Like Man, Like Snake (Gen 3:17)

Into and Out of the Garden

¹⁷ You shall eat it in grief all your life long. בְּעִצָּבוֹן֙ תֹּֽאכֲלֶ֔נָּה כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֥י חַיֶּֽיךָ׃

Before I begin a longer discussion of this sentence, a few notes about what we’ll be looking at today:

• עִצָּבוֹן֙ itzavōn — I translated this with an adjective in v. 16; here I’m using a noun.

• כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֥י חַיֶּֽיךָ kol y’mei ḥayyekha — I translated this literally in v. 14; now I’ve decided to translate it more idiomatically.

• תֹּֽאכֲלֶ֔נָּה tokhalenna — Believe it or not, the suffix of this word demands the longest discussion of all.