Multifaceted Interpretation

Four times in the Bible, Argov clearly refers to a strip of land in the northern Transjordan. But the word Argov also appears a fifth time alongside “the lion” in the story of Pekah’s assassination of King Pekahiah—and there it is not a place. So, what does Argov really mean?

Is the prohibition about animal compassion, keeping species separate, or does it hold symbolic and metaphorical meanings? Beyond its surface, the law against “plowing” with an ox and a donkey also conveys a double entendre.

Eight possible meanings of Cain’s response גָּדוֹל עֲוֹנִי מִנְּשֹׂא (Genesis 4:13) and what this tells us about his character as presented in the Torah