Genesis 4:1 (WEB)
The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man with the LORD’s help.”
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Genesis 4:1 (KJV)
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
Key words
- יָדַעyada · Hebrew
- 'knew' — the biblical euphemism for marital relations; Adam 'knew' Eve and she conceived.
- ἔγνωegnō · Greek (LXX)
- 'knew' — the same verb Mary uses in the negative: 'I know not (ou ginōskō) a man' (Luke 1:34).
Why it matters
'Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived.' Pitre cites this as the standard biblical idiom for sexual relations (p 94) to fix the meaning of Mary's words to Gabriel. 'I do not know man' is not 'I am a virgin' or 'I have no husband' (two mistranslations he rejects) but a statement in the present tense about how she lives — like 'I do not smoke,' it describes a settled practice and intention.
Catechism · 1
“All human generations proceed from this union.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Gen 4:1-2, 25-26; 5:1.
Fathers and councils · 11
Athanasius of Alexandria
“Again, Eve on bearing Cain said, ‘I have gotten a man from the Lord;’ thus she too used ‘gotten’ for ‘brought forth.’” — editor's note: Gen. iv. 1, and infr. 44. note on Qanâ.
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Tertullian
“…He accepted what he was offering in simplicity of heart, and reprobated the sacrifice of his brother Cain, who was not rightly dividing what he was offering.” — editor's note: Gen. iv. 1–7, especially in the LXX.; comp. Heb. xi. 4.
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John Damascene
“And when, after the transgression, Adam heard, dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return, when death entered into the world by reason of the transgression, then Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare seed.” — editor's note: Gen. iv. 1.
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Cyril of Jerusalem
“Not daring to accost the man because of his strength, he accosted as being weaker the woman, still a virgin: for it was after the expulsion from Paradise that Adam knew his wife.” — editor's note: Ib. iv. 1.
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Augustine of Hippo
“Therefore the former city is greater by age, because first was born Cain, and afterwards Abel: but in these the elder shall serve the younger.” — editor's note: Gen. iv. 1, 2.
Read the whole comment“For had he not been the first who was added by birth to the two unborn persons, Adam could not have said what he is recorded to have said, “I have gotten a man by the Lord.”” — editor's note: Gen. iv. 1.
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John Chrysostom
“For the Scripture is wont to say, “by whom,” for “of whom;”as when it saith, “I have gotten a man by God,”putting not the second cause, but the first; and again, “Is not the interpretation of them by God,”and, “God is faithful, by whom ye are called unto the fellowship of His Son.”” — editor's note: Gen. iv. 1, LXX. [δι το θεο.]
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Basil the Great
““Adam knew his wife.”” — editor's note: Gen. iv. 1.
Read the whole comment“As, for instance, Adam says, “I have gotten a man through God,” meaning to say the same as from God; and in another passage “Moses commanded…Israel through the word of the Lord,” and, again, “Is not the interpretation through God?”” — editor's note: Gen. iv. 1, lxx. A.V. renders “she conceived and bare Cain and said,” and here St. Basil has been accused of quoting from memory. But in the Greek of the lxx.…
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Gregory of Nyssa
- Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity On Virginity.12On Virginity
“…in the Lord alone all that was sweet; and he used the helpmeet given him only for this delight, as Scripture signifies when it said that “he knew her not” till he was driven forth from the garden, and till she, for the sin which she was decoyed into committing, was sentenced to the pangs of childbirth.” — editor's note: Gen. iv. 1.
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Clement of Alexandria
“Jam vero volunt viri cure uxore in matrimonio consuetudinem, quæ dicta est “cognitio,” esse peccatum: eam quippe indicari ex esu “ligni boni et mali,” per significationem hujus vocabuli “cognovit,” quæ mandati tmnsgressionem notat.” — editor's note: Gen. iv. 1.
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Cross-references · 16
Cited together in Catechism §2335.
Cited together in The City of God XV.15.
Cited together in The City of God XV.15.
Cited together in Letters Letter 235.
Cited together in Letters Letter 235.
Cited together in Letters Letter 235.
Cited together in Letters Letter 235.
Cited together in On Virginity On Virginity.12.
Cited together in On Virginity On Virginity.12.
Cited together in Letters Letter 235.
Cited together in Letters Letter 235.
Cited together in Letters Letter 235.
Cited together in Letters Letter 235.
Cited together in Letters Letter 235.
Cited together in Letters Letter 235.
Cited together in Catechism §2335.