Genesis 4:26 says, “And to Seth, to him also there
was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the
name of the Lord.” (KJV)
What does it mean when it says men began “to call upon
the name of the Lord {YHWH}.”
One of my Bible margins has “call upon themselves the name of the Lord” or “call themselves by the name of
the Lord.” One of my former
pastors who was an instructor in Old Testament in Bible College thought that
Genesis 4:26 had that connotation. Does this idea have merit? It
doesn’t seem that any translation committee has been willing to translate it
that way (although The Living Bible
paraphrase gives “When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. It was
during his lifetime that men first began to call themselves ‘the Lord’s people’.”
ASV: And to Seth, to him also there was born a
son; and he called his name Enosh. Then began men to call upon the name of
Jehovah.
JPS Tanakh 1917: And to Seth, to him also there
was born a son; and he called his name Enosh; then began men to call upon the
name of the LORD.
NIV: Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.
At that time people began to call on[a] the name of the Lord. [Footnote: Or to proclaim]
RV 1884: And to Seth, to him also there was born a
son; and he called his name Enosh: then began men to call upon the name of the
LORD.
YLT: And to Seth, to him also a son hath been
born, and he calleth his name Enos; then a beginning was made of preaching in
the name of Jehovah.
כו וּלְשֵׁת גַּם-הוּא יֻלַּד-בֵּן, וַיִּקְרָא אֶת-שְׁמוֹ
אֱנוֹשׁ; אָז הוּחַל, לִקְרֹא
בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה. {ס}
Bishop Ellicott writes, “That is, the notion of
Divinity began now to be attached to this name, and even in their worship men
called upon God as Jehovah.” (See BibleHub.)
This may represent the majority view. On the other hand, there are those who
support the “call themselves by” view.
Gill: the words may be rendered: “then began men
to call themselves,” or “to be called by the name of the Lord”
Benson Commentary: “2nd, The worshippers of God
began to distinguish themselves: so the margin reads it. Then
began men to be called by the name of the Lord — or, to call
themselves by it. Now Cain and those that had deserted religion had
built a city, and begun to declare for irreligion, and called themselves the sons
of men. Those that adhered to God began to declare for him and his
worship, and called themselves the sons of God.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary: “26. men
began to call upon the name of the Lord—rather, by the name of the Lord.”
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