) construct with 'acher ("another", H0312) — together meaning "another seed/offspring," marking replacement.
• tachat ("in place of", H8478H) construct — expresses substitution, linking the new offspring to Hevel ("Abel", H1893).

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav-consecutive chain typical of Hebrew storytelling: va-yeda' ("and he knew") → va-teled ("and she bore") → va-tikra' ("and she called"), each marking sequential completed actions. The subject shifts from Adam (verse-initial action) to the unnamed wife, who performs the bearing and naming — the text does not explicitly name her as Eve in the Hebrew of this verse, referring to her only as 'ishto ("his wife", H0802H) with the third-person pronominal suffix -o ("his", H9023).

The explanatory clause introduced by ki ("for", H3588A) attributes speech content justifying the name Shet: shat-li 'Elohim zera' 'acher tachat Hevel — "God has appointed for me another seed in place of Abel." The verb shat (H7896I) is a qal perfect, marking a completed divine action prior to or coincident with the naming. The construct phrase tachat Hevel ("in place of Abel") uses the preposition-like construct noun tachat (H8478H) to express substitution rather than mere sequence. A second ki clause closes the verse, giving the cause for Abel's absence: harago Qayin — "Cain killed him," with the pronominal suffix -o ("him", H9033) attached to harag ("he killed", H2026), referring back to Hevel.

Differences between versions

The LXX explicitly names the wife as Εὕαν ("Eve"), while the Hebrew here uses only 'ishto ("his wife"). The LXX also renders the naming clause as direct speech introduced by λέγουσα ("saying"), making explicit that the wife speaks — a feature only implicit in the Hebrew construction. The Vulgate follows the Hebrew in omitting Eve's name, using uxorem suam ("his wife"), and renders shat as posuit ("he has placed/set"), a verb of placement rather than the LXX's ἐξανέστησεν ("he raised up").