Talmud zu Bereschit 4:7

Rebbi Onias said, Rebbi Ḥama bar Uqba raised a difficulty: If he wanted to deflect him to another subject³²⁴If R. Joshua’s intention only was to deflect R. Ismael’s inquiry there were many other questions to be asked., he should have removed him to the five indeterminate places in the Torah³²⁵In the absence of masoretic accents it may be difficult to parse a sentence. In Babli sources, this is called “verses that have no decision,” i. e., where to place the caesura. In our masoretic texts only Ex. 25:34 remains undecided in this sense. Parallel sources are Babli Yoma52a/b, Gen. rabba80(5) (Theodor-Albeck #957/958, Sokoloff Geniza Fragments p. 170), Midrash Cant. 1(18), Mekhilta dR. Ismael, Amaleq1, Mekhilta dR. Simeon ben Iohai Epstein-Melamed p. 121, Tanḥuma Bešallaḥ26.The list itself is attributed in most sources to Issy ben Jehudah. [A discussion in principle about this subject is found in ש. קוגוט, המקרא בין טעמים לפרשנות, י־ם תשנד; מ. ברויאר, מקראות שאין להם הכרע, לשוננו נח (תשנה) 189־199.], which are the following: “gift, cursed, tomorrow, almond shaped, rise”. Behold if you choose well the gift or the gift if you do not choose well³²⁶Gen.4:7. They must have read הֲלוֹא אִם־תֵּיטִ֔יב שְׂאֵ֕ת וְאִם֙ לֹא תֵיטִ֔יב but also in the masoretic text הֲלוֹא אִם־תֵּיטִיב֙ שְׂאֵ֔ת there is a stop between תֵּיטִיב֙ and שְׂאֵ֔ת.. For in their rage they killed a man and by their will castrated a cursed ox or cursed be their rage for it is strong³²⁷Gen.49:6–7. It is a question whether to read one or two sentences.. Moses said to Joshua . . go fight Amaleq tomorrow or tomorrow I shall stand on top of the hill³²⁸Ex. 17:9.. On the candelabra four cups almond shaped or almond shaped their knobs and their flowers³²⁹Ex. 25:34..The Eternal said to Moses, you will lie with your fathers and rise or rise will this people and whore³³⁰Deut. 31:16.. Rebbi Tanḥuma added the following: Jacob’s sons came from the field when they heard or when they heard the men were offended³³¹Gen. 34:7. Most translations follow the masoretic punctuation in choosing the first alternative but the German translation by Torczyner et al. (Berlin 1934) which opts for the second.. Rebbi La said, there are things about which one kisses the mouth, as it is said, may he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth³³²This answers R. Ḥama bar Uqba’s question. The verse Cant. 1:2 was chosen because its first part, quoted now, tells R. Ismael to be silent since a person who is kissed on his mouth cannot speak at that time. The first part clearly refers to a male; nevertheless R. Ismael had a point reading the second part as addressing a female since the sentence switches from third to second person, possibly indicating a change of speaker.. Rebbi Isaac said, and me did the Eternal command³³³Deut. 4:14. Here starts a rather defective Genizah fragment (Ginzberg pp. 276–277.). “Me, and me.” Things were said to me that were said to you. And things were said to me alone³³⁴Not everything has to be told to everybody..

Rabbi Reuven ben Itzrubali would say: How can a person stay away from the Evil Urge inside of him? For the first drop that a person puts inside of a woman is the Evil Urge. The Evil Urge rules only over the doors of the heart, as it says (Genesis 4:7), “Sin crouches at the door.” From the first moment that an infant is placed in the crib, (this man) is trying to kill you. He wants to pluck you out by your hair. When an infant is placed in his crib, he will place his hand onto a snake or a scorpion’s stinger. It is the Evil Urge inside of him that causes him to do this. He will place his hand onto fiery coals and it will be burned. It is the Evil Urge inside of him that causes him to do this. (For the Evil Urge wants to throw him into the fire.) But look at a baby goat or sheep! When they see a well, they back up away from it, because there is no Evil Urge in an animal.
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar would say: I will give you a parable. What (is [the Evil Urge] like)? The Evil Urge is like a piece of steel that they put into the fire. While it is in the fire, they can make any tool they wish from it. So it is with the Evil Urge. There is no way to fix it except with words of Torah alone ([which are like fire]), as it says (Proverbs 25:21–22), “If your enemy is hungry, feed him bread. If he is thirsty, give him water. You will be heaping fiery coals on his head, and the Eternal will reward you.” Do not read it as “reward you” (yeshalem lekha) but “give you peace” (yashlim lekha).
Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi would say: I will give you a parable: What (is [the Evil Urge] like)? The Evil Urge is like two people who go into an inn. One is captured by robbers. They say to him: Who is with you? He could easily say: No one else was with me. But he says to himself: Since I am going to be killed, my friend should be killed with me. So it is with the Evil Urge, which says: Since I will be lost in the World to Come, (I) want take the whole body with me!
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai would say: From this you know that Israel will never see the face of Gehenna. They give a parable: To what can this be compared? [It can be compared] to a human king who had a barren field. Some people came along and rented it for a ten bundles of wheat. They fertilized it, plowed it, watered it, and harvested it, but they yielded only one bundle of wheat the whole year. The king said to them: What is this? They said: Our master the king, you know that with regard to the field you gave us, in the beginning you were not able to yield anything from it. Now we have fertilized it, harvested it, and watered it, yet we have still not been able to yield more than one bundle of wheat the whole year.¹Although the renters didn’t, as it were, keep their side of the deal, they want the king to appreciate their efforts, given the challenging circumstances. So will Israel say one day before the Holy Blessed One: You know well that the Evil Urge has tempted us, as it says (Psalms 103:14), “For He knows our urges” [lit., how we were formed].