340. The opening summary of this chapter [§337] establishes the meaning of she said, "I have acquired the man Jehovah," as the fact that faith among those called Cain was recognized and acknowledged as a thing in itself.
Before this it was as if people were unaware of what faith was, because they had a perception of everything involved in faith. When they started to create a distinct doctrine concerning faith, however, they drew out principles they had learned through perception, reduced them into a systematic theology, and named them "I have acquired the man Jehovah," as if they had stumbled onto some new thing. In this way they turned what had been written on their hearts into a set of facts.
In ancient times people gave a name to every new phenomenon and explained the significance of the names in just this way. They explained, for example, that Ishmael meant that Jehovah had heard Hagar's unhappiness (Genesis 16:11); that Reuben meant "Jehovah has seen my unhappiness" (Genesis 29:32); that Simeon meant that Jehovah had heard Leah was not as well loved (Genesis 29:33); and that Judah meant "This time I will acclaim Jehovah" (Genesis 29:35). The altar built by Moses was called "Jehovah my banner" (Exodus 17:15). Here the actual doctrine concerning faith was called "I have acquired the man Jehovah," that is to say, Cain.
