Genesis 4:20

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents and [have] cattle.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַתֵּ֥לֶד עָדָ֖ה אֶת־יָבָ֑ל ה֣וּא הָיָ֔ה אֲבִ֕י יֹשֵׁ֥ב אֹ֖הֶל וּמִקְנֶֽה׃

Transliteration

And-teled ʿAdah ʾet-Yabal he hayah ʾabi yosheb ʾohel and-miqneh

Grammar Details

• *teled*: qal imperfect with waw-consecutive, 3rd feminine singular - gave birth to
• *ʿAdah*: proper noun, feminine singular - Adah
• *ʾet*: direct object marker
• *Yabal*: proper noun, masculine singular - Jabal
• *huʾ*: 3rd masculine singular personal pronoun - he
• *hayah*: qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular - was
• *ʾabi*: noun, masculine singular construct - father of
• *yosheb*: qal participle, masculine singular construct - dweller of
• *ʾohel*: noun, masculine singular - tent
• *u-miqneh*: conjunction + noun, masculine singular - and livestock

Word Meanings

• *ʾabi*: father of/founder of/originator of
• *yosheb ʾohel u-miqneh*: dwellers in tents with livestock/tent-dwelling herders

Referenced Verses

• Gen 4:2 : 2 And again she bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
• Gen 4:21 : 21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and pipe.
• Gen 25:27 : 27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.
• 1 Chr 2:50-52 : 50 These were the sons of Caleb, the son of Hur, the first-born of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim, 51 Salma the father of Beth-lehem, Hareph the father of Beth-gader. 52 And Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had sons: Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth.
• 1 Chr 4:4-5 : 4 and Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the first-born of Ephrathah, the father of Beth-lehem. 5 And Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
• Jer 35:9-9 : 9 nor to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed: 10 but we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
• John 8:44 : 44 Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and standeth not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof.
• Rom 4:11-12 : 11 and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision; that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might be reckoned unto {G2532} them; 12 and the father of circumcision to them who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham which he had in uncircumcision.
• Heb 11:9 : 9 By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a [land] not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: