And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
Called his name Seth - or Sheth; i:e., compensation, being derived from a verb signifying to place or replace.
For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. In the bestowment of this name, Eve was not prompted by her own feelings, because her words apparently refer to some divine intimation which she had received, that Seth was to be the heir of the promise-an intimation similar to that which the oracle made to Rebecca (Genesis 25:23), and well calculated to dissipate the despondency and revive the hopes of the parents, who, as may be imagined, had been greatly dejected by their double bereavement the death of Abel and the banishment of Cain.' Hence, Delitzsch calls him a second, Abel, while Ewald assigns to this name the import of seedling or 'germ' - i:e., of the promise.
The occurrence of the name "God" ( 'Elohiym (H430)) rather than "Lord" ( Yahweh (H3068)) in this passage has occasioned a variety of conjectures, and some have even gone so far as to pronounce the whole clause as an interpolation. But this is solely in consequence of their theoretical views as to the use of the divine names, and on no just grounds of critical or manuscript authority. The difficulty is satisfactorily removed by Kiel, who says, 'what Cain (human wickedness) took from her, that has 'Elohiym (H430) (Divine Omnipotence) restored. Because of this antithesis she calls the giver "God," instead of the "Lord".' It appears that the birth of Seth took place a comparatively short time after Abel was murdered; and consequently, although six generations of Cainites are enumerated before it is announced, that event must be considered as long prior to the foundation of Cain's city and the other incidents related in the latter portion of the chapter.