A Commentary on the Book of Genesis: from Adam to Noah (Umberto Cassuto Biblical Commentaries) by Cassuto Umberto

Author:Cassuto, Umberto [Cassuto, Umberto]
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Magnes Press / Varda Books
Published: 2010-11-30T05:00:00+00:00

intended to hint that though the sinner was trying to forget his sin and cause others to forget it, he is unable to silence the voice of his conscience and to obliterate the traces of his misdeeds; at every step he encounters objects that remind him and others of the transgression that he has committed. It was in connection with the tree which is in the centre of [ b e thokh ] the garden that they sinned, and it is among [ b e thokh ] the trees of the garden that they were forced to hide themselves.

On Job xxxi 33, see Torczyner’s commentary.

9. But the Lord God called to the man ] In vain he attempted to conceal himself, for it is impossible to hide from the eyes of the Lord. Forthwith the Judge of the whole earth calls the man, in order to demand from him an account of his conduct. Also in other parts of the Bible the verb to call is used in the sense of to summon a person to give an account of his actions; compare xii 18: So Pharaoh CALLED Abram, and said, ‘WHAT IS THIS YOU HAVE DONE TO ME?’ (this question, too, is not unlike the continuation in our section); xx 9: Then Abimelech CALLED Abraham, and said to him, ‘WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO US?’ etc.; xxvi 9–10: So Abimelech CALLED Isaac … Abimelech said, ‘WHAT IS THIS YOU HAVE DONE TO US?’ Deut. xxv 8: Then the elders of his city SHALL CALL HIM, and speak to him.

The man was the first to be tried, because the primary responsibility rested upon him, and he was the first to receive the Divine command.

And said to him, ‘Where are you?’ ] The verse does not read, and said, ‘Where are you?’, but and said TO HIM, ‘Where are you?’. The Lord God turns direct to the man wherever he is. The commentators who consider the question to be aimed at discovering where the man was hiding have overlooked the words to him. They have likewise disregarded the fact that the sequel relates that the Lord God determined the fate of the man and his wife and the serpent according to His will; since the subsequent narrative portrays God as omnipotent, it stands to reason that He is not depicted here as one who is unaware of what is around him. The query Where are you? in our verse resembles the question that the Lord God asks Cain (iv 9), Where is Abel your brother?, when Abel’s body is lying on the ground beneath the open sky,

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