How Shifting One Letter Can Eliminate Eve’s Curse
Moving a Hebrew consonant from one word to another adjacent to it can change meaning as illustrated here with a portion of a verse from Genesis 4:7 regarding Cain’s sin. Read in the conventional way the words are as follows:
Åbero
taF;j'
jt'p,l'
lying down (masc.)
sin (fem.)
at the opening
Two scholars translate the passage as follows:
For E.A. Speiser;1 a concerned YHWH warns Cain, “Sin is the demon at the door, whose urge is toward you; yet you can be his master.”
For Everett Fox,2 an austere YHWH admonishes Cain, “At the entrance is sin, a crouching-demon, toward you his lust—but you can rule over him.”

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