One verse of Torah is interesting

Hi all

In the comments section below, there’s a conversation about how boring it is to study Torah and more generally the Tanach via a plain meaning ( peshat ). As my sister explained because we as Jews believe that the Torah is the divine document from God, it is incumbent (and logical) that we first study the text’s plain meaning. Why are some words used and why aren’t others ? There’s a particular reason why the words used are the words used.

An example was given by my sister  of Genesis 4:1.

אוְהָאָדָם יָדַע אֶת חַוָּה אִשְׁתּוֹ וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד אֶת קַיִן וַתֹּאמֶר קָנִיתִי אִישׁ אֶת יְהֹוָה:

A transliteration

Veha adam yada et ishtov; chavvah vattahar vatteled et kayin vattomer kaniti Adonai

A translation would be something like this :

And the Man knew [et] Eve his wife and she conceived and bore [et] Caine and said “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord”

A more modern day translation would- to trendy Church of England types- be something like this :

Adam and Eve shagged and she got preggars and gave birth to Caine and said “ I have a man with the help of the Lord”.

Immediately you can see- from 1 verse of Torah-  how translating the text in English can alter the way you come to conclusions about the text and secondly there are multiple queries and questions for study .

I’ve listed a few , below off the top of my head : 

1) Is this the first time Adam and Eve have had sex or the first time outside of Eden? 

2) This occurs just being kicked out of Eden. Where are they and why is sexual intercourse the first thing they do or is emphasised?

3) Was there any other children Adam and Eve had in Eden or was this the first birth?

4) Why is it that ‘Yada’- the verb ‘to know’- is used (among others- could this be a hint for this passage?) , when people have or want to have sexual intercourse in the Bible? As an aside the Christian translators of the KJV were being faithful to the text here, it literally does mean ‘to know’ . Just out of curiosity I checked out some of the newer translations of the Hebrew Bible and they use euphemisms for sexual intercourse. But they don’t actually use the term.

5) Why does Eve refer to her newborn as a man (ish) and not an infant ?

6) What does Even mean when she says “I have acquired a man with YKVK (‘the Lord’)” ?

7) The word et is used in the verse three times, discuss why.

You see that using the original Hebrew and understanding the language helps for a more in depth study and studying in itself the Torah isn't dull and boring ....!