"Call Upon The Name of The Lord"
Genesis 4:26 says that "at that time men began to call upon the name of the Lord". In giving a meaning to the statement, commentators have proposed that it means either (1) then began men to call themselves by the name of the Lord (marg.) i.e., to distinguish themselves thereby from idolaters; or (2) then men in some public and earnest way began to call upon the Lord, indicating a time of spiritual revival.
The traditional Jewish interpretation of this verse, though, implies that it marked the beginning of idolatry, i.e. that men start dubbing "Lord" things that were mere creatures. This is because the previous generations, notably Adam, had already "begun calling upon the name of the Lord", which forces us to interpret הוחל huchal not as "began" but as the homonym "profanated". In this light, Enosh suggests the notion of a humanity (Enoshut) thinking of itself as an absolute rather than in relation to God (Enosh vs. Adam).
Read more about this topic: Enos (biblical Figure)
Famous quotes containing the words the lord, call, the and/or lord:
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”
—Bible: Hebrew Exodus, 20:7.
The third commandment.
“There is a call to life a little sterner,
And braver for the earner, learner, yearner.
Less criticism of the field and court
And more preoccupation with the sport.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“As between these two, the need that in its haste to be abolished cannot pause to be stated and the need that is the absolute predicament of particular human identity, one does not presume to suggest a relation of worth. Yet the distinction is perhaps not idle, for it is from the failure to make it that proceeds the common rejection as “obscure” of most that is significant in modern music, painting and literature.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)
“Lord Bateman was a noble lord,
A noble lord of high degree,”
—Unknown. Young Beichan (l. 1–2)